Scabiosa ochroleucaL.

cream pincushions

WFO wfo-0000500056 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Scabiosa ochroleuca, photographed by Pavel Kacl
fig. a Pavel Kacl, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-28 / obs. 201356763
Scabiosa ochroleuca, photographed by Elias
fig. b Elias, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 200187347
Scabiosa ochroleuca, photographed by Pavel Kacl
fig. c Pavel Kacl, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 199556469
Scabiosa ochroleuca, photographed by Petra Caltová
fig. d Petra Caltová, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 199592934
Scabiosa ochroleuca, photographed by Patrick Hacker
fig. e Patrick Hacker, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195161921
Scabiosa ochroleuca, photographed by Pavel Kacl
fig. f Pavel Kacl, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 178717977
Scabiosa ochroleuca, photographed by tetyanakuchma
fig. g tetyanakuchma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 168672344
Scabiosa ochroleuca, photographed by Aleksei Baushev
fig. h Aleksei Baushev, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 167285177

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 34 botanical countries

Regions where Scabiosa ochroleuca is native: Algeria, Altay, Buryatiya, Irkutsk, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Krasnoyarsk, Lebanon-Syria, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Tuva, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, East European Russia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, South European Russia, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AlgeriaAltayBuryatiyaIrkutskKazakhstanKirgizstanKrasnoyarskLebanon-SyriaMongoliaNorth CaucasusTranscaucasusTürkiyeTuvaWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBulgariaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaEast European RussiaGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSouth European RussiaTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine
Native distribution of Scabiosa ochroleuca, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
East European Russia RUE
Germany GER
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Buryatiya BRY
Irkutsk IRK
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Tuva TVA
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK
Algeria ALG AFRICA

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 16 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Asterocephalus bipinnatus Jord. & Fourr.
  • Asterocephalus flavescens Schur
  • Asterocephalus montanus Schur
  • Asterocephalus scopolii Rchb.
  • Asterocephalus webbianus Spreng.
  • Columbaria ochroleuca J.Presl & C.Presl
  • Pentena ochroleuca Raf.
  • Scabiosa djurdjurae Chabert
  • Scabiosa flavescens Griseb. & Schenk
  • Scabiosa heterophyllos S.G.Gmel.
  • Scabiosa holophylla Bordz.
  • Scabiosa ochroleuca subsp. danubialis Velen.
  • Scabiosa ochroleuca subsp. rhodopea Velen.
  • Scabiosa rhodopea (Velen.) Velen.
  • Scabiosa scopolii Hornem.
  • Scabiosa tenuifolia Roth

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.