Flowers. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Flower buds. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Flowering plant. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Dry flowers. Photo: Don Wood, Scotia Sanctuary, NSW

Common Name

Maltese Cockspur, Cockspur Thistle, Saucy Jack, Malta Thistle

Family

Asteraceae

Notes

Introduced annual forb 20-100cm tall.  Basal leaves withering before flowering, 4-14cm long, 10-60mm wide, flat, dissected, finely hairy to rough.  Stem leaves alternating up the stems, the bases continuing down the stems, 1-7cm long, 2-9mm wide, flat, hairy to rough, edges rough, entire to toothed.  Flower heads spiny, yellow, with many ‘petals’, oval to globular, single or in open groups of 2-3 at the ends of the stems.

Short description and photograph in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales page 720

PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Centaurea~melitensis