Family: knapweeds (Asteraceae)
Flowering time: May–August
Size: 30–60 cm
Habitat: pastures, meadows, scrub, forests and clearings
At the top of the broad-winged stem of the mountain knapweed (Centaurea montana) there usually develops a single inflorescence – a head. The outer flowers are blue, and the inner flowers of the head are scarlet. Below the flowers are dense involucral leaves, which in knapweeds are called involucral leaves. A characteristic of the green involucral leaves of the mountain knapweed is the dark, almost black fringe along their edge. Relatively soft, egg-shaped to lanceolate cauline leaves extend up the stem from the base. The lower surface of the leaves is gray, woolly-haired, but may become bare over time. Mountain knapweed is suited to higher elevations.
It is widespread in the Alpine, pre-Alpine and Dinaric regions of Slovenia. In the southeast of the country it is rare, and in the northeast of Slovenia it does not occur at all.
