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hammock snakeroot, lesser snakeroot

Mt. Shasta snakeroot, Shasta ageratina, Shasta snakeroot

Habit Perennials, 40–80(–100) cm. Perennials, 15–45 cm (bases woody, enlarged, occasionally rhizomatous).
Stems

erect, lax, minutely pilose.

erect (clustered from bases), puberulent to pubescent (often with some glandular hairs distally).

Leaves

opposite;

petioles 7–15(–22) mm;

blades narrowly deltate to rhombic, 2–6(–7) × 1.5–4 cm, (usually subcoriaceous) bases usually cuneate, sometimes truncate to slightly subcordate, margins usually coarsely serrate or incised, sometimes crenate to subentire, apices acute to acuminate, abaxial faces glabrous or hairy on veins.

opposite proximally, alternate on at least distal 1/2 of stems;

petioles 4–6 mm;

blades (venation raised-reticulate) orbiculate (juvenile) or deltate-ovate, 1.5–3 × 1–2 cm, (subcoriaceous) bases obtuse to truncate, margins entire or coarsely serrate to dentate, apices acute to acuminate, abaxial faces ± gland-dotted and/or stipitate-glandular.

Peduncles

2–10 mm, sparsely puberulent.

(0–)2–15 mm, puberulent and stipitate-glandular.

Involucres

2.5–4 mm.

10–11 mm.

Corollas

white, lobes glabrous or sparsely short-hirtellous.

white, glabrous.

Phyllaries

apices acute, abaxial faces puberulent to villous-puberulent.

apices acute, abaxial faces sparsely puberulent.

Heads

clustered.

mostly borne singly (each often subtended by a leaflike bract).

Cypselae

usually finely hirtellous-strigose on distal 1/3, sometimes glabrous.

hispidulous.

2n

= 34.

= 34.

Ageratina jucunda

Ageratina shastensis

Phenology Flowering (Sep–)Oct–Dec(–Jan). Flowering Jun–Oct.
Habitat Sand pine scrub, longleaf pine-turkey oak sand ridges, pine-palmetto, live-oak woods, hammocks, dunes, roadsides, old fields, stream banks, dry flatwoods Cracks and crevices of nearly vertical limestone cliffs
Elevation 0–50 m (0–200 ft) 400–1800 m (1300–5900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; GA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ageratina shastensis is recognized by relatively large solitary heads and coarsely serrate, subcoriaceous leaves alternate on distal parts of stems.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 21, p. 551. FNA vol. 21, p. 552.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Eupatorieae > Ageratina Asteraceae > tribe Eupatorieae > Ageratina
Sibling taxa
A. adenophora, A. altissima, A. aromatica, A. havanensis, A. herbacea, A. lemmonii, A. luciae-brauniae, A. occidentalis, A. paupercula, A. rothrockii, A. shastensis, A. thyrsiflora, A. wrightii
A. adenophora, A. altissima, A. aromatica, A. havanensis, A. herbacea, A. jucunda, A. lemmonii, A. luciae-brauniae, A. occidentalis, A. paupercula, A. rothrockii, A. thyrsiflora, A. wrightii
Synonyms Eupatorium jucundum Eupatorium shastense
Name authority (Greene) Clewell & Wooten: Brittonia 23: 142. (1971) (D. W. Taylor & Stebbins) R. M. King & H. Robinson: Phytologia 45: 464. (1980)
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