Bachelor's Button (Centaurea cyanus)

Downy annual, 12-36" tall, grooved silky white stem

Leaves: alternate, linear, mostly entire, 2-5" long, white-hairy when young. 

Flowers: ray flowers absent. Disk flowers bright blue, pinkish or white, numerous.


Bloom time: July-September. 

Where found: introduced from the Mediterranean. Now found along roadsides, fields, and other open places throughout the U.S. and TN,  but less common in West TN and the Cumberland Plateau. Occasional.