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Vernonia
Also called Ironweeds
Vernonia is a genus of about 350 forbs, shrubs and trees in the daisy family, some called ironweeds, known for intense purple flower heads. Care varies widely by species, so the entries below reflect commonly grown North American prairie ironweed types.
Vernonia is a genus of about 350 species of forbs and shrubs in the family Asteraceae. Some species of this genus are known as ironweeds. Some species are edible and of economic value. They are known for having intense purple flowers. There have been numerous distinct subgenera and subsections named in this genus, and some botanists have divided the genus into several distinct genera. For instance, the Flora of North America recognizes only about twenty species in Vernonia sensu stricto, seventeen of which are in North America north of Mexico, with the others being found in South America.
Vernonia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora vernoniaeella (which feeds exclusively on the genus) and Schinia regia (which feeds exclusively on V. texana). Vernonia is a very diverse genus, varying from the tiny V. desertorum of the Caatinga region of Brazil which is only 8 cm (3.1 in) tall to Vernonia arborea of the East Indies which, at 36 m (118 ft) is the tallest of all composites; a 472 fold difference in height. The liana Vernonia andersoni of Burma, according to Menninger, "climbs into the tops of trees" and could be even taller. The leaves can vary from quite small up to 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) long by up to 38 cm (15 in) in width in the case of Vernonia conferta of Cameroon.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Vernonia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
