Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Elephantopus nudatus
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Coastal Plain Elephant's Foot 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:
Elephantopus nudatus
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Elephantopus nudatus
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-28-003:
Elephantopus nudatus FAMILY Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Elephantopus nudatus
COMMON NAME:
Coastal Plain Elephant's Foot, Smooth Elephant's Foot, Savanna Elephant's Foot, Pineland Elephant's Foot
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_elnu_001_lvd
)
Bruce A. Sorrie bas_elephantopus_nudatus1
August Moore County NC
Flowers all discoid [no ray flowers], pink or purple, rarely white, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Bruce A. Sorrie bas_elephantopus_nudatus2
August Moore County NC
Leaves essentially all basal, flat on the ground (maybe 1-2 small stem lvs), per Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Elephantopus nudatus
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Elephantopus nudatus
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Elephantopus nudatus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-28-003:
Elephantopus nudatus
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Elephantopus nudatus
2212
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: woodlands and woodland borders, wet pine flatwoods, mesic pine flatwoods, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Coastal Plain (rare in Piedmont)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal (plant scapose or with a few leaves much smaller than the basal)
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Disc: Lavender
Rays: Absent
Inferior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p353
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p392
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p105
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p074
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p074
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