Flora of North America species comparison

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Pluchea foetida

stinking camphorweed
Habit Annuals or perennials, 40–100 cm; fibrous-rooted, sometimes rhizomatous.
Stems

(often dark purplish) arachnose, glandular.
Leaves

sessile;

blades (thick, reticulate-veined) oblong to elliptic, lance-ovate, or ovate, mostly 3–10(–13) × 1–4 cm (bases clasping), margins denticulate (apices rounded to acute), faces minutely sessile-glandular.
Involucres

usually cupulate to campanulate, sometimes turbinate-campanulate, 5–10 × 6–9(–12) mm (bases mostly rounded to impressed, sometimes obtuse).
Corollas

creamy white to yellowish or pale pink.
Phyllaries

usually creamy white, sometimes cream, greenish, pinkish, rose-purplish, purplish, yellowish, or pale pink, thinly arachnoid-pubescent and sessile-glandular (the outer ovate to ovate-lanceolate, lengths mostly 0.2–0.6 times inner).
Heads

in loose to dense, corymbiform arrays.
Pappi

persistent, bristles distinct.

Pluchea foetida
Phenology Late Jul–Oct (year-round in south).
Habitat Seasonally wet soil, pond and lake edges, ditches, borrow pits, swampy woods, bogs, other freshwater wetlands
Elevation 0–20 m (0–100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; OK; SC; TX; VA; Mexico; West Indies (Hispaniola)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Pluchea foetida var. imbricata has not been treated as distinct from typical P. foetida by recent authors (e.g., A. Cronquist 1980; R. K. Godfrey and J. W. Wooten 1981; R. P. Wunderlin et al. 1996). Although plants similar to the type can be found scattered in Florida and Georgia, a populational integrity does not appear to occur, and intermediate forms exist. Nevertheless, field biologists should be aware of the putative distinctions of var. imbricata to make more critical observations regarding its status.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Distalmost leaves triangular-ovate; heads in tight, rounded clusters at ends of branches; involucres turbinate-campanulate, 9–10 mm; phyllaries pink- ish to rose-purplish
var. imbricata
1. Distalmost leaves mostly oblong-elliptic; heads in paniculiform arrays of usually flat-topped cymiform clusters; involucres broadly campanulate, 5–8 mm; phyllaries cream to greenish
var. foetida
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 482.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Plucheeae > Pluchea
Sibling taxa
P. baccharis, P. camphorata, P. carolinensis, P. longifolia, P. odorata, P. sagittalis, P. sericea, P. yucatanensis
Subordinate taxa
P. foetida var. foetida, P. foetida var. imbricata
Synonyms Baccharis foetida, P. eggersii, P. foetida var. imbricata, P. imbricata, P. tenuifolia
Name authority (Linnaeus) de Candolle: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 5: 452. (1836)
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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