Camphor Weed (Pluchea camphorate)
Camphor Weed (Pluchea camphorata) or Camphor Pluchea, in the Aster (Asteraceae) family grows along the shorelines of lakes ponds and marshes (fresh, salt, and brackish). Found in the central United States, north to Kansas, east to Pennsylvania and south to Florida and Texas, Camphor Weed blooms from mid summer to fall.
The native Camphor Weed, growing to three feet tall produce dense clusters of small tubular pink to purple flowers to ¼ inch wide, each cluster surrounded by pink/purplish bracts.
Toothed leaves found alternately along the stem grow to six inches long and two inches wide. Small glands found on both sides of leaves are slightly sticky to the touch and produce a smell of camphor, which if handled, transfers to the hands.
Another similar species, Pluchea odorata/Pluchea purpurascens (Sweetscent or Marsh Fleabane) occurs in the southern half of the United States from the Pacific to the Atlantic.
Photos taken in rural east Norman, Oklahoma adjacent to my pond. September 2009
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