Centaurea cyanus L., Sp. Pl. 911. 1753. C. lanata Roxb., Fl. Ind. 3: 644. 1832; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 3: 384. 1881.

Annuals or biennials, erect, 15 - 75 cm high, branched. Lower leaves lanceolate, entire or lyrate-pinnatifid, acute, petiolate; upper linear-lanceolate, entire. Heads ca 1 cm across, ovoid. Involucral bracts oblong, obtuse, cottony, tip broad with brown scarious toothed margins. Outer florets blue; inner bluish violet. Achenes grey, silky, ca 4 mm long. Pappus ca 4 mm long.

Fl. & Fr. March - June.

Distrib. India: Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Native of Mediterranean region and Europe.

Notes. Usually cultivated; often met with as an escape in waste places and roadsides.