Neurolaena lobata (L.) Cass.
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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 coarse herb 1-4 m tall; stems soft and pithy, sparsely branched, striate, densely pubescent when young. Leaves tapering to a short petiole; blades varying in length with the upper stem leaves 8-25 x 1.5-10 cm, the lower ones much larger, oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic, chartaceous, pinnately veined, pubescent, also glandular on lower surface, the margins commonly serratedenticulate to entire or lobed, the lower leaves usually with 2 distinct lobes toward base. Inflorescence a series of loose to dense pedunculate clusters of corymbiform cymes. Heads discoid, ca. 30-flowered, ca. 1 cm or less tall; involucre 4-5-seriate; involucral bracts oblong; receptacle convex, paleate, the palea thin. Corollas pale yellow or greenish white, puberulent, ca. 5 mm long. Achenes cylindrical or obscurely 5-ribbed, lightly pubescent, ca. 2-4 mm long; pappus of numerous white bristles, ca. 5 mm long.
Distribution and Ecology - Rare shrub in open wet areas. Top of Bordeaux Mountain (W114). Also on St. Thomas and Tortola; southern Mexico, Central America, West Indies, and northern South America