Asteraceae

Wig knapweed

Centaurea phrygia L.

Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Centaurea

Pet and kid safety: not checked yet. Check pet-safe plants

Wig knapweed (Centaurea phrygia) — FlowerPhoto: Fyodor Pudovikov, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

Is yours looking unwell? Scan your plant — free

Common names

By language (11)

Bulgarian: Фригийска метличина
Czech: Chrpa třepenitá
English: Wig knapweed
Estonian: Narmasjumikas
Finnish: Nurmikaunokki
French: Centaurée à une tête
Latvian: Frīģijas dzelzene
Lithuanian: Juodgalvė bajorė
Polish: Chaber austriacki
Russian: Василёк фригийский
Swedish: Finnklint

Synonyms

Centaurea austriaca Willd.
Centaurea conglomerata C.A.Mey.
Centaurea phrygia subsp. austriaca (Willd.) Gugler
Jacea phrygia (L.) Soják
Jacea phrygia subsp. phrygia

Flowers

In flower: July to September (from 339 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)

Characteristics

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

Photos

FlowerPhoto: Fyodor Pudovikov, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Евгений Маринкин, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: C. Oppermann, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: carnifex, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Igors Jefimovs, CC BY 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Opioła Jerzy, CC BY 2.5, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Rossen Vassilev, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Photo: Pavel Kúr, CC0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Bogdan Giuşcă, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: lutzlevente, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Photo: Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons

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.