Stats

Lifespan

Annual

Size

Medium

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate grassland

Range

Mediterranean

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Spines

Status

Uncommon

About

Maltese star-thistle is a spiny annual weed native to the Mediterranean, now widely naturalized across California's roadsides and disturbed soils. Its small yellow flowerheads are wrapped in stiff, needle-sharp bracts that can exceed 1 cm, making bare-handed handling genuinely painful.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

• View on iNaturalist →

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Asterales

Family

Asteraceae

Genus

Centaurea

Species

Centaurea melitensis