Plectocephalus americana (Syn. Centaurea americana)
Family: Asteraceae
Description: Annual to 1 meter high with alternate lanceolate or elliptic leaves 1-16 cm long. Heads solitary, 3-4 cm high and up to 10 cm wide, discoid. Corolla light purple-violet.
Field Identification: Attractive and showy aster. Flower bracts of involucre highly branched, giving a basketlike appearance with a sweet, honey fragrance. The flowers are followed by fluffy seed heads. The plant resembles thistles but lacks their prickly characteristics. The fruit is a cypsela: a dry, one-seeded fruit, usually topped by pappus.
Plant Trivia: Though it resembles a thistle, Basketflower lacks the spines that make thistles difficult to handle.
Occurrence: Fairly frequent on sandy or clayey loams or caliche in prairies and openings. Found throughout most of Texas. Native plant of N. America and northern Mexico
Bloom Period: Apr-Jun
Plant Use: Pollinator- Attracts bees, butterflies, and other pollinators; landscaping flower.
Dichotomous Key: This is the only species of the Genus Plectocephalus in our area.
