Vernonia arkansana DC.

Vernonia crihita Raf. New Fl. 4: 77. 1838
Vernonia arkansana DC. Prodr. 7: 264. [?D] 1838. Cacalia arkansana Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 969. 1891.
Stems erect, simple or sparingly branched, leafy, glabrous and somewhat glaucous to
minutely puberulent, 1-3 m. high; leaf-blades narrowly lanceolate to broadly linear, 8-15 cm.
long, 5-20 mm. wide, acuminate, entire or with scattered callous teeth, tapering to the base,
glabrous or sparingly pubescent; inflorescence with 5-40 heads; peduncles stout, thickened
above; heads 55-S9-flowered; involucre broadly hemispheric, 12-20 mm. wide; scales glabrous
or pubescent, especially at the tip, lanceolate or ovate at the appressed base, acuminate into
long, flexuous, subulate, erect or spreading tips, involute below, becoming filiform above;
achenes strongly ribbed, glabrous or nearly so, usually resinous in the furrows, 5-6 mm.
long; pappus dull-purple, the bristles 6-7 mm. long.
Type locality: Arkansas.
Distribution: Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.