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Centaurea montana
Also called Mountain Bluet, Mountain Knapweed, Montane Knapweed, Mountain Cornflower, Mountain Starthistle
Perennial cornflower is a hardy European mountain perennial with blue-purple flowers, often grown in cottage and wildlife gardens. It spreads readily by rhizomes and self-seeding, so it needs room or regular division to stay in check.
Centaurea montana, the perennial cornflower, mountain cornflower, bachelor's button, montane knapweed or mountain bluet, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, endemic to Europe. It is widespread and common in the more southerly mountain ranges of Europe, but is rarer in the north. It escapes from gardens readily, and has thereby become established in the British Isles, Scandinavia and North America. This plant has become an invasive species in British Columbia, Canada.
Centaurea montana grows in meadows and open woodland in the upper montane and sub-alpine zones, in basic areas. It grows to 30–70 centimetres (12–28 in) tall, and flowers mainly from May to August.
Centaurea behen · Dusty miller · Cornflower · Fiordaliso di Capraia · Maltese star-thistle · Common Knapweed · Yellow star-thistle · Spotted knapweed · Centaurea tchihatcheffii
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Centaurea montana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
