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bhringraj, false daisy, yerba de tago

eclipta

Habit Annuals or perennials, 10–50(–70+) cm.
Stems

erect or decumbent, branched from bases and/or distally (sometimes rooting at proximal nodes).

Leaves

blades 2–10 cm × 4–30+ mm.

cauline; opposite; petiolate or sessile;

blades (1- or 3-nerved) lanceolate to lance-linear, bases cuneate, margins serrate to subentire, faces sparsely scabrellous.

Involucres

hemispheric, 3–5 mm diam.

Receptacles

flat to convex, paleate (paleae linear to filiform, not conduplicate, falling with fruits).

Ray florets

20–40 (in 2–3+ series), pistillate, fertile;

corollas white or whitish.

Ray laminae

ca. 2 mm.

Disc florets/Disc corollas

ca. 1.5 mm.

15–30+, bisexual, fertile;

corollas white or whitish, tubes much shorter than ampliate, cylindric throats, lobes 4–5, ± deltate.

Phyllaries

persistent, 8–12+ in 2–3 series (lanceolate to linear, subequal, thin-herbaceous, spreading in fruit).

Heads

radiate, in loose, corymbiform arrays or borne singly.

Cypselae

ca. 2.5 mm.

obcompressed, weakly 3–4-angled (not winged, epidermes usually corky and rugose to tuberculate);

pappi persistent, coroniform (sometimes with 2 teeth).

x

= 11.

2n

= 22 (as E. alba).

Eclipta prostrata

Eclipta

Phenology Flowering year round, mostly summer–fall.
Habitat Wet places, often ruderal
Elevation 60–1600 m (200–5200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; WI; WV; ON; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in Europe, Asia, Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
Mostly warm-temperate to tropical New World [Introduced in Old World]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species 1–4 (1 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 21, p. 129. FNA vol. 21, p. 128. Author: John L. Strother.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Eclipta Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae
Subordinate taxa
E. prostrata
Synonyms Verbesina prostrata, E. alba
Name authority (Linnaeus) Linnaeus: Mant. Pl., 286. (1771) Linnaeus: Mant. Pl., 157, 286. (1771)
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