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Wig Knapweed

Wig Knapweed

Centaurea phrygia

Identify the Wig Knapweed from a photo and log your finds with Florapass.

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How common: Common

Alien species

Wig Knapweed is a hardy perennial meadow flower with large purple heads that look a bit like a shaggy wig. It grows 30–80 cm tall on upright, slightly rough stems. You can see it in open, sunny places such as meadows, roadsides and light woodland in many parts of Europe.

Did you know?

  • The name “wig” comes from the shaggy outer flowers that give the head a tousled look.
  • It is sometimes sown in wildflower seed mixes as an ornamental.

About the species

Identification

Perennial with thick, persistent roots, 30–80 cm tall. Stem upright, slightly rough, branching near the top and thick just below the head. Leaves grey‑green and slightly hairy: lower leaves broader with regular teeth; upper leaves narrower, sit directly on the stem and usually have smooth edges. Flower heads are single and large (3–4.5 cm), purple to reddish purple, with a shaggy fringe. The scaly cup beneath has black, comb‑like fringes ending in a long thread that often bends downward. Usually uncut leaves help tell it from Greater Knapweed. Flowers in Finland in July–August.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

meadow

Flowering

Jul–Aug

About the habitat

Open, sunny places such as meadows, dry grasslands, field margins, roadsides and light, fertile woodland. Common in the central and eastern parts of southern Finland, becoming rarer toward the west and north.

Sources

Photo: Stanislav Murashkin, CC BY 4.0 https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6147567485

Text: Pinkka: A Pohjolan kasveja - Carex, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39907

Text: Pinkka (Luomus), CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39907

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nurmikaunokki

See also