Scientific name
Centaurea melitensis
Additional name information:

L.

Common name
tocolote, Maltese star thistle, Napa star thistle, Malta starthistle

Tocolote was brought to California during the Spanish mission period. The earliest record of its occurrence was seed found in adobe bricks of a building constructed in 1797 in San Fernando (Hendry 1931). It appears to have been a contaminant in wheat, barley, and oat seed and was widely distributed in dry-farmed grain fields. In one instance its seed was found embedded in an oat floret (Stanton and Boerner 1936). Seed is transported by humans, animals, or wind, similar to starthistle (Gerlach unpubl. data).

Posted on July 4, 2020 02:27 PM by jwparker2