Description
Cephalaria anatolica is a slender, upright perennial herb reaching up to 1 m tall. The stem branches from near the base and has a coating of fine, downward-pointing hairs on its lower sections, becoming smooth and hairless toward the upper portions. [1]
The leaves are somewhat leathery and consistently hairy across their surfaces. They vary in shape depending on their position along the stem. The lower leaves are either simple (undivided) or deeply divided into segments resembling a feather ( pinnatisect ). Simple leaves at the base are narrow, lance-shaped ( lanceolate , measuring 3–12 cm long by 0.4–0.9 cm wide, with pointed tips. Pinnatisect lower leaves are lance-shaped overall, measuring 5–16 cm long by 1.5–4 cm wide, typically with 10–12 smaller lance-shaped or rectangular segments along each side. The segment at the tip of these divided leaves is larger than the others, broadly lance-shaped to somewhat egg-shaped, measuring 1.5–4 cm by 0.7–1.5 cm. The leaves higher up the stem are smaller, narrower, and similarly divided into 8–10 segments, each segment linear to lance-shaped. At the very top of the stem, leaves are simple, narrow, and directly attached without stalks, measuring just 0.4–3 cm by 0.1–0.2 cm. [1]
The flower heads ( capitula ) are egg-shaped, measuring 1–1.5 cm across when flowering and shrinking slightly to 0.7–1.2 cm when fruiting. Each flower head is surrounded by overlapping scales called involucral bracts, which are egg-shaped, straw-coloured with occasional pale reddish-brown markings, hairy surfaces, and tiny hairs along their margins. Inside the flower head, receptacular bracts (scales supporting individual flowers) are elongated, straw-coloured at the base and reddish-brown towards the tip, also hairy and with margins fringed by tiny hairs, gradually tapering to a sharp point. [1]
Each flower has a small, cup-shaped calyx measuring 2–3 mm across, with irregularly toothed edges. The petals form a yellow corolla 8–13 mm long, densely covered with soft, close-lying hairs on the outside. The involucel —a small structure enclosing the developing fruit—is four-angled, 4–6 mm long, hairy, and has eight very small, equal-sized teeth at the tip. [1]
The flowering period of Cephalaria anatolica occurs from June to July, with fruits developing from July to August. [1]
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