Ironweed

Vernonia georgiana Bartlett, Rhodora 12: 172. 1910
Stems herbaceous, erect, 2-10 dm. tall, simple to the inflorescence, green or purple, puberulent; basal leaves lanceolate, 5-15 cm. long, 1-2 cm. wide, acute or obtuse, denticulate, narrowed to the base, scabrous, puberulent beneath; cauline leaves narrower, linear, becoming bractlike in the inflorescence; inflorescence loose, with relatively few 29-flowered heads; involucre campanulate, 6-7 mm. high; scales glabrous or obscurely filiate, irregularly imbricate, the outer slightly spreading at the tip, the inner appressed; achenes thinly pubescent and darkdotted ; pappus pale-tawny or yellow.
Type LOCALITY: Vicinity of Thompson. McDuffie County, Georgia.
Distribution: Georgia and South Carolina.