American burnweed plant

American burnweed - Erechtites hieraciifolius

American burnweed - Erechtites hieraciifolius

Asteraceae family

MI Status

Native

Life cycle

Annual

Leaves

Up to 8 inches long and a few inches wide.  Leaves are shallow to deeply lobed with toothed edges that clasp the stem with no discernable petiole.  

Stems

Round and unbranched with vertical ridges, smooth or with sparse spreading hairs. 

Flowers and fruit

Green flower head is an inch long.   Flowers never appear to open. At the end of the green sepals are short white to yellow disk flowers that only slightly emerge for pollination (no showy ray flowers). After pollination and seed development, tufts of white hair emerge, like dandelion, to carry the brown seeds with the wind. 

Reproduction

Seeds

burn8
American burnweed plant
burn5
American burnweed leaf
burn13
American burnweed flower
burn12
American burnweed seed

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