Centaurea lancifolia

Centaurea lancifolia photographed in August 2008 near the summit of Mavri at 1900m. To my knowledge these are the first photographs of the entire plant as well as the first photos of flowers ever taken.

The photo are not very good and I came a little late in the year for clear images of the flowers but I'll go back to the site next year, maybe with a rope to get closer and for better images.

The lowest image shows the site where the plants were found (by Nick Turland in June 2008). Note that there is still snow in it. The hole is huge, about 35 to 40m deep and 100m across.

You can click on the pictures to enlarge.