This new taxon belongs to Centaurea sect. Melanoloma and is close to C. atlantis, the only species from the section with subpalmate bracts and achene with pappus. It differs from all the species of C. sect. Melanoloma that occurred in Morocco by the peculiar bipinnatisect small leaves with folded glandular lobes (versus pinnatipartite to pinnatifid for all other species). Furthermore, it also differs from C. atlantis by the small size of the achenes.
Centaurea achilleifolia was collected in the Eastern Middle Atlas, on the jbel Bou Naceur at 2750 m altitude.
Réf. Homrani Bakali A. & Susanna A., 2022 - Centaurea achilleifolia (Asteraceae), a new endemic species from the Oriental Middle Atlas of Morocco. Phytotaxa 542 (1): 083–089.
Posted by Jean-Paul Peltier.