This naming confusion has appeared again on the Plant ID forum,
The thread "Basket Flower (Centaurea melitensis)" in
Plant ID forum
To recap what was said previously here and on that thread.
Centaurea melitensis L. validly published in 1753 (first publishing).
Centaurea americana Nutt. was validly published in 1821(first publishing).
Centaurea americana Spreng., was validly published in 1826 but is illegitimate because the name had already been validly published (second publishing).
Plectocephalus americanus (Nutt.) D. Don was validly published in 1830 (first publishing).
I've removed Centaurea americana Spreng. as a synonym of C. melitensis both because it is illegitimate and because it is confusing.
Therefor we have no entry in our database for the very different plant Centaurea americana Nutt./Plectocephalus americanus (Nutt.) D. Don.
The images by
@Kelli in
American Basket-Flower (Plectocephalus americanus) appear to be correct as noted by
@HamiltonSquare and
@JRsbugs. The other images appear to be of Centaurea americana Nutt.
While the correct name for Centaurea americana Nutt. is currently unresolved, the
plant does exist and is referenced in many locations. Here are just a few of the links in Janet's posts.
http://www.wildflower.org/plan...
http://plants.usda.gov/core/pr...
http://sweetgum.nybg.org/vh/sp...
While we're always hesitant to add unresolved names to the database it appears that the best solution in this case is to do so.
Maltese Star Thistle (Centaurea melitensis)
I've added Plectocephalus americanus as a synonym and noted it's current nomenclature status as unresolved in a comment.
