Centaurea resupinata Coss.

Species Species

Family: COMPOSITAE (ASTERACEAE)

Genus: Centaurea

Spanish common name: Centaurea manchega.

Province distribution: Alacant. València.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Mediterranean (Eastern-Iberian)

IUCN Category: NENot evaluated

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Chameophyte. Hemicryptophyte.

Habitats: Rock crevices and cliff faces. Pine wood and shrubland with rosemary and thyme garigue. Rocky surfaces and dry stone walls. Dry, sunny shrublands (thyme communities) on basic substrates (clayey, stony, and/or within rock crevices)

Characteristics: Perennial plant, greyish-green and slightly hairy. Stems prostrate, branched at the apex. Basal leaves once or twice divided into ovate-elliptic to linear segments; stem leaves with linear segments. Flower heads narrow at the base, solitary or in pairs, surrounded by bracts bearing a sharp, recurved apical spine (3-7 mm), 3-5 times longer than the lateral cilia. Flowers pink or white, the outer ones larger, showy, and usually sterile. Fruits greyish or brownish, with a persistent pappus