Centaurea cylindrocephala Bornm.

Taxonomy: Fam. Compositae// Genus: Centaurea// Species: Centaurea cylindrocephala Bornm. in Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 17: 453. 1921.

Determined according to the botanical keys provided by Hayek (1928-1931) and Dostál (1976 in Tutin et al.) and the original description by Bornmüller (1921). Checked scans from herbarium specimens from North Macedonia collected by Bornmüller in 1917 available on-line (sources: Herbarium Hamburgense, 2026a,b; University of Jena, Herbarium Haussknecht, 2026a,b).

Note: This species is distinguished from the other species in Section Acrolophus by the very small, ovoid-conical capitula 10 mm long x 5 mm wide, bracts with light-brown, pectinate ciliate, spinulose appendage, lower fimbriae not confluent into an auricle and remotely pinnatisect leaves with linear divisions.

Lifeform: Perennial plant; hemicryptophyte according to the Raunkiær system.

Description: Perennial plant with one to several stems from the base, 20 to 90 cm long, paniculately branched in the upper 1/2. Branches few to numerous, usually branched and bearig many capitula. Plant on harsh exposed dry rocky sites much smaller, less branched and with fewer capitula. Basal leaves withered at flowering. Stems and leaves ± green, grey-green to grey, with appressed arachnoid grey indumentum. Basal leaves ± covered with arachnoid grey indumentum, up to 20 cm long, remotely pinnatisect with long petiole which equals or is slightly longer to slightly shorter than the lamina. Primary divisions linear-lanceolate, undivided to remotely pinnatisect with one or two pairs of linear lanceolate lobes, 1-2 mm wide. The lower cauline leaves are remotely 1-pinnatisect with entire to subentire linear-lanceolate primary divisions, to 2-pinnatisect with primary divisions with up to 2 pairs of lobes. Middle leaves of main stem and leaves of the secondary branches have remotely 1-pinnatisect leaves, with entire or almost entire linear to linear-lanceolate divisions 1-2 mm wide, while leaves of the terminal branches bearing the capitula are linear-lanceolate and reduced in size. Leaf divisions more or less incurved (canaliculate), terminating in a mucro. Capitula small, involucre ovoid-conical, (9.5-)10(-10.5) mm long x (4.0-)4.5-5 mm wide. Ripe dehisced capitula 10-11 mm long x 5-6 wide. The bracts are small, with light-brown, pectinate ciliate appendage. Middle bracts with up to 8 fimbriae and spinulose apex (spinule c. 0.5 < 1 mm). Fimbriae c. 1 mm long, the 2-3 lower are shorter and lighter, not confluent and not forming auricles. Lower fimbriae of inner bracts becoming shorter, somewhat wider at the base and translucent, but distinctly separated from each other, and nor forming auricle. Achenes 2-2.5 mm, grey, with fine hairs. Pappus with white hairs, 1 to 2 mm long. The pappus is shorter than the achene, ranging from slightly shorter or longer than 1/2 length of the achene (47-60%) to 4/5 (80%) of the length of the body.

Note: According to literature data: original description by Bornmüller (1921), Hayek (1928-1931), Dostál (1976 in Tutin et al.), the lower leaves are remotely pinnatisect with linear, entire or nearly entire segments, while the branch leaves are linear-lanceolate, completely entire, and reduced in size. In the specimens from Osogovo, the primary segments of the lower cauline leaves are entire or subentire to pinnatisect with up to 2 remote pairs of lobes in more robust specimens. According to literature data, the pappus is half as long as the achene body. In the Osogovo population, this is not a reliable taxonomic trait, as it varies from c. 1/2 to 4/5 of the body length.

Distribution: Native to the Balkan Penisula: North Macedonia and Greece according to The Euro+Med PlantBase (Greuter, 2006+) and the Plants of the World Online portal (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) and Bánki et al. (2026).

Habitat: Rocky terrains and edges of woods in the gorge of the Kochanka River.

Flowering period: Summer: JUL, AUG.

Locality: Kochani: gorge of the Kochanska River. Date: 23.06.2024.

Locality: Kochani: gorge of the Kochanska River. Date: 06.08.2023.

Scaled images. Specimen from Kochani, gorge of the Kochanska River, colected 06.08.2023.

Locality: Kochani: gorge of the Kochanska River. Date: 10.08.2026.

References:

Bornmüller, J. (1921). Beiträge zur Flora von Mazedonien. II. Repertorium Specierum Novarum Regni Vegetabilis, 17(23–30), pp. 433–456. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/181635#page/461/mode/1up [Accessed 08.08.2026].

Centaurea cylindrocephala Bornm. Plants of the World Online portal, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:190312-1 [Accessed 08.08.2026].

?Centaurea cylindrocephala. Greuter, W. 2006+: Compositae (pro parte majore). – In: Greuter, W. & Raab-Straube, E. von, Compositae. Euro+Med PlantBase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published at https://europlusmed.org/. https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/a80dcd35-a69a-4409-898e-31d531a1cd0e [Accessed 08.08.2026].

Centaurea cylindrocephala Bornm. in Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Abreu, C., Acero P, A., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (2026-07-17 XR). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgykv

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.

Hayek A. 1928–1931. Prodromus florae peninsulae Balcanicae, 2. Band: Dicotyledoneae Sympetalae. — Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 30(2): 1152 pp. [1–96 (1928), 97–336 (1929), 337–576 (1930), 577–1152 (1931)].

Herbarium Hamburgense (2026a). Herbarium Hamburgense. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/31iaih accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-08-05. https://gbif.org/occurrence/6193079871

Herbarium Hamburgense (2026b). Herbarium Hamburgense. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/31iaih accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-08-05. https://gbif.org/occurrence/6193077850

Herbarium Haussknecht (2026a). University of Jena, Herbarium Haussknecht – Herbarium JE. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/8arhjc accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-08-05. https://gbif.org/occurrence/3028977837

Herbarium Haussknecht (2026b). University of Jena, Herbarium Haussknecht – Herbarium JE. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/8arhjc accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-08-05. https://gbif.org/occurrence/3028977835

Last update: 27.08.2026.