Plant in a well-draining soil in a sunny to part sun location and irrigate sparingly – tolerates regular irrigation but suffers if it gets to much in the color winter months unless in a very well drained soil. Has proven hardy for us down to near freezing temperatures but otherwise we are not sure of its hardiness. Bees love this plants – they don't hover like they normally do but crawl around in among the flowers.

Centaurothamnus maximus is native to the Arabian Peninsula in South western regions of Saudi Arabia and Yemen and is the only known species, making Centaurothamnus a monoyptic genus. It is rare in habitat and found only in two localities in Saudi Arabia and on high elevation cliffs in Yemen.

The plant was first described in 1775 by the Dutch naturalist and Linnaeus disciple Peter Forskaol as Centaurea maxima in his Flora Aegyptiaco-Arabica but was renamed in 1982 by Gerhard Wagenitz and Manfred Dittrich in Candollea, the scientific journal of The Conservatory and Botanical Garden of the City of Genev (37: 111, 1982) with the name having the Latin suffix 'thamnus', meaning "shrub" or "bush", added to the original genus name, indicating this plants shrubby habit. We were given seed of this plant in 2022 by the meadow master John Greenlee, who had collected the seed in a garden he had visited that year in Europe. 

The information about Centaurothamnus maximus displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant.