Abstract
SummaryCentaurea africana L. (Compositae: Cardueae: Centaureinae) is illustrated and described. The species has a long history of cultivation that probably exceeds 350 years, although it is apparently rarely available from commercial sources as seed or plant material. Other than the tribal name to use when placing this species, its more recent recognition as a species of Rhaponticoides Vaill. is not accepted; the issue of Vaillant names is once again raised. The capitula of C. africana are considered heterogamous and disciform, not radiant, with the few marginal florets possessing equal length, certainly non‐showy, corolla lobes, and usually containing staminodes. A number of synonyms, appearing in a couple of well‐known databases, are excluded; one belongs to a purple‐flowered species endemic to northern Morocco, the other to a yellow‐flowered, pinnatisect‐leaved plant of northern Spain. A potentially exciting use of one flavonoid extracted from flowering parts of the plant, algerianin, in combatting human myeloid leukaemia, is highlighted.
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