Catananche caerulea, or Cupid's dart, is a greyish green perennial herbaceous plant with a basal leaf rosette and conspicuous blue-purple or sometimes white flowerheads, belonging to the daisy family.

The one-seeded indehiscent fruit (called cypsela) is cylindrical with five to ten longitudinal ribs, 5–6 mm long, and is crowned with papery pappus scales.

The simple translation of the root words from the Greek κατάνάγκη (katanagkē), itself a contraction of κατά (kata), "down" and άνάγκη (anagkē), "force", is "compulsion", which is suggested to refer to the use of this plant in love potions,[4] and is reflected in the vernacular name Cupid's dart.

[6] Cupid's dart occurs in the wild in western North-Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya) and south-western Europe (Portugal, Spain including the Balearic Islands, Andorra, France, and Italy).

[2] Catananche caerulea naturally occurs on disturbed, young or eroded, carbonaceous soils, in plant communities consisting of dwarf shrubs and perennials.

It is often associated with different Cistaceae such as Fumana laevipes, Helianthemum apenninum, H. cinereum, H. marifolium, H. croceum, several Lamiaceae such as Lavandula latifolia, Rosmarinus palaui, Teucrium capitulatum, and T. haenseleri, several Asteraceae such as Rhaponticum coniferum, Scorzonera hispanica, Serratula flavescens and S. pinnatifida, few Fabaceae like Astragalus glaux and Ononis pusilla, parasites such as Cytinus ruber and Orobanche latisquama, and other species such as Aristolochia pistolochia, Euphorbia nicaeensis, Globularia vulgaris, Ruta chalepensis, and Viola arborescens.