Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Vernonia acaulis
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Stemless Ironweed gets it name from the near lack of leaves on the stem, making it appear to be (but not actually) a long flower stalk. Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
The acaulescent species of Elephantopus are easily and often confused with Vernonia acaulis, especially when sterile. Vernonia has leaves scabrous above and sparsely pilose to glabrate beneath; Elephantopus has leaves sparely pilose above, densely pilose or tomentose below. Vernonia leaves tend to have a more acute apex, and the veins above are more strikingly differentiated in their color (white or pink) from the adjacent leaf tissue. When in flower, the presence of subtending foliose bracts below the compound glomerule of heads in Elephantopus (versus the absence of foliose bracts below the simple head in Vernonia) is diagnostic, per Weakley's Flora (2022)
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Vernonia acaulis
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Vernonia acaulis
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-27-001:
Vernonia acaulis FAMILY Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Vernonia acaulis
COMMON NAME:
Stemless Ironweed, Carolina Ironweed, Flatwoods Ironweed
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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JK Marlow jkm100624_053
June Greenville County SC
Leaves tend to have a more acute apex than those of Elephantopus, per Weakley's Flora.
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JK Marlow jkm100624_059
June Greenville County SC
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JK Marlow jkm100624_061
June Greenville County SC
Involucres 5-10mm long; outer bracts acuminate to caudate, inner acute, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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JK Marlow jkm100624_064
June Greenville County SC
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JK Marlow jkm131027_024
October Saluda County SC
Sumter National Forest: Edgefield Ranger District
Basal leaves 3-8, elliptic, lanceolate or oblancolate, 1-3dm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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JK Marlow jkm131027_028b
October Saluda County SC
Sumter National Forest: Edgefield Ranger District
Heads discoid. Pappus whitish to stramineous [straw-like], per Flora of North America.
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JK Marlow jkm131027_029c
October Saluda County SC
Sumter National Forest: Edgefield Ranger District
Phyllaries 40-60 in 5-6 series, per Flora of North America.
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JK Marlow jkm151017_473474
October Columbia County GA
Flowers at the ends of branches in a flat-topped cluster, per Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011).
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JK Marlow jkm151017_477
October Columbia County GA
Stem leaves small, 2-7, linear, oblancolate to elliptic, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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JK Marlow jkm081102_062
November Columbia County GA
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JK Marlow jkm081102_074
November Columbia County GA
Flowers of the genus Vernonia are all discoid, all bisexual, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Vernonia acaulis
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Vernonia acaulis
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Vernonia acaulis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-27-001:
Vernonia acaulis
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Vernonia acaulis
2754
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Longleaf pine flatwoods, moist ecotones, and moister sandhill situations, in the Piedmont in dry rocky woodlands, hardpan woodlands, bluffs, and barrens, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Carolinas, rare in GA
Click here to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal (large) & alternate (small)
FLOWER:
Summer
Disc: Purplish-blue
Rays: Absent
Bisexual
Inferior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p387
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p169
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p104
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p125
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p083