SimplePlant

Asteraceae

Red star-thistle

Centaurea calcitrapa L.

Family
Asteraceae
Genus
Centaurea

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Red star-thistle (Centaurea calcitrapa)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons

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Common names

By language (19)
aeb
بونڨّار
Arabic
مَرار, الدردرية, بلعلع, حسك, دردرية, قنطريون جيري, مرار, مرير
arz
قنطريون جيرى
Basque
Lubeazun
Bulgarian
Дългоиглеста метличина
Catalan
Obriülls
Chinese
紫星蓟, 红星蓟
Czech
Chrpa sikavice
Dutch
Kalketrip
English
Red star-thistle, Star-thistle, Common star thistle, Purple star thistle, Red star thistle
Finnish
Piikkikaunokki
French
Centaurée chausse-trape, Centaurée chausse-trappe, Centaurée étoilée, Chardon étoilé, Chausse-trappe
German
Stern-Flockenblume, Fussangelflockenblume, Centaurée chausse-trape
Japanese
ムラサキイガヤグルマギク
Latvian
Starainā dzelzene
Lithuanian
Centaurée chausse-trape
Swedish
Centaurée chausse-trape
Ukrainian
Волошка колючеголова
Welsh
Y bengaled seraidd

Synonyms

  • Calcitrapa hippophaestrum G.Gaertn., B.Mey. & Scherb.
  • Calcitrapa hybrida Sweet
  • Calcitrapa hypophaestum Gaertn.
  • Calcitrapa lanceolata Lam.
  • Calcitrapa myacantha (DC.) Cass.
  • Calcitrapa phoenicea Sweet
  • Calcitrapa stellaris Hill
  • Calcitrapa stellata Lam.
  • Calcitrapa vulgaris Bernh.
  • Centaurea adulterina Moretti ex DC.
  • Centaurea calcitrapoides L.
  • Centaurea carduifolia Salisb.
  • Centaurea devauxii Boreau ex Nyman
  • Centaurea horrida Ten.
  • Centaurea hybrida Chaix
  • Centaurea macroacantha Guss.
  • Centaurea myacantha DC.
  • Centaurea penicillata Delile
  • Centaurea trichacantha Willd. ex Spreng.

Characteristics

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Lifespan
Annual, Biennial, Perennial
In the US and Canada
Canada: introduced, Lower 48 states: introduced

Photos

More in Centaurea

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.