American Star-thistle
Centaurea americananative · Hill Country
American Star-thistle is an annual wildflower native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 1.5–5 ft tall and 1 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and low water, and handles clay soil. Blooms pink in spring and summer. Good for bees, birds and butterflies.
Will it grow in your yard?
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The facts
2 sources- Type
- Annual wildflower
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade (4–8 hrs of direct sun)
- Water
- Low
- Height
- 1.5–5 ft
- Spread
- 1 ft
- Bloom
- Spring, Summer · pink
- Foliage
- Deciduous or dies back in winter
- Soil
- Takes clay · recorded on clay, dry, loam, sand
- Wildlife
- Supports bees, birds and butterflies
Where it grows
Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:
Balcones CanyonlandsLlano UpliftEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaLimestone Cut PlainSan Antonio Prairie
Can you buy it?
Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.