Centaurea pullata L.  

A rough-hairy annual or perennial. Stems erect, simple or branched from 1 to 50 cm long. Leaves pinnatifid to sinuately-lobed, rarely entire; the lower ones oblanceolate, on long stalks; the upper ones ovate to linear-lanceolate, sessile. Flower heads solitary, purplish-pink, bluish-purple or rarely yellowish or white; up to 5 cm across; often surrounded by narrow upper leaves. Ray florets absent, but the outer non-fertile florets much longer and broader than the inner ones. Involucre up to 2 cm across, more or less cylindrical, with many rows of overlapping bracts. Bracts with a conspicuous black margin; apical appendage up to 1 cm long, composed of 4 to 5 pairs of yellowish lateral bristles. Achenes up to 4 mm long, with a pappus of scales up to 3 mm long.