A new concept of the genus Psephellus is presented on the basis of morphological, anatomical, palynological and caryological evidence. The few molecular data seem to confirm the monophyly of the genus. The following former sections of Centaurea are included: C. sect. Psephelloideae, Psephellus, Hyalinella, Aetheopappus, Amblyopogon, Heterolophus, Czerniakovskya, Odontolophoideae, Odontolophus, Xanthopsis, Uralepis and Sosnovskya. New combinations under Psephellus are provided for these sections and for 35 species, especially from Turkey and Iran. Psephellus in this broadened sense has 75–80 species and a distribution with a centre in E Anatolia, Caucasia and NW Iran; only few species occur outside this area. Close relationships exist between different sections despite considerable differences especially in the characters of the pappus.