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Gentianaceae family

Arizona Centaury Centaurium calycosum

Native

Arizona Centaury is an annual wildflower native to the lower 48 states. It blooms Mar – Oct.

More about this plant

Zeltnera calycosa is a species of flowering plant in the gentian family known by the common name Arizona centaury. It is native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, where it grows in moist places in otherwise dry habitat, such as riverbanks. This is an erect biennial herb growing up to half a meter tall. The widely lance-shaped leaves appear in a basal rosette and along the slender stem, each up to 7 centimeters long. The inflorescence is an open array of flowers on short pedicels. Each flower opens into five pointed lobes, each about a centimeter long and dark rose pink in color. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 8 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Annual
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
The garden year bloom → fruit → fall colour
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Bloom
Bloom (the flower's colour)
Bloom · Mar – Oct — 113 obs · Herbarium specimens — Park et al. 2023 (CC BY 4.0)
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts Documented caterpillar host

Recorded feeding on Centaurium in North America, including:

Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Sources for this entry (13) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[07] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[08] Ecological value — GloBI
[10] Conservation rank — NatureServe Explorer (CC BY)
[11] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[13] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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