The Cornflower of the Abruzzo Gorges

Habit: A perennial plant up to 40 cm tall, characterized by a dense white indumentum. Stem: Erect and often branched from the base. Leaves: Extremely variable; basal leaves long-petioled, from lyrate to pinnatipartite. Stem leaves retain a complex structure, from once to twice pinnatisect, along the whole stem, becoming reduced only near the flower heads. Flowers: Capitula 7-12 mm wide, composed exclusively of reddish-purple tubular florets. The involucral bracts are the main identifying feature: they show evident veins and a comb-like ciliate appendage, dark in the center and pale on the fringes, ending in a pronounced mucro. Fruits: Pubescent achenes about 3 mm long, with a pappus shorter than the fruit itself. Flowering: June-August.

Chorological type: Italian endemic. Distribution: A narrow Abruzzo endemic, almost exclusively restricted to the Sagittario Gorges between Anversa degli Abruzzi and Villalago, in the province of L’Aquila. Habitat: It grows on calcareous cliffs and rocky walls between 600 and 1400 m above sea level.

Generic name (Centaurea): From the Latin centaureum, a term linked to Greek mythology: according to tradition, the centaur Chiron, master of the healing arts, used plants of this genus to cure a wound inflicted on him by one of Heracles’ arrows. Specific name (scannensis): Refers to the area of Scanno, the Abruzzo village located very close to the species’ main range.

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Because of its extremely narrow range and the specificity of its habitat, namely vertical limestone cliffs, it is included in the Italian Red List of Flora and is strictly protected at regional level. Its survival depends on preserving the integrity of the rocky walls of the Sagittario Gorges, which are potentially threatened by invasive human activities and by climate change altering the exposure and humidity of its growth sites.