Conoclinium coelestinum

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Conoclinium coelestinum
Eupatorium coelestinum3.jpg
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Conoclinium
Species:
C. coelestinum
Binomial name
Conoclinium coelestinum
(L.) DC.
Synonyms [1]
Synonymy
  • Conoclinium dichotomumChapm.
  • Conoclinium flaccidumGreene
  • Conoclinium nepetaefoliumGreene
  • Conoclinium nepetifoliumGreene
  • Conoclinium venulosumGreene
  • Eupatorium coelestinumL.
  • Eupatorium deltoideumSteudel
  • Eupatorium violaceumRaf.

Conoclinium coelestinum, commonly known as blue mistflower, [2] mistflower, [3] wild ageratum, [4] or blue boneset, [5] is a North American species of herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It was formerly classified in the genus Eupatorium , but phylogenetic analyses in the late 20th century research indicated that that genus should be split, and the species was reclassified in Conoclinium . [6]

Contents

Description

Conoclinium coelestinum normally grows to a height of 30–76 cm (1–2.5 ft) with round, light green stems and a few or numerous branches. The leaves are opposite and ovate to triangular in shape with blunt teeth, measuring up to 8 cm (3 in) long and 5 cm (2 in) across. [7]

Blue mistflower in bloom in Arkansas Blue Mistflower AR.jpg
Blue mistflower in bloom in Arkansas

Flat-topped clusters, or panicles, of blue, purple, or lavender flowerheads, measuring 3–8 cm (1–3 in), are located at the end of the stems. Each flowerhead consists of about 40-50 disk florets with tiny tubular corollas that have 5 spreading lobes. [3]

Etymology

The genus Conoclinium is from the Greek word for "cone-bed". The specific epithet coelestinum is from the Latin for sky-blue or heavenly. [8]

Distribution and habitat

C. coelestinum is native to eastern and central North America, from Texas to the west, Illinois to the north, the east coast to the east, and Florida to the south. It has been introduced in New York, Michigan, and Ontario. [5] This species prefers moist soils and can be found in wood edges, sandy woodlands and clearings, wet meadows and stream banks. [9]

Ecology

The flowers bloom from July to November and are attractive to bees and butterflies. [4]

Uses

Blue mistflower is often grown as a garden plant, although it does have a tendency to spread and take over a garden. It is recommended for habitat restoration within its native range, especially in wet soils. [9]

Related Research Articles

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Silphium laciniatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known commonly as compassplant or compass plant. It is native to North America, where it occurs in Ontario in Canada and the eastern and central United States as far west as New Mexico. Other common names include prairie compass plant, pilotweed, polarplant, gum weed, cut-leaf silphium, and turpentine plant. It is a rosinweed of genus Silphium.

<i>Ageratina altissima</i> Species of plant

Ageratina altissima, also known as white snakeroot, richweed, or white sanicle, is a poisonous perennial herb in the family Asteraceae, native to eastern and central North America. An older binomial name for this species is Eupatorium rugosum, but the genus Eupatorium has undergone taxonomic revision by botanists, and some species once included in it have been moved to other genera.

<i>Eupatorium</i> Genus of plants

Eupatorium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, containing from 36 to 60 species depending on the classification system. Most are herbaceous perennials growing to 0.5–3 m (1.6–9.8 ft) tall. A few are shrubs. The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Most are commonly called bonesets, thoroughworts or snakeroots in North America. The genus is named for Mithridates Eupator, king of Pontus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eupatorieae</span> Tribe of plants

Eupatorieae is a tribe of over 2000 species of plants in the family Asteraceae. Most of the species are native to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate areas of the Americas, but some are found elsewhere. Well-known members are Stevia rebaudiana, a number of medicinal plants (Eupatorium), and a variety of late summer to autumn blooming garden flowers, including Ageratum (flossflower), Conoclinium (mistflower), and Liatris.

<i>Eupatorium capillifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

Eupatorium capillifolium, or dogfennel, is a North American perennial herbaceous plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the eastern and south-central United States. It is generally between 50 cm and 2 meters tall with several stems that fork from a substantial base. The stems and base are covered in leaves so dissected that they resemble branching green threads coming out of the stem in fractal patterns. When crushed, the leaves have a sour odor similar to dill pickles. The flowers have a subtle floral odor.

<i>Liatris pycnostachya</i> Species of flowering plant

Liatris pycnostachya, the prairie blazing star, cattail gayfeather or cattail blazing star, is a perennial plant in the Asteraceae family that is native to the tallgrass prairies of the central United States.

