Common name: St Barnabys Thistle
Centaurea solstitialis L. APNI* 
Description: Annual or biennial herb to 1 m high; stems much-branched, greyish, winged.
Leaves and stems with simple, soft, cobwebby hairs; lower leaves lanceolate, pinnatifid, lyrate, to 20 cm long; cauline leaves narrow-lanceolate, 1–7 cm long, 2–8 mm wide, base decurrent, margins entire to toothed.
Heads solitary, ovoid to globose, 4–15 mm diam.; involucral bracts ovate, pale green, with terminal spine 1–2 cm long, and 1 or 2 pairs of basal spines. Florets yellow, all tubular; corolla non-glandular.
Achenes c. 2.5 mm long, glabrous; pappus up to 5 mm long.
Flowering: spring–summer.
Distribution and occurrence: Widespread weed, similar habitat to
NSW subdivisions: *NC, *CC, *SC, *NT, *CT, *ST, *NWS, *CWS, *SWS, *NWP, *SWP
Other Australian states: *Qld *Vic. *Tas. *W.A. *S.A.
A declared noxious weed in some shires.
Text by L. Murray
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 3 (1992)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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