''Vernonia missurica'', the Missouri ironweed, is a species of magenta-flowered

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

from 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 ...

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to the central and east central

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Description

The plant is in height and in width, and in some cases can exceed up to . The leaves are dark green in color and alternating. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s of ''Vernonia missurica'' bloom in July and August and are

magenta Magenta () is a color that is variously defined as pinkish- purplish-red, reddish-purplish-pink or mauvish-crimson. On color wheels of the RGB (additive) and CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located exactly midway between red and blue. I ...

with reddish-brown

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s. Each

flower head 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 ...

is in length and in diameter, with 30–60 disk florets. ''Vernonia missurica'' has a central stout stem that is covered with white hairs, and the flowers grow close to each other and have rayless heads. Stems are hairy and reddish-brown.

Distribution

''Vernonia missurica'' is native to the central and east central United States namely

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Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

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Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

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, and

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Habitat

The species grows in river bottom woods, wet prairies, fens, and sedge meadows.

Ecology

''Vernonia missurica'' is typically visited by long-tongued bees, butterflies, and skippers. In the absence of these pollinators, the plant is capable of self-pollinating. It is pollinated by various

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

s such as members of the genus ''Bombus'' (

bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related gener ...

s), the tribe

Epeolini Epeolini is a tribe of cuckoo bees, a tribe of the subfamily Nomadinae. Genera The tribe Epeolini is subdivided as follows: Subtribe: Odyneropsina Genus: '' Odyneropsis'' Subtribe: Rhogepeolina Genus: '' Rhogepeolus'' Subtribe: Epeolina Genu ...

(epeoline cuckoo bees), the family

Halictidae Halictidae is the second-largest family of bees (clade Anthophila) with nearly 4,500 species. Halictid species are an extremely diverse group that can vary greatly in appearance. These bees occur all over the world and are found on every contine ...

(halictid bees), and the genus ''

Andrena ''Andrena'' is a genus of bees in the family Andrenidae. With over 1,500 species, it is one of the largest genera of animals. It is a strongly monophyletic group that is difficult to split into more manageable divisions; currently, ''Andrena'' i ...

'' (miner bees).

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

(butterflies), including those of the family

Hesperiidae Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy ...

(skippers), are also frequent visitors. Some

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

s feed on the plant, including the most common guests of ''

Grammia parthenice The parthenice tiger moth (''Apantesis parthenice'') is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found in south-eastern Canada, and the eastern United States. The moths are common in fields and woodland edges from June to late September. The moth is ...

'' (Parthenice tiger moth), ''

Perigea xanthioides ''Perigea xanthioides'', the red groundling moth or pied groundling moth, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1852. It is found from Canada to Brazil and on Jamaica. The wingspan is about 29&n ...

'' (red groundling), and ''

Papaipema cerussata ''Papaipema cerussata'', the ironweed borer moth, is a moth in the family Noctuidae. It is found in eastern North America, where it has been recorded from Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North ...

'' (ironweed borer moth). Herbivorous

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s avoid the plant due to its bitter taste.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q7922303 missurica Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora of Texas Flora of Indiana Flora of Michigan Plants described in 1833 Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque