Stemless Ironweed

Plants 4–6(–10) dm. Stems ± puberulent, glabrescent. Leaves mostly basal; blades oblong-elliptic to spatulate (basal, the distal narrower), 11–25(–30) cm × (21–)60–75+ mm, l/w = 2–4(–5+), abaxially usually glabrous or glabrate, sometimes hirsutulous on veins, usually resin-gland-dotted, adaxially ± scabrellous or glabrate. Heads in loose, corymbiform arrays. Peduncles 5–50 mm. Involucres campanulate to hemispheric, 5–10 × 6–7 mm. Phyllaries 40–60 in 5–6 series, glabrate, margins ciliolate, the outer lance-linear, 2–4 mm, inner lance-ovate to lance-subulate, 5–9 mm, tips subulate to filiform. Florets 30–40(–55+). Cypselae 2.5–3+ mm; pappi whitish to stramineous, outer scales ca. 20, 0.6–1 mm, contrasting with 25–40, 5–7+ mm inner bristles. 2n = 34.

Chrysocoma acaulis Walter, Fl. Carol., 196. 1788

Vernonia acaulis (Walt.) Gleason, Bull. N. Y. Bot
Gard. 4:222. 1906.
Chrysocoma acaulis Walt. Fl. Car. 196. 1788. Vernonia oligophylla Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 94. 1803. Cacalia acaulis Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 968. 1891.
Stems 3-10 dm. tall, glabrous or thinly puberulent, leafy at base, simple to the inflorescence; basal leaf-blades oblong to obovate, 10-30 cm. long, 2-8 cm. wide, acute, coarsely and irregularly serrate, attenuate at base into a short petiole, sparsely pubescent or scabrellate above, nearly glabrous and glandular-dotted on the lower surface, and pubescent along the veins; cauline leaves much smaller, bractlike, linear-oblong; inflorescence freely branched, loose and open, 1-3 dm. broad, with few 34-flowered heads; involucre broadly campanulate to hemispheric, 5-7 mm. high; scales glabrate or puberulent on the back, thinly arachnoid-ciliate, not resinous, the outer closely appressed at base, caudate-acuminate to a filiform tip, the inner erect, acute to acuminate; achenes strongly ribbed, sparsely pubescent, resinous and dark-dotted, 3 mm. long; pappus pale-tawny, the bristles 5 mm., the scales 0.4-0.8 mm. long.
Type locality: South Carolina.
Distribution: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

Vernonia acaulis is a species of perennial plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the U.S.