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Carphephorus carnosus
Pineland Chaffhead
Prairie Stars
Synonym(s): Litrisa carnosa
Florida native
Endemic to Florida
An occasional perennial of wet flatwoods of the central peninsula from Volusia County into Palm Beach County on the east coast and west into Lee and Charlotte Counties on the west coast.
Pineland chaffhead is usually less than 1m (~3 ft.) tall with finely pubescent stems. The basal leaves are narrowly linear to linear-lanceolate and form a depressed (flat) rosette. The stem leaves are greatly reduced. The purple flowers have hairy, spine-tipped bracts and appear in a terminal corymb. Individual flower heads are less than 1cm (4/10 in.) long.
Carphephorus carnosus is a member of the Asteraceae - Aster family.
Other species of the Carphephorus genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Carphephorus corymbosus - COASTALPLAIN CHAFFHEAD
Carphephorus odoratissimus - VANILLALEAF
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Feb 17, 2020
