Rhaponticum repens (L.) Hidalgo
Russian knapweed (hardheads)
Asteraceae (Aster family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Russian knapweed (hardheads)
Asteraceae (Aster family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a rhizome; stems erect, openly branched, densely woolly-hairy, 0.2-1.0 m tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves oblanceolate, irregularly pinnately-lobed to entire, 3-10 cm long, 1.0-2.5 cm wide; lower stem leaves smaller, pinnately-lobed; upper stem leaves linear to narrowly lanceolate, entire or saw-toothed.
Flowers:
Heads with ray and disk flowers; involucres 9-15 mm tall; involucral bracts in several unequal series, entire, more or less soft-hairy with widely papery tips; ray flowers white to blue, 12-16 mm long; receptacles bristly.
Fruits:
Achenes egg-shaped, 3-4 mm long, slightly compressed, glabrous; pappus of many bristles barbed below, feathery above, more or less deciduous.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Habitat and Range
Dry roadsides and disturbed areas in the steppe and montane zones; frequent in S BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; introduced from Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Acroptilon repens
Centaurea picris Pallas ex Willd.
Centaurea repens