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• Asteraceae
• Asteraceae Group 2
• Pluchea
• Pluchea odorata

Pluchea odorata — sweet-scented camphorweed

Facts

Sweet-scented camphorweed is a native plant found in saline and brackish marshes in New England. This species is one of few plants that exhibit "crystallofolia" (frost flowers or ribbons), unusual feathery or ribbon-like ice formations that sometimes appear on a plant during frost events, due to water being emitted along the stem or near the base of the dormant plant during freezing.

Habitat

Brackish or salt marshes and flats

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bract color

  the bracts are colored, or at least tinged with, pink, red or purple

  Bract cycle number

  there are three or more cycles of bracts

  Bract outer side hair type

  the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces, with hairs having glands (a swelling at the tip of the hair)

  Bract outer side hairs

  the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract spines

  the bracts have no spines

  Bract texture

  • the bracts appear leathery or hardened
  • the bracts appear thin, flexible and nearly translucent

  Bract tip color

  the tips are a different color from the center of the bract

  Bract tip extension appearance

  NA

  Bract tip extension edge

  NA

  Bract tip orientation

  the bracts are pressed against the plant, or spreading out at the tips

  Bracts

  the bracts in separate cycles are similar or gradually changing from the outer to inner cycles

  Disk flower color

  • blue to purple
  • pink to red
  • white

  Disk flower lobe number

  • 4
  • 5

  Disk flower number

  • 11-20
  • 21-50

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  • the disk flower has both pollen- and seed-producing parts
  • the disk flower has either only pollen- or only seed-producing parts

  Disk flower shape

  the disk flower is tube-shaped (cylindrical), or gradually widening like a funnel

  Flower head number

  each flowering stem has four or more flower heads on it

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, the flowers have no enlarged lobe or strap, and are of similar size as those in the center of the disk

  Flower head platform

  the base has no bristles or papery scales

  Flower head platform surface

  NA

  Flower head position

  some or all the flower heads are grouped in clusters of two or more

  Flower head profile

  the disk is flat or nearly flat across the top

  Flower head shape

  the sides of the flower head are roughly parallel, like a cylinder

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has disk flowers only, and lacks the strap-shaped flowers

  Height of flower head base

  5–6 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  the inflorescence is flat-topped in profile

  Inflorescence stem

  • hairs are present on the stem of the inflorescence
  • the stem of the inflorescence is not hairy

  Ovary cross-section

  the ovary has five or more corners in cross-section

  Ovary hair type

  the ovary has hairs on it, but the hairs have no glands

  Ovary hairs

  the ovary has hairs on it

  Ovary profile

  in profile, the ovary is oblong (roughly rectangular but rounded at the ends)

  Peduncle hair type

  • NA
  • the hairs on the peduncles have glands at their tips

  Peduncle hairs

  • the peduncles are hairy
  • the peduncles have no hairs

  Ray flower color

  NA

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  NA

  Ray flowers

  NA

  Ray length

  0 mm

  Reproductive system

  all the flowers on the plant contain both carpels and stamens

  Scale tip

  NA

  Smaller bracts at base of bracts

  there is a cycle of much smaller bracts outside the cycle of larger and longer bracts

  Style branch number

  the style has one branch

  Width of flower head base

  7–10 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  1 mm

  Seed hair tuft tips

  the pappus hairs are slender

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of very fine hairs or bristles

  Top of disk flower ovary

  NA

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  at least a part of the plume is made up of fine bristles

• Glands or sap

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  the plant is annual, it lacks evidence of previous years' growth

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  there are only slender roots on the plant

• Leaves

  Final leaf segment length (compound lvs only)

  0 mm

  Final leaf segment width (compound lvs only)

  0 mm

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  • the underside of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  • the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Leaf blade base

  • the leaf has a distinct petiole
  • the leaf has no petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow

  Leaf blade edges

  • the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes
  • the edge of the leaf blade has teeth

  Leaf blade hairs

  the leaf blade has simple hairs with no glands, and not tangled or wooly

  Leaf blade length

  40–150 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)

  Leaf blade surface colors

  there is no noticeable color variation on the upper surface of the leaf

  Leaf blade tip

  • the tip of the leaf blade is acuminate (tapers to a long, thin point)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)

  Leaf blade veins

  the leaf blade has one main vein running from the base towards the tip

  Leaf blade width

  10–70 mm

  Leaf disposition

  the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem

  Leaf spines

  there are no spines on the leaf edges

  Leaf stalk

  • the leaves have leaf stalks
  • the leaves have no leaf stalks, but attach directly to the stem

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaflet number

  0

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

• Place

  Habitat

  wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island

  Specific habitat

  brackish or salt marshes and flats

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the plant has an unpleasant or repellant odor

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem internode hair direction

  the hairs point mostly upwards to outwards

  Stem internode hair type

  at least some of the hairs on the stem have glands

  Stem internode hairs

  the stem has hairs between the nodes

Wetland status

Occurs only in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: OBL)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae