Florida Elephant's Foot

Plants (1–)6–7+ dm. Leaves mostly basal at flowering; blades oblanceolate, 9–14(–20+) cm × 20–35(–45+) mm (including petioles), abaxial faces pilose to hirsute, adaxial sparsely pilose to hirsute. Bracts rounded-deltate to lance-deltate, 8–12+ × 6–8+ mm. Inner phyllaries 6–8 mm, ± densely strigose to villous, hairs (0.3–)0.5–1 mm. Cypselae 3–3.5 mm; pappi 3–4 mm. 2n = 22.

Elephantopus elatus Bertol. Mem. Accad. Bologna 2: 607. 1851
Elephantopus elatus intermedins Gleason, Bull. Torrey Club 46: 252. 1919.
Stems erect, rather sparingly branched, 5-10 dm. tall, leafless or with 1 or 2 cauline leaves, hirsute-pubescent, especially above; blades of the basal leaves spatulate to elliptic or oblong, 12-25 cm. long, 3-6 cm. wide, obtuse, crenate, thinly papillose-pilose above, more or less pilose on the lower surface and densely comose with stout ascending hairs on the veins; cauline leaves much reduced, seldom more than 5 cm. long; glomerules very loosely corymbed,10-15 mm. high, about equaled by the broadly ovate or triangular, short-acuminate, densely grayhirsute bracts; involucral scales 5.5-S mm. long, densely hirsute with erect white hairs concealing the surface: achenes 3.5-4 mm. long: pappus-bristles 3.5-4.5 mm. long, dilated below into a narrowly triangular base.
Type Locality: Alabama.
Distribution: South Carolina to Florida, Louisiana, and southern Arkansas.

Elephantopus elatus, common name tall elephantsfoot, is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the southeastern United States from eastern Louisiana to South Carolina.

Elephantopus elatus is a perennial herb up to 70 cm (28 inches) tall. Leaves are oblanceolate, up to 20 cm (8 inches) long, darker on the upper side than they are on the lower side. The plant produces numerous small flower heads in a tight cluster, each head generally containing only 4-5 florets.