Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Vernonia gigantea
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Tall Ironweed at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Vernonia gigantea ssp. gigantea
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Vernonia gigantea
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-27-006:
Vernonia altissima FAMILY Asteraceae__
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Vernonia altissima
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Vernonia gigantea
COMMON NAME:
Tall Ironweed, Common Ironweed, Giant Ironweed
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_veal7_001_lvd
)
USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970 swus_page_441
)
Mike Strickland mst060304_vgigantea
June
)
Mike Strickland mst071605_vgigantea
July
To 7' tall, with lanceolate, toothed leaves that are downy below, per Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002).
)
Mike Strickland mst081504a_vgigantea
August
Bracts overlapping, appressed, purplish, apex rounded to a short tip, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
Mike Strickland mst081504b_vgigantea
August
)
JK Marlow jkm180924_4907
September McCormick County SC
Parks Mill
)
JK Marlow jkm180924_4908
September McCormick County SC
Parks Mill
)
JK Marlow jkm180924_4909
September McCormick County SC
Parks Mill
)
Mike Strickland mst091403_vgigantea
September
13-30 flwrs per head (vs. 30-55 in V. noveboracensis), in terminal corymbs, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_v_gigantea_tall_1
October Floyd County GA
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_v_gigantea_tall_1b
October Floyd County GA
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_v_gigantea_tall_1c
October Floyd County GA
)
Mike Strickland mst110407_vgigantea
November
Nutlets 3-4mm long; pappus tawny to purple, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Mike Strickland mst110504_vgigantea
November
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Vernonia gigantea
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Vernonia gigantea ssp. gigantea
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Vernonia gigantea
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-27-006:
Vernonia altissima
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Vernonia altissima
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Vernonia gigantea
1606
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Pastures, bottomlands, streamsides, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in GA Mountains & GA Piedmont, uncommon in GA Coastal Plain (rare in Carolinas)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Disc: Purplish-blue
Rays: Absent
Inferior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p278
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p049
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p186
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p128
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p210
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p388
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p104
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p126
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p334
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p386
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p188
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".