Cephalaria alpina explained

Cephalaria alpina, commonly known as the yellow cephalaria, alpine scabious or yellow scabious, is a species of flowering plant in the family Caprifoliaceae native to the Alps in Europe.

Description

Cephalaria alpina is a branched, perennial herbaceous plant growing to 60- in height. The long stem is hairy, leaves are 9- long and 2- wide, petiolate, dentate and densely hairy on the underside. This plant shows pale yellow head-like inflorescences on the naked stems. The flowering period extends from June to August.^[1]

Distribution and habitat

This species is present in Western and Eastern Alps, in the northern Apennines and in the Swiss Jura. It prefers nutrient-rich and limestone soils at an elevation of 1000- above sea level.^{[1] [2]}

It has been declared a weed in Australia.^[3]

Ecology

The flowers are visited by the white-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) and Bombus cryptarum.^[4]

Bibliography

• Gunter Steinbach (Hrsg.): Alpenblumen (Steinbachs Naturführer). Mosaik Verlag GmbH, München 1996, .
• Pignatti S. 1982 -Flora d'Italia. Bologna
• Zangheri P. 1976- Flora Italica. Padova
• Aeschimann D., Lauber K., Moser D.M., Theurillat J.P.,2004 - Flora Alpina. Bologna
• Conti F.,Abbate G.,Alessandrini A.,Blasi C., 2005 -An Annoted Checklist of the Italian Vascular Flora. Roma

Notes and References

1. http://flora.nhm-wien.ac.at/Seiten-Arten/Cephalaria-alpina.htm Flora.nhm
2. http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/index1.php?scientific-name=cephalaria+alpina Schede di botanica
3. Book: Randall, R.P.. The introduced flora of Australia and its weed status. CRC for Australian Weed Management. 2007. 109. 978-1-920932-60-2.
4. Ozbek. Hikmet. 1997. Bumblebees fauna of Turkey with distribution maps Part 1: Alpigenibombus Skorikov, Bombias Robertson Bombus Latreille. 21. 1. 37–56. 2015-11-07. 2016-04-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20160409212819/http://zoologie.umh.ac.be/hymenoptera/biblio/Ozbek_1997_Turkey_Alpigenobombus_Bombias_Bombus_full.pdf. dead.