Flora of North America species comparison

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Carphephorus odoratissimus

Carphephorus bellidifolius

vanillaleaf

sandy-woods chaffhead
Habit Plants 50–140(–180) cm. Plants 20–60 cm.
Stems

glabrous.

glabrous or glabrate (except peduncles), eglandular.
Leaves

basal oblanceolate to obovate, mostly 9–50 cm;

proximal cauline well developed, gradually reduced distally, clasping, faces not gland-dotted.

basal and proximal cauline usually oblanceolate, sometimes nearly spatulate, mostly 4–20 cm;

cauline gradually reduced, faces gland-dotted.
Peduncles

glabrous.

minutely puberulent (viscid, hairs not glandular).
Involucres

3.5–5 mm.

7–12(–15) mm.
Receptacles

epaleate or partially paleate (paleae 1–2).

paleate (at least peripherally).
Corollas

glandular, lobes 0.8–1 mm.

eglandular, lobes 1.5–2.5 mm.
Phyllaries

5–12 in 1–2(–3) series, oblanceolate, gland-dotted, apices obtuse.

15–40+ in 3–5+ series, broadly elliptic to elliptic-obovate, glabrous, eglandular (except margins ciliate), apices rounded.
Heads

in flat-topped, corymbiform arrays.

in open, loose, usually corymbiform, sometimes paniculiform, arrays.
Cypselae

glandular;

pappus bristles in ± 1 series.

minutely sessile-glandular;

pappus bristles in 1(–2) series.
2n

= 20.

Carphephorus odoratissimus

Carphephorus bellidifolius
Phenology Flowering Jul–Oct.
Habitat Dunes, sandhills, sandy rises in flatwoods, sandy fields, roadsides, weedy banks, open pine, scrub oak, and turkey oak-pine woods
Elevation 10–40 m (0–100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
GA; NC; SC; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Plants with strong odor of coumarin or vanilla; basal leaves usually more than 15 × 5 cm; midstem leaves broadly elliptic, margins often shallowly dentate, apices flared away from stems; primary head-bearing branches diverging from main axes at 10–20°; florets mostly 7–10
var. odoratissimus
1. Plants with slight or no odor of coumarin or vanilla; basal leaves less than 15 × 4 cm; midstem leaves narrowly elliptic, margins entire, apices appressed to stems; primary head-bearing branches diverging from main axes at 30–45°; florets mostly 10–14
var. subtropicanus
Source FNA vol. 21, p. 536. FNA vol. 21, p. 538.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Eupatorieae > Carphephorus Asteraceae > tribe Eupatorieae > Carphephorus
Sibling taxa
C. bellidifolius, C. carnosus, C. corymbosus, C. paniculatus, C. pseudoliatris, C. tomentosus
C. carnosus, C. corymbosus, C. odoratissimus, C. paniculatus, C. pseudoliatris, C. tomentosus
Subordinate taxa
C. odoratissimus var. odoratissimus, C. odoratissimus var. subtropicanus
Synonyms Chrysocoma odoratissima, Liatris odoratissima, Trilisa odoratissima Liatris bellidifolia
Name authority (J. F. Gmelin) H. J.-C. Hebert: Rhodora 70: 483. (1968) (Michaux) Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 2: 66. (1841)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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