Vernonia baldwinii

Vernonia baldwinii is a tall, perennial herb with rhizomes. Its stems are densely tomentose, branched, round in cross section, and range up to {{convert|1.2|m|abbr=on}} in height, sometimes taller. Its leaves are lanceolate, cauline and alternate, and are about {{convert|15|cm|abbr=on}} in length and {{convert|4.5|cm|abbr=on}} in width.{{cite book |title= Flowering Plants: Asteraceae |volume= 3 |series= The Illustrated Flora of Illinois |author= Robert H. Mohlenbrock |publisher= SIU Press |year= 2017 |isbn= 9780809336067 |page= 89}} The larger leaves have serrated edges.{{cite web |title=Know Your Natives – Baldwin's Ironweed |url=https://anps.org/2019/08/12/know-your-natives-baldwins-ironweed/ |website=Arkansas Native Plant Society |language=en |date=12 August 2019}} The upper surface of the leaves is minutely hairy, and the lower surface has longer, often bent or tangled hairs.

The inflorescence is showy and somewhat flat-topped, consisting of irregularly branched terminal panicles, and measures {{convert |1|ft|cm|order=flip|abbr=on|}} or more across. Flowerheads have 17 to 34 disk flowers only, with no ray flowers. The corollas on the disk flowers are deep pink to purple, 5-lobed, glabrous, and {{convert |8-10|mm|in|1|order=flip|abbr=on|}} long. {{cite web |title=Vernonia baldwinii page |url=http://www.missouriplants.com/Vernonia_baldwinii_page.html |website=www.missouriplants.com}}

The genus Vernonia is named for the English botanist William Vernon, and the species baldwinii is named for William Baldwin, the American botanist and physician who collected the plant.

The common name "western ironweed" is derived from the range of the plant, the western United States, and derived from the toughness of the stem and roots of the plant.{{cite book |title= A Dictionary of Common Wildflowers of Texas & the Southern Great Plains |editor= Amanda Neill |edition= illustrated |publisher= TCU Press |year= 2005 |isbn= 9780875653099 |page= 160}}

It grows in dry soil in prairies, pastures, open grounds, and woods, ranging from Iowa to Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas.{{cite book |title= An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States: Canada and the British Possessions from Newfoundland to the Parallel of the Southern Boundary of Virginia, and from the Atlantic Ocean Westward to the 102d Meridian |volume= 3 |author= Nathaniel Lord Britton, Addison Brown |edition= 2 |publisher= C. Scribner's Sons |year= 1913 |page= 353}}

The flowers bloom in the summer, from May to September, attracting bees, butterflies, and other insects. American goldfinches and other birds eat the seeds.{{cite web |title=Western Ironweed (Baldwin's Ironweed) |url=https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/western-ironweed-baldwins-ironweed |website=Missouri Department of Conservation |language=en}}

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baldwinii

Category:Flora of the Western United States

Category:Flora of Arkansas