Eirmocephala brachiata (Benth. ex Oerst.) H. Rob.

Vernonia brachiata Benth.; Oerst. Vidensk. Meddel 1852:67. 1852.
Cacalia brachiata Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 969. 1891.
Stems apparently herbaceous, glabrous or nearly so, strongly angled; leaf-blades thin, broadly elliptic, 10-20 cm. long, 4—8 cm. wide, acute to acuminate, serrulate or entire, gradually attenuate to an obtuse base, nearly glabrous on both sides, short-petioled, the upper leaves gradually reduced; inflorescence leafless, 1-3 dm. high, freely branched, the cymes very numerous, 1-2 dm. long, straight or slightly curved; heads 21 -flowered, contiguous or nearly so; involucre broadly campanulate, 3-4 mm. high; scales loosely imbricate, ciliate, the outer triangular-lanceolate, sharply acute and somewhat cuspidate with a thickened midvein, the inner oblong to oblanceolate, acute or subacute, thin and scarious, with a colored midvein and purple tip; achenes sparsely hirsute; pappus pale-brown, the bristles 5 mm., the scales 0.3 mm. long.
Type locality: Mt. Aguacate, Costa Rica. •
Distribution: Costa Rica; northern South America.