Woolly Chaffhead

Plants 20–80 cm. Stems sparsely to densely hirsute to hirsute-villous, sometimes strigose distally, gland-dotted. Leaves: basal and proximal cauline oblanceolate, mostly 3.5–15 cm; cauline gradually reduced, faces gland-dotted. Heads in flat-topped, corymbiform arrays. Peduncles villoso-hirsute, gland-dotted. Involucres 7–11 mm. Phyllaries 15–40+ in 3–5+ series, ovate-lanceolate to broadly ovate, villous, and gland-dotted, apices acute to obtuse. Receptacles partially paleate (paleae often 4–5). Corollas glandular, lobes ca. 2 mm. Cypselae eglandular; pappus bristles in ± 1 series. 2n = 20.

Liatris tomentosa Michaux, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 93. 1803; Carphephorus tomentosus var. walteri (Elliott) Fernald

Carphephorus tomentosus, the woolly chaffhead, is a species of North American plants in the family Asteraceae. They are native to the southeastern United States in the states of Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

Carphephorus tomentosus is an herb up to 80 cm (32 inches) tall, covered with many hairs resembling wool. It produces a flat-topped inflorescence with many small purplish flower heads containing disc florets but no ray florets.