Carphephorus

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Carphephorus
Carphephorus corymbosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Tribe: Eupatorieae
Genus: Carphephorus
Cass.
Species

7

Carphephorus is a genus of seven[1] species of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae. They are native to the southeastern United States.[1] Plants of this genus are known commonly as chaffheads.[2]

Description

These are perennial plants that grow from a caudex and fibrous root system. The stems are erect and unbranched, usually reaching 20 to 60 centimeters in height, and taller at times. The leaves are alternately arranged and point upward, sometimes pressed against the stem. The blades vary in shape and are hairy to hairless and generally glandular. The flower heads are borne in open inflorescences. Each head contains up to about 35 disc florets, in color "usually lavender to dark magenta or pinkish purple, sometimes blue."[1] The fruit is a ribbed, rough-textured cypsela with a pappus of bristles.[1]

Classification

Some authors separate certain species into separate genera, Trilisa and Litrisa, on the basis of certain floral characters. The species are similar enough in other aspects that other authors maintain them in Carphephorus.[1] Molecular data may support the separation of at least some of the taxa.[3]

Carphephorus is in the tribe Eupatorieae of the aster family. Like other members of this tribe, the flower heads have disc florets and no ray florets. It is also in the subtribe Liatrinae along with, for example, Liatris and Garberia.[4]

Species

The genus contains the following species and varieties:[1][2]

  • Carpephorus bellidifolius sandywoods chaffhead
  • Carpephorus carnosus (syn. Trilisa carnosa) pineland chaffhead
  • Carpephorus corymbosus coastal plain chaffhead
  • Carpephorus odoratissimus (syn. Trilisa odoratissima) vanillaleaf
    • C. odoratissimus var. odoratissimus
    • C. odoratissimus var. subtropicanus (sometimes treated as a separate species, Carphephorus subtropicanus[5][6]). This species or variety is more southern than C. odoratissimus var. odoratissimus, lacks the characteristic coumarin odor of the latter, and has a different growth habit, being smaller with more of a rosette form. There is some overlap between the ranges of the two.[7]
  • Carpephorus paniculatus (syn. Trilisa paniculata ) hairy chaffhead
  • Carpephorus pseudoliatris bristleleaf chaffhead
  • Carpephorus tomentosus woolly chaffhead

Biochemistry

A number of species contain volatile oils, giving characteristic odors.[8][9]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Carphephorus Cassini". Flora of North America. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 Carpephorus. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
  3. Schilling, E. E. and P. B. Cox (2001). "Systematic analysis of Liatrinae (Asteraceae)". Botany 2001 Abstracts. Botanical Society of America 
  4. "Garberia A.Gray". Flora of North America. 
  5. "Carphephorus odoratissimus var. subtropicanus". Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants. 
  6. Delaney K. R., et al. (1999). "A new species of Carphephorus (Asteraceae; Eupatorieae) from peninsular Florida". Bot. Explor. (1). 
  7. Wunderlin, R. P.; Hansen, B. F. (2001). "Seven new combinations in the Florida flora". Novon (Missouri Botanical Garden Press) 11 (3): 366. doi:10.2307/3393048. JSTOR 3393048 
  8. Karlsson, K. et al. (1972). Volatile constituents of Carphephorus corymbosus and Carphephorus paniculatus. Acta Chemica Scandinavica 26(10) 3839–48. ISSN = 0001-5393
  9. Karlsson, K. et al. (1972). "Volatile constituents of Carphephorus odoratissimus (J.F. Gmel) Hebert.". Acta Chemica Scandinavica 26 (7): 2837–46. ISSN 0001-5393. PMID 4650326. 
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