''Cephalaria alpina'', commonly known as the yellow cephalaria, alpine scabious or yellow scabious, is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the family

Caprifoliaceae The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade of dicotyledonous flowering plants consisting of about 860 species in 33 to 42 genera, with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution. Centres of diversity are found in eastern North America and easte ...

native to the Alps in Europe.

Description

''Cephalaria alpina'' is a branched, perennial

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

plant growing to in height. The long stem is hairy, leaves are long and wide, petiolate, dentate and densely hairy on the underside. This plant shows pale yellow head-like inflorescences on the naked stems. The flowering period extends from June to August. Flora.nhm
/ref>

Distribution and habitat

This species is present in Western and Eastern Alps, in the northern Apennines and in the Swiss Jura. It prefers nutrient-rich and limestone soils at an elevation of above sea level. It has been declared a weed in Australia.

Ecology

The flowers are visited by the

white-tailed bumblebee ''Bombus lucorum'', the white-tailed bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee, widespread and common throughout Europe. This name has been widely used for a range of nearly identical-looking or cryptic species of bumblebees. In 1983, Scholl and Obre ...

(''Bombus lucorum'') and ''

Bombus cryptarum ''Bombus cryptarum'' is a species of bumblebee. It is native to the northern hemisphere, where it is "one of the most widespread bumblebees in the world."NatureServe. 2015''Bombus cryptarum''.NatureServe Explorer Version 7.1. Accessed 8 March 201 ...

''.

References

Bibliography

* Gunter Steinbach (Hrsg.): Alpenblumen (Steinbachs Naturführer). Mosaik Verlag GmbH, München 1996, . * Pignatti S. 1982 -Flora d'Italia. Bologna * Zangheri P. 1976- Flora Italica. Padova * Aeschimann D., Lauber K., Moser D.M., Theurillat J.P.,2004 - Flora Alpina. Bologna * Conti F.,Abbate G.,Alessandrini A.,Blasi C., 2005 -An Annoted Checklist of the Italian Vascular Flora. Roma

alpina Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH & Co. KG is an automobile manufacturing company based in Buchloe, in the Ostallgäu district of Bavaria, Germany that develops and sells high-performance versions of BMW cars. Alpina works closely with BMW and t ...

Flora of the Alps Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Dipsacales-stub