''Pluchea carolinensis'' is a plant in the genus ''

Pluchea ''Pluchea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Inuleae within the family Asteraceae. Members of this genus might be known as camphorweeds, plucheas, or less uniquely fleabanes. Some, such as ''P. carolinensis'' and ''P. odorata'', are ca ...

''.

Description

''Pluchea carolinensis'' is a plant from the genus ''

'', the species was first described by the Scottish Botanist

George Don George Don (29 April 1798 – 25 February 1856) was a Scottish botanist and plant collector. Life and career George Don was born at Doo Hillock, Forfar, Angus, Scotland on 29 April 1798 to Caroline Clementina Stuart and George Don (b.1756), p ...

. It is a

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

that can grow up to 2.5m tall and has large leaves, which are longer than wide.

Names

This species has many common names, reflecting its widespread use as a medicinal plant. In the Spanish Caribbean it is known as ''salvia blanca'', ''salvia cimarron'', ''salvia del pais'', ''salvia santa'', ''salvia olorosa'', and ''salvia real'', amongst others, all referring to its resemblance to the European herb

sage Sage or SAGE may refer to: Plants * ''Salvia officinalis'', common sage, a small evergreen subshrub used as a culinary herb ** Lamiaceae, a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint or deadnettle or sage family ** ''Salvia'', a large ...

(''Salvia officinalis)''. Its medicinal properties are alluded to in the English names ''cure for all, bushy fleabane,'' and ''cough bush'' and the French ''guerit-tout''. Its similarity to

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

has given rise to the names ''tabac a jacquot'', ''tabac du diable'', and ''tabac marron''.

Distribution

''Pluchea carolinensis'' is common in North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean, and is naturalized in Florida, Hawaii and some other Pacific islands, and Taiwan.Roersch C. (2018) ''Pluchea carolinensis'' (Jacq.) G. Don. In: Albuquerque U., Patil U., Máthé Á. (eds) ''Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of South America''. Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the World, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1552-0_34 The plant is endemic to

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

where it has the status of a protected plant.

Habitat

''Pluchea carolinensis'' is said to grow on both wet and dry soil where it prefers to be in a sunny spot. It is common to be cultivated in gardens in various countries in South and Central America.

References

carolinensis The ''Anolis carolinensis'' series is a proposed clade or subgroup of closely related mid-sized trunk crown anoles () within the genus ''Anolis''. It was created by Nicholson ''et al''. in 2012 and defined as containing 13 species, a few examples ...

{{Inuleae-stub