Centaurea pumilio L.

Taxon info
Centaurea pumilio is found in W Kriti and very locally in W & S Peloponnisos and on Kefallinia. It is a species of maritime sand, peculiar by developing oblong tubers at the ends of its roots (much like the tubers of Paeonia). It is locally abundant on the beach at Falasarna in W Kriti and on the sandy islet of Elafonisi off SW Kriti. The related C. aegialophila occurs in C & E Kriti, Kasos, and Karpathos.A
A. Dimopoulos, P., Raus, Th., Bergmeier, E., Constantinidis, Th., Iatrou, G., Kokkini, S., Strid, A. & Tzanoudakis, D. 2013: Vascular plants of Greece: An annotated checklist. 31: p. 324 [Plate 4.2]