Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea maculosa Lam.)

SPOTTED KNAPWEED

(Centaurea maculosa Lam.)

GROWTH HABIT:  Biennial or short lived perennial, up to 3 ft. tall.  Rosette formed first year, flowering stalk elongates second year.

LEAVES:  Long and divided below, short and narrow above.  Covered with fine hair.

STEMS:  Erect with slender wiry branches.  Covered with fine hair.

FLOWERS:  Seed heads mostly on branch tips, solitary, to 1¡± diameter.  Pink to purple, rarely white.  Seed head bracts are black tipped, with 5 to 7 pairs of short feathery appendages.

ROOTS:  Taproot not well developed.

SEEDS:  Brownish, ¨û¡± long, notched on one side of base, short tuft of bristles at tip end.

OTHER:  Very aggressive, can infest large areas quickly, offers very little big game or livestock forage value.