Centaurea dealbata Willd.

Accepted name: Psephellus dealbatus

Perennial herb to 1m tall, hairy. Stems erect, branched. Lower leaves to 45 cm long, twice divided, petiolate. Upper leaves smaller, once divided, sessile. Capitula solitary, to 6 cm across; summer. Involucral bracts with a brownish, comb-like terminal appendage. Florets bright pink. Achenes 5-6 mm long, sparsely hairy. Pappus of short deciduous bristles.

Caucasus

Source: Jeanes, J. (2002). Asteraceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.

Centaurea dealbata 'Steenbergii'

Flowers dark carmine-lilac but the plant has an invasive rootstock.

Possibly a hybrid, originating c. 1939.