Zeltnera exaltata(Griseb.) G.Mans.

desert centaury

WFO wfo-0000430192 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Zeltnera exaltata, photographed by Millie Basden
fig. a Millie Basden, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-04-30 / obs. 124656260
Zeltnera exaltata, photographed by Madeleine Claire
fig. b Madeleine Claire, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 124602273
Zeltnera exaltata, photographed by Jim Morefield
fig. c Jim Morefield, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 111371984
Zeltnera exaltata, photographed by Adam J. Searcy
fig. d Adam J. Searcy, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 77150908
Zeltnera exaltata, photographed by Jordan Zylstra
fig. e Jordan Zylstra, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 83161164
Zeltnera exaltata, photographed by Matt Berger
fig. f Matt Berger, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 52890257
Zeltnera exaltata, photographed by Alex Heyman
fig. g Alex Heyman, CC0 1.0 / obs. 46662747
Zeltnera exaltata, photographed by Alex Heyman
fig. h Alex Heyman, CC0 1.0 / obs. 44368874

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 13 botanical countries

Regions where Zeltnera exaltata is native: British Columbia, California, Colorado, Idaho, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming British ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoIdahoMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestNevadaNew MexicoOregonSouth DakotaUtahWashingtonWyoming
Native distribution of Zeltnera exaltata, 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
British Columbia BRC NORTHERN AMERICA
California CAL
Colorado COL
Idaho IDA
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Nevada NEV
New Mexico NWM
Oregon ORE
South Dakota SDA
Utah UTA
Washington WAS
Wyoming WYO

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 12 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.

  • Centaurium douglasii (A.Gray) Druce
  • Centaurium exaltatum (Griseb.) W.Wight ex Piper
  • Centaurium nuttallii (S.Watson) A.Heller
  • Centaurodes douglasii Kuntze
  • Centaurodes nuttallii Kuntze
  • Cicendia exaltata Griseb.
  • Erythraea douglasii A.Gray
  • Erythraea elata Nutt. ex A.Gray
  • Erythraea exaltata (Griseb.) Coville
  • Erythraea longiflora Nutt. ex S.Watson
  • Erythraea nuttallii S.Watson
  • Erythraea tenella Nutt. ex A.Gray

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. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol CEEX. public domain. 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.