Slender, fibrous-rooted perennial 3-10 dm; lvs mostly in the lower half of the stem, entire or nearly so, oblanceolate, slender-petiolate, the upper ones much reduced; gynodioecious, the perfect heads to 3 cm thick, terminal, the female smaller; cor 4-7 mm, blue to white; fr 5 mm, hairy; involucel toothed; cal short, with 5 short awns; 2n=20. Native of Eurasia and n. Afr., occasionally found as a weed in the ne. part of our range. Aug. (Scabiosa succisa)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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