Verbesina virginica L.

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Asteraceae

• Scientific Name

  Verbesina virginica L.

• Description

  Species Description - Coarse perennial to 2 m, the stem leafy, puberulent; lvs alternate, ovate to lance-elliptic, serrate to subentire, 9–20 × 3–10 cm, scabrous to subglabrous above, velutinous or sometimes appressed-puberulent beneath, the petioles ± winged, often decurrent on the stem; heads small, numerous, crowded, 20–100+ in a dense, generally ± flat-topped infl, the disk 3–7 mm wide in fl; invol bracts appressed, evidently imbricate, puberulent; rays 1–5, pistillate and fertile, white, under 1 cm; achenes erect, flattened, winged or wingless; 2n=32, 34. Bottomlands, thickets, woods and waste places; Va. to e. Kans., s. to Fla. and Tex. Aug.–Oct. (Phaethusa v.) Ours is the widespread var. virginica.

• Common Names

  frostweed