Elephantopus dilatatus Gleason

Species

Angiosperms > Asterales > Asteraceae > Elephantopus

Characteristics

Perennial herbs mostly to 40 cm tall; stems creeping at the base, rooting at the nodes, enclosed in an overlapping series of persistent leaf sheaths, the sheaths pilose. Leaves clustered, terminal, oblanceolate-oblong, basally long-attenuate, apically acute, serrate, 7-18 cm long, 0.6-2.2 cm wide, at least 7 times longer than wide, coriaceous, green throughout, darker above, strigulose to appressed-pubescent beneath, the trichomes 0.2-1.3 mm long on both surfaces, resin-dotted beneath, the midrib prominent on both surfaces but the primary lateral veins obscure above; petioles pilose, indistinct from the lamina, expanded, clasping. Inflorescence solitary, terminal, corymbose-paniculate, the branches subtended by oblong leaflike bracts to 6 cm long, peduncles appressed-pubescent; glomerules several to many, 10-15-headed, hemispheric, to 8 mm high and 15 mm across, subtended by 2 or 3 ovate bracts; bracts obtuse at base, acute to acuminate, 5-8 mm long, the venation usually apparent but not conspicuous beneath. Heads with 4 florets; involucral bracts 8, in 2 decussate series, strigulose, resin-dotted, the outer 4 lanceolate, 3.0-4.5 mm long, the inner 4 lanceolate-oblong, 5.0-8.0 mm long; corolla lavender, the tube slender, ca. 3.5 mm long, the limb ca. 2.0 mm long, deeply divided on the adaxial side, 5-parted, the lobes linear, ca. 1.4 mm long; anthers ca. 1.2 mm long, basally sagittate, the lobes slightly convex, ca. 0.14 mm long, the apex forming a 250 angle, the apical appendage rounded, ca. 0.18 mm long; style branches slender, terete, slightly flattened adaxially, 0.5-1.0 mm long, strigulose throughout. Achenes obovoid, slightly flattened, 10-ribbed, 2.2-3.0 mm long, 0.6-0.8 mm wide, dark-brown in the sulci when mature, pale on the ribs, strigulose and resin-dotted abaxially; pappus in 1 series of 5(-8) straight bristles, 3.0-3.5 mm long, abruptly or gradually dilated to 0.3 mm wide at the base, appressed-puberulent.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support -
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.4
Root system creeping-root
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) -

Usage

Uses -
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
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Optimum temperature (C°) -
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Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Elephantopus dilatatus world distribution map, present in Costa Rica and Panama

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:89911-2
WFO ID wfo-0000068712
COL ID 6F4FG
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Elephantopus dilatatus