Determined according to the botanical keys provided by Dostál (1976 in Tutin et al.).
Note: The population recorded in the Osogovo region has involucral bracts with fimbriate-dentate apendages, without or with a slender spine up to 2 mm and morphologically comes close to Centaureagraeca Griseb. var. subinermis Bornm. recorded by Bornmüller (1917) near Veles^ and Demir Kapija* (source: JACQ consortium, 2004 ff.).
Lifeform: Perennial plant; hemicryptophyte according to the Raunkiær system.
Distribution: Native to the Balkan Penisula according to The Euro+Med PlantBase (Greuter, 2006+) and the Plants of the World Online portal (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew).
Habitat: Shrubland, clearings of oak forests, hill pastures, roadsides at c. 500–550 m altitude in the Svilanovo region.
Flowering period: Summer: JUN, JUL.
Centaurea graeca – habitat. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski. Centaurea graeca – habit. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski. Centaurea graeca – habit. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – habit. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – habit. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – habit. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – habit. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – habit. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – habit. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – habit. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – habit. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – upper part of plant with capitula. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – upper part of plant with capitula. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – upper part of plant with capitula. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – upper part of plant with capitula. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – upper part of plant with capitula. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – capitula. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – capitula. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – capitulum. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – capitulum. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – capitulum. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – capitulum. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – capitulum. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – capitulum. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – capitulum. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – florets. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – florets. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – florets. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – florets. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – involucral bracts. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – involucral bracts. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – involucral bracts. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – involucral bracts. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – involucral bracts. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – involucral bracts. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – involucral bracts. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – developing capitula. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – develoing achenes. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – peduncles. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – upper leaves. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – adaxial side (left) and abaxial side (right) of upper leaf. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – stem and middle cauline leaves. Most of the leaves are crowded in the lower part of the plant. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – stem with middle cauline leaves. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – stem and middle cauline leaves. Most of the leaves are crowded in the lower part of the plant. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – stem. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – the leaves are generally crowded in the lower part of plant. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – lower part of plant with basal and lower cauline leaves. Most of the leaves are crowded in the lower part of the plant. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – lower part of plant with basal and lower cauline leaves. Most of the leaves are crowded in the lower part of the plant. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – lower part of plant with basal and lower cauline leaves. Most of the leaves are crowded in the lower part of the plant. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – lower part of plant with basal and lower cauline leaves. Most of the leaves are crowded in the lower part of the plant. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – lower cauline leaves. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – lower cauline leaves. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – basal leaves. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – basal leaf. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – basal leaves. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – young plant with basal leaves. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – young plant with basal leaves. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – adaxial side of leaf. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – adaxial side of leaf. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – abaxial side of leaf. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – abaxial side of leaf. Osogovo – “Svilanovo” region, 15.06.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Scaled images
Centaurea graeca – synflorescence with capitula. Scale in cm. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – capitula. Scale in cm/mm. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – A: inner florets; B: outer floret (of) and inner floret (if); C: involucral bracts: inner involucral bracts (ib), middle involucral bracts (mb) and outer involucral bracts (ob). Scale in mm. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.Centaurea graeca – achenes. Scale in mm. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
References:
Centaurea graeca. Greuter, W. 2006+: Compositae (pro parte majore). – In: Greuter, W. & Raab-Straube, E. von (ed.), Compositae. Euro+Med PlantBase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published at https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/fba317f6-770f-4523-b13d-500eb8a23c5a [Accessed 20.06.2025] .
Dostál, J. 1976. Centaurea L. In Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A. (eds.), Flora Europaea. Volume 4. Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 254–301.
