Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Account for Camphor Pluchea - Pluchea camphorata   (L.) de Candolle
Members of Asteraceae:
Members of Pluchea with account distribution info or public map:
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Section 6 » Order Asterales » Family Asteraceae
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Author(L.) de Candolle
DistributionCoastal Plain (including the Outer Banks), Sandhills, and Piedmont; disjunct in the southern Mountains to Cherokee County: shore of Lake Hiwassee.

DE to southern OH and KS, south to northern FL and TX.
AbundanceFairly common in most of the Piedmont and Coastal Plain; can be locally common. Rare in the foothills and in the far northeastern Coastal Plain; absent from most of the Mountains.
HabitatMoist (periodically inundated) floodplains and bottomlands, openings in these habitats, freshwater marshes, fresh-tidal marshes, interdune marshes, shores of impoundments, roadside ditches.
PhenologyFlowering and fruiting August-October.
IdentificationCamphorweeds are leafy plants about 2 feet tall with relatively flat-topped inflorescences of pink, rosy, or dirty white heads. The vegetation has an unpleasant odor, often described as fetid. Camphor Pluchea has medium pink heads (disk florets only), the inflorescences are dome-shaped or rather rounded, and distinctly stalked, ovate leaves.
Taxonomic CommentsNone

Other Common Name(s)Camphorweed, Marsh Fleabane. As one can tell, no one has tried to standardize the common names of the Pluchea species, using a single group name and distinct modifier names. We are left with a mess! This website may coin the name of Common Camphorweed in upcoming months, as Camphor Pluchea is an awkward name, and genus names should be avoided in common names if at all possible.
State RankS4 [S5]
Global RankG5
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Owen CarsonNebo, McDowell County; 16 September 2020 McDowellPhoto_natural
Owen CarsonNebo, McDowell County; 16 September 2020 McDowellPhoto_natural
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