Basket Flower
10 images Created 1 Feb 2021
Centaurea americana
Reaching up to five feet for the sun, this flower sure looks like a thistle. Technically, it’s not, however, lacking the prickly spines that define the thistle family.
Other common names include the Shaving Brush, American Basket-flower, or just plain Basket-flower. Perhaps this name identifies its most distinguishing characteristic - a tightly interwoven basket of pale bracts that seem to support the flower head. Before the flower heads open, it is tightly bunched, erupting straight out of the basket, and giving the appearance of an old-fashioned shaving brush.
The stem branches, creating a layer of flower heads on each plant, each with delicately branched disk flowers. The flower heads can reach four to five inches in diameter, providing a highlight for May and June.
Reaching up to five feet for the sun, this flower sure looks like a thistle. Technically, it’s not, however, lacking the prickly spines that define the thistle family.
Other common names include the Shaving Brush, American Basket-flower, or just plain Basket-flower. Perhaps this name identifies its most distinguishing characteristic - a tightly interwoven basket of pale bracts that seem to support the flower head. Before the flower heads open, it is tightly bunched, erupting straight out of the basket, and giving the appearance of an old-fashioned shaving brush.
The stem branches, creating a layer of flower heads on each plant, each with delicately branched disk flowers. The flower heads can reach four to five inches in diameter, providing a highlight for May and June.