<i>Eupatorium perfoliatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Eupatorium perfoliatum, known as common boneset or just boneset, is a North American perennial plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a common native to the Eastern United States and Canada, widespread from Nova Scotia to Florida, west as far as Texas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Manitoba. It is also called agueweed, feverwort, or sweating-plant. It was introduced to American colonists by natives who used the plant for breaking fevers by means of heavy sweating. It is nearly always found in low, wet areas.

<i>Symphyotrichum laeve</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to central and eastern North America

Symphyotrichum laeve is a flowering plant native to Canada, the United States, and Coahuila (Mexico). It has the common names of smooth blue aster, smooth aster, smooth-leaved aster, glaucous Michaelmas-daisy and glaucous aster.

<i>Eutrochium purpureum</i> Species of flowering plant

Eutrochium purpureum, commonly known as purple Joe-Pye weed or sweetscented joe pye weed, is an herbaceous perennial plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to eastern and central North America, from Ontario east to New Hampshire and south as far as Florida, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.

<i>Eutrochium</i> Genus of flowering plants

Eutrochium is a North American genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. They are commonly referred to as Joe-Pye weeds. They are native to the United States and Canada, and have non-dissected foliage and pigmented flowers. The genus includes all the purple-flowering North American species of the genus Eupatorium as traditionally defined, and most are grown as ornamental plants, particularly in Europe and North America.

<i>Eupatorium altissimum</i> Species of flowering plant

Eupatorium altissimum, with the common names tall thoroughwort and tall boneset, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the Asteraceae family with a native range including much of the eastern and central United States and Canada. It is a tall plant found in open woods, prairies, fields, and waste areas, with white flowers that bloom in the late summer and fall.

<i>Verbena hastata</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Conoclinium</i> Genus of flowering plants

Conoclinium, the mistflowers, is a genus of four species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants, native to North America. They are 0.5 to 2 metres tall, and have blue to purple or violet flowers.

<i>Liatris acidota</i> Species of flowering plant

Liatris acidota, also known as the Gulf Coast gayfeather, sharp blazing star and sharp gayfeather, is a plant species in the family Asteraceae and genus Liatris. It is native to Louisiana and Texas in the United States, where it is found in habitats that include coastal prairies, dry prairie and savanna, where it is found in sandy to clay soils.

<i>Helianthus decapetalus</i> Species of sunflower

Helianthus decapetalus, known by the common names thinleaf sunflower and thin-leaved sunflower, is a perennial forb in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the Eastern and Central United States and Canada, from New Brunswick west to Iowa, Wisconsin, and Ontario, south as far as Georgia and Louisiana. It produces yellow composite flowers in late summer or early fall.

<i>Hieracium scabrum</i> Species of flowering plant

Hieracium scabrum, the rough hawkweed, is a North American plant species in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae. It is native to eastern and central Canada and the eastern and central United States from Nova Scotia west to Ontario, Minnesota, and Kansas south as far as Georgia and Oklahoma.

<i>Lactuca floridana</i> Species of lettuce

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<i>Vernonia baldwinii</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Verbena canadensis</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Verbenaceae

Verbena canadensis, commonly known as rose mock vervain, rose verbena, clump verbena or rose vervain is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the verbena family (Verbenaceae) with showy pink to purple flowers.. It is native to the eastern and south-central areas of the United States. This species is widely cultivated as an ornamental, and naturalized populations have been established outside its native range, such as in the northeastern U.S.

<i>Asclepias hirtella</i> Species of plant

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References

  1. "Conoclinium coelestinum (L.) DC.". The Global Compositae Checklist (GCC) via The Plant List. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
  2. "USDA Plants Database". plants.usda.gov.
  3. 1 2 "Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum)". www.illinoiswildflowers.info.
  4. 1 2 "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". www.wildflower.org.
  5. 1 2 "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org.
  6. Schmidt, G. J.; Schilling, E. E. (2000). "Phylogeny and biogeography of Eupatorium (Asteraceae: Eupatorieae) based on nuclear ITS sequence data". American Journal of Botany. 87 (5): 716–26. doi: 10.2307/2656858 . JSTOR   2656858. PMID   10811796.
  7. "Conoclinium coelestinum page". www.missouriplants.com.
  8. Denison, Edgar (2017). Missouri Wildflowers (Sixth ed.). Conservation Commission of the State of Missouri. p. 104. ISBN   978-1-887247-59-7.
  9. 1 2 "Conoclinium coelestinum Blue mistflower PFAF Plant Database". pfaf.org.