Centaurea (/ˌsɛntɔːˈriːə/)[1] is a genus of between 350 and 600 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding regions are particularly species-rich. In the western United States, yellow starthistles are an invasive species. Around the year 1850, seeds from the plant had arrived to the state of California. It is believed that those seeds came from South America.
Common names for this genus are centaury, centory, starthistles, knapweeds, centaureas and the more ambiguous “bluets”; a vernacular name used for these plants in parts of England is “loggerheads” (common knapweed). The Plectocephalus group – possibly a distinct genus – is known as basketflowers. “Cornflower” is used for a few species, but that term more often specifically means either C. cyanus (the annual cornflower) or Centaurea montana (the perennial cornflower). The common name “centaury” is sometimes used, although this also refers to the unrelated plant genus Centaurium.[2]
The name is said to be in reference to Chiron, the centaur of Greek mythology who discovered medicinal uses of a plant eventually called “centaury”.[3]
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