Flora of North America species comparison

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Erechtites hieraciifolius

American burnweed, fireweed, pilewort
Habit Annuals, (50–)100–200 cm (glabrous or unevenly coarse-tomentose, sometimes ± succulent).
Taproots

with tufts of fibrous roots.
Stems

1(–2+), erect.
Leaves

evenly distributed (proximal often withering before flowering); indistinctly petiolate or subsessile;

blades ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, (3–)6–20 × (1–)2–8 cm, margins subentire to serrate or weakly lobed (distal leaves clasping, bractlike).
Involucres

urceolate or obconic, 10–17 mm.
Receptacles

(disclike, conspicuously expanded when fresh) 5–12 mm diam.
Phyllaries

usually 21.
Heads

2–20(–40) in ± corymbiform arrays.
Cypselae

2.3–3 or 4–5 mm, nerves 10–12 or 16–20, faces puberulent between nerves or glabrous.

Erechtites hieraciifolius
Distribution
from FNA
AR; CT; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VT; WA; WI; WV; NB; NS; ON; PE; South America; West Indies; Pacific Islands (New Zealand); Australia
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Discussion

Varieties 3 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Stems and leaves dry or turgid, not succulent; receptacles 5–8 mm diam.; cypselae 2.3–3 mm, nerves 10–12 (widespread)
var. hieraciifolius
1. Stems and leaves succulent; receptacles 9–12+ mm diam.; cypselae 4–5 mm, nerves 16–20 (coastal marshes; Massachusetts to New Jersey)
var. megalocarpus
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 603.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Senecioneae > Erechtites
Sibling taxa
E. glomeratus, E. minimus
Subordinate taxa
E. hieraciifolius var. hieraciifolius, E. hieraciifolius var. megalocarpus
Synonyms Senecio hieraciifolius
Name authority (Linnaeus) Rafinesque ex de Candolle: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 6: 294. (1838)
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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