Emilia sonchifolia (L.) DC.
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Asteraceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Erect or ascending herb to 0.5 m tall; stems glabrous or somewhat pubescent. Leaves variable, sessile or with long-attenuate winged petioles; blades 4-11.5 x 1-5 cm, often ellipticlanceolate or oblanceolate in outline, chartaceous, glabrous to thinly puberulent on both surfaces, the apex acute, the base either auriculate and expanded or tapering, the margins serrate to toothed or lobed with terminal lobe larger. Heads 15-30-flowered; involucre slender, ca. 1 cm tall, about 3-4 times longer than wide; involucral bracts 6-10, loosely pilose. Corollas pink to lavender, 7-8.5 mm long, not exserted from the involucral bracts. Achenes 3-4 mm long, ribbed, puberulent on ribs; pappus of many silky white bristles 5.5-7 mm long.
Distribution and Ecology - An occasional weed of disturbed sites. Carolina (A4140), Reef Bay (A2640). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; a pantropical weed of Old World origin.
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Discussion
Common name: scarlet paint bush.