Eupatorium rotundifolium
Eupatorium petaloideum
round-leaf boneset, round-leaf thoroughwort, roundleaf eupatorium
showy white thoroughwort
(from short rhizomes) single, sparsely branched distally, puberulent.
(from short, stout rhizomes) single, branched distally, puberulent.
usually opposite (distal sometimes alternate, lateral buds dormant or producing 1 pair of leaves);
sessile or subsessile;
blades ± 3-nerved, usually ± deltate to orbiculate, sometimes ovate, 15–50(–70) × 15–40(–60) mm (lengths mostly 1–2 times widths), bases broadly rounded to truncate, margins crenate to serrate, apices acute, faces puberulent to villous, gland-dotted.
usually opposite (distal sometimes alternate);
sessile;
blades pinnately nerved, elliptic to ovate, 20–80 × 10–30 mm, bases cuneate, margins serrate to crenate-serrate, apices rounded to acute, faces sparsely villous (abaxial), glabrate (adaxial), little, if at all, gland-dotted.
5;
corollas 3–4 mm.
(4–)5;
corollas 3–3.5 mm.
8–10 in 2–3 series, elliptic to oblanceolate, 2–6 × 0.5–1.5 mm, apices acute, abaxial faces puberulent, gland-dotted.
9–15 in 2–4 series, linear, 4–10 × 0.6–1 mm, apices (white) acuminate to attenuate, strongly mucronate, abaxial faces glabrous, not gland-dotted.
in corymbiform arrays.
in corymbiform arrays.
2–3 mm;
pappi of 30–40 bristles 3.5–4 mm.
2.5–3 mm;
pappi of 40–50 bristles 3.5–4 mm.
= 20.
Eupatorium rotundifolium
Eupatorium petaloideum
Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).
Eupatorium rotundifolium is one of the more variable species of the genus; its apparent propensity to hybridize with other species has led it to be described as a compilospecies and has complicated its delimitation. Hybrids with E. perfoliatum and E. sessilifolium are sufficiently distinctive to be treated here as distinctive entities (E. ×cordigerum and E. godfreyanum, respectively), and the varieties ovatum and scabridum have also been proposed to be of hybrid origin. The boundaries between varieties are indistinct and individual specimens may be difficult to place with confidence.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Eupatorium petaloideum is commonly combined with E. album; it has recently been separated as a distinct variety. V. I. Sullivan (1972) found the two taxa to be distinct chemically and to occupy different habitats. In both, the involucral bracts are white and long-acuminate or mucronate; those of E. petaloideum are almost entirely devoid of any pubescence including glands and those of E. album have both simple and glandular hairs.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Leaf blades 3-nerved from bases, bases subtruncate to broadly cuneate, margins crenate | var. rotundifolium |
1. Leaf blades 3-nerved distal to bases, bases broadly cuneate to cuneate, margins serrate | → 2 |
2. Leaf blades 30–70 × 30–60 mm, broadest nearmiddles | var. ovatum |
2. Leaf blades 20–50 × 15–30 mm, broadest nearbases | var. scabridum |
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