''Eupatorium godfreyanum'', commonly called Godfrey’s thoroughwort, is a North American species of plants in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

. It is found in the east-central United States, primarily from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, with a few isolated populations west of the Appalachians in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, and

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. Chromosomal analysis suggests that ''E. godfreyanum'' originated as a hybrid between '' E. rotundifolium'' and '' E. sessilifolium''. ''Eupatorium godfreyanum'' does, however, reproduce on its own and can be found in areas where neither parent species is present. Thus it deserves full recognition as a distinct species.Flora of North America, ''Eupatorium godfreyanum'' Cronquist, 1985. Godfrey’s thoroughwort
/ref> ''Eupatorium godfreyanum'' is a tall perennial sometimes over 3 feet (90 cm) tall. It has opposite, lance-shaped or egg-shaped leaves, and flat-topped arrays of a large number of tiny

flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

. Each head has 4-5 white

disc floret The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

s but no ray florets.Cronquist, Arthur John 1985. Brittonia 37(3): 237–242, figure 1
/ref>

References

External links

Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora

Intermountain Region Herbarium Network, ''Eupatorium godfreyanum'' Cronquist
photos of herbarium specimens {{Taxonbar, from=Q15588267 godfreyanum Flora of the Eastern United States Plants described in 1985 Taxa named by Arthur Cronquist