''Pluchea camphorata'', known as camphorweed or marsh-fleabane, is a small flowering

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

annual plant of the family

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

Description

''Pluchea camphorata'' is a small herbaceous plant that grows approximately tall, with blooms of purple-pink flowers formed in small heads in rounded clusters. The leaves are alternate, serrate, and elliptic to ovate or lance-shaped. The leaves form on short petioles. They have granular, sessile resin globules on the leaves and at the ends of the stems and branches of the plant. This plant's nutlets range from pink to tan. The roots are

fibrous Fiber (spelled fibre in British English; from ) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often inco ...

Taxonomy

''Pluchea camphorata'' is in the family

, or Compositae, which is a very diverse family containing approximately 23,000 species. '' Pluchea'' is a genus of several species of perennial or annual herbs. They are erect plants, with densely short

pubescent The adjective pubescent may describe: * people or animals undergoing puberty * plants that are hairy, covered in trichomes * insects that are covered in setae In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-lik ...

, terete to obscurely angled, strictly to freely branched stems. ''Pluchea'' have alternate, serrate, the teeth callous-thickened, petiolate to sessile leaves. ''Pluchea'' have corymbrose, involucres hemispheric to campanulate, many-flowered, bracts

imbricate Aestivation or estivation is the positional arrangement of the parts of a flower within a flower bud before it has opened. Aestivation is also sometimes referred to as praefoliation or prefoliation, but these terms may also mean vernation: the ar ...

heads. ''Pluchea'' have discoid, perfect, small flowers and small cylindrical, 5 ribbed nutlets. ''Pluchea'' have whitish, capillary, minutely, antrorsely barbed pappus bristles. ''Pluchea rosea'' have pink corollas, elliptic to elliptic-oblong leaves, and black nutlets. ''Pluchea foetida'' have cream corollas and pinkish nutlets. ''Pluchea purpurascens'' have pink corollas and pink to tan nutlets. The three species bloom from August to October and bloom in similar habitats. There is doubt about the identity of ''Pluchea camphorata'' due to confusion among different botanists.

Distribution and habitat

''Pluchea camphorata'' grows mostly in the eastern United States, anywhere from Florida to Texas and as far north as Michigan. ''Pluchea camphorata'' is native to the lower forty-eight states in the United States. Habitats include, alluvial swamps, seasonally flooded sloughs, floodplain oxbow ponds, wet clay flat-woods and clearings, ditches, and impoundment shores.

Ecology

''Pluchea camphorata'' plant blooms from August to October. ''Pluchea camphorata'' is listed as endangered in Maryland and Ohio. This plant is threatened by dredging and filling, water pollution, and exotic species.

Uses

Traditional medicinal use of ''Pluchea camphorata'' includes applying the leaves to wounds to reduce swelling and facilitate healing. Certain cultures believe that Camphorweed stimulates tissue by moving blood to the surface. While culturally important, these claims require more research for safe use.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q19848920 camphorata Flora of Northern America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus