Elephantopus mollis Kunth

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Asteraceae

  • Scientific Name

    Elephantopus mollis Kunth

  • Description

    Species Description - Erect herb 1-2 m tall, few-branched; stems pilose. Leaves cauline, 5-27 x 1.5—8(—10) cm, oblanceolate to obovate, chartaceous, pilose on upper surface, pilose and finely glandular on lower surface, the apex acute, the base long-attenuate, the margins crenulate. Inflorescence diffuse, peduncle 1-6 cm long, pilose. Glomerules 10-40-headed, the leafy bracts 3, cordiform to deltoid, to 1.5 x 1 cm, the lower surface pilose and glandular. Individual heads ca. 6-7 x 1-2 mm; outer 4 involucral bracts ca. 2-3 mm long, the inner 4 involucral bracts ca. 5-7 mm long. Corollas long- and narrowly tubular with a short bell-shaped limb, 5-6.5 mm long, white to cream-colored, sometimes with lavender lobes, glabrous or lobes occasionally glandular. Achenes 2-2.5 mm long; pappus bristles ca. 4 mm long, reaching to the base of the corolla limb.

  • Discussion

    Common name: elephant's foot.

  • Distribution

    Occasional along roadsides and in wet shaded areas. Along road to Bordeaux (A3141), between Bethany and Rosenberg (B259), Lameshur Trail (A3185). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; throughout the West Indies and much of the neotropics; introduced into tropical Africa, the Pacific (Fiji), and southeastern Asia.

    Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| West Indies| Africa| Asia|