California Coastal Commission, Public Education Program, Upper Newport Bay Plants

Yellow Star Thistle (Centaurea melitensis)

Plant: Non-native weed, annual, erect, 1 to 1-1/2 feet high, gray-downy with few branches above the base. Invasive.
Flowers: Flower heads are solitary or with 2 or three at the ends of branching stems. Numerous yellow disk flowers, bracts 3/8 inch high, covered with spines with purple or brown tinge.
Leaf: Alternate on stems. Lower leaves are cleft with large terminal lobe, 2 to 4-1/2 inches long. Upper leaves are linear, smooth edges. All leaves have no stems and extend down the main stem, wing-like.