BACKGROUND Anti-inflammatory activities of medicinal plants have largely been attributed to their content of sesquiterpene lactones (SLs). SLs are predominantly found in the sunflower family Asteraceae and have been isolated from many plants of this family, particularly Centaurea. The anti-inflammatory activities of extract of Centaurea ainetensis, a Lebanese endemic plant, and the isolated act...

PURPOSE: Yellow starthistle is one of most problematic invasive species in grass and rangelands in the western United States. It has expanded its distribution since the 1950’s threatening native species’ diversity and reducing the utility of rangelands for livestock. Control of yellow starthistle has relied heavily on the use of picloram and clopyralid. Although these herbicides have been widel...

Numerous species of the Asteraceae, the composites, are famous for their use in both traditional and conventional medicine. Reliable anatomical descriptions of these plants and of possible adulterations provide a basis for fast identification and cheap purity controls of respective medicinal drugs by means of light microscopy. Nevertheless, detailed comparative studies on root and rhizome anato...

Centaurea cineraria L. (Compositae: Cardueae: Centaureinae), part of the group, is described and illustrated, notes provided on its cultivation, propagation, pests diseases availability. Within current concepts full synonymy C. gymnocapra are along with type citations known distribution material. The infrageneric divisions commented briefly. varying treatments complex species discussed, some cl...

Hybridization between tetraploids and their related diploids is generally unsuccessful in Centaurea, hence natural formation of triploid hybrids is rare. In contrast, the diploid Centaurea aspera and the allotetraploid C. seridis coexist in several contact zones where a high frequency of triploid hybrids is found. We analyzed the floral biology of the three taxa to identify reproductive isolati...

The classical approach to predicting the geographical extent of species invasions consists of training models in the native range and projecting them in distinct, potentially invasible areas. However, recent studies have demonstrated that this approach could be hampered by a change of the realized climatic niche, allowing invasive species to spread into habitats in the invaded ranges that are c...