Two Species of the Centaury Wild Flower

Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea)

Colour photograph of the Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea) wild flower found on the grassland dunes of Bull Island, Dublin. Common centaury usually has a tall erect stem, up to 50 cm, branching into many flowerheads in a terminal cyme, forming a rather flat umbel. Oval leaves form a basal rosette and are then in opposite pairs on the stem. Flowers are 10-12 mm across with five pointed pink petals joined in a tube at the base with five narrow pointed green sepals. The fruit capsule is long and slender, holding many tiny rounded seeds. Common centaury is very visible across all the dune areas all summer. Flowers: June-October

By kind permission of Dorothy Forde

Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea)
By kind permission of Dorothy Forde

Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea)

Colour photograph of the Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea) wild flower found on the grassland dunes of Bull Island, Dublin. Common centaury usually has a tall erect stem, up to 50 cm, branching into many flowerheads in a terminal cyme, forming a rather flat umbel. Oval leaves form a basal rosette and are then in opposite pairs on the stem. Flowers are 10-12 mm across with five pointed pink petals joined in a tube at the base with five narrow pointed green sepals. The fruit capsule is long and slender, holding many tiny rounded seeds. Common centaury is very visible across all the dune areas all summer. Flowers: June-October

By kind permission of Dorothy Forde

Enlarge image

COMMON CENTAURY (Centaurium erythraea)


Common centaury usually has a tall erect stem, up to 50 cm, branching into many flowerheads in a terminal cyme, forming a rather flat umbel. Oval leaves form a basal rosette and are then in opposite pairs on the stem.

Flowers are 10-12 mm across with five pointed pink petals joined in a tube at the base with five narrow pointed green sepals.

The fruit capsule is long and slender, holding many tiny rounded seeds. Common centaury is very visible across all the dune areas all summer.

Flowers: June-October

Lesser Centaury (Centaurium pulchellum)

Lesser Centaury is a quite rare plant found on the Bull Island in the grassland dunes and on the salt marsh where this speciman was photographed. It differs from the more robust common centaury in several respects. Lesser centaury is a much smaller plant than common centaury, seldom being more than 10 cm high. Its branching stems are also less crowded, holding only a few loose flowerheads. The smaller 5-petaled tubular pink flowers are about 8 mm across and are distinctly stalked, unlike the larger unstalked flowers of common centaury. The flower tube extends beyond the five pointed green sepals. There is no basal rosette of leaves, only the paired oval stem leaves. Fruit is a cylindrical capsule holding tiny round seeds. Flowers: June-August

By kind permission of Dorothy Forde

Lesser Centaury (Centaurium pulchellum)
By kind permission of Dorothy Forde

Lesser Centaury (Centaurium pulchellum)

Lesser Centaury is a quite rare plant found on the Bull Island in the grassland dunes and on the salt marsh where this speciman was photographed. It differs from the more robust common centaury in several respects. Lesser centaury is a much smaller plant than common centaury, seldom being more than 10 cm high. Its branching stems are also less crowded, holding only a few loose flowerheads. The smaller 5-petaled tubular pink flowers are about 8 mm across and are distinctly stalked, unlike the larger unstalked flowers of common centaury. The flower tube extends beyond the five pointed green sepals. There is no basal rosette of leaves, only the paired oval stem leaves. Fruit is a cylindrical capsule holding tiny round seeds. Flowers: June-August

By kind permission of Dorothy Forde

Enlarge image

LESSER CENTAURY (Centaurium pulchellum)

Lesser centaury is a quite rare plant found on the Bull Island in the grassland dunes and on the salt marsh where this specimen was photographed. It differs from the more robust common centaury in several respects.

Lesser centaury is a much smaller plant than common centaury, seldom being more than 10 cm high. Its branching stems are also less crowded, holding only a few loose flowerheads.

The smaller 5-petaled tubular pink flowers are about 8 mm across and are distinctly stalked, unlike the larger unstalked flowers of common centaury. The flower tube extends beyond the five pointed green sepals.

There is no basal rosette of leaves, only the paired oval stem leaves. Fruit is a cylindrical capsule holding tiny round seeds.

Flowers: June-August

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