Pluchea sordida Oliv. & Hiern

Compositae, H. Beentje, C. Jeffrey & D.J.N. Hind. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2005

Morphology General Habit

Shrubby herb 0.5–1.5 m high; stems without wings, sparsely pilose, non-glandular.

Morphology Leaves

Leaves sessile, obovate, 0.8–4.3 cm long, 0.6–2.2 cm wide, base attenuate, margins entire or with few (< 5) minute callose teeth, apex obtuse or acute, tomentellous to puberulous on both surfaces, sparsely glandular.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Capitulum

Capitula 5–9 mm long, in dense globose cymes in small leafy corymbs; stalks of individual capitula 2–11 mm long; phyllaries green or mauve with paler margins, multiseriate, lanceolate, 2–6.5 mm long, 0.4–1.2 mm wide, acute, thinly pubescent, ciliate distally on the inner ones, glandular; inner phyllaries deciduous after anthesis; receptacle concave.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets

Florets pink to dull purple; outer florets many, in several rows, tube filiform, 2.4–3.2 mm long; style 3.2–4.2 mm long with filiform branches; inner florets 4–7, tube 3.5–4 mm long, lobes 0.3–0.5 mm long and sparsely glandular; anthers 1.5–1.7 mm long with minute tails and ovate distal appendages, style 4.4–5.2 mm long with short papillose branches, but sometimes with the branches closely parallel and then seeming undivided.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Achenes cylindrical and ribbed, 0.8–1 mm long, sparsely hairy, similar in inner and outer florets; pappus of white barbellate bristles 2–3.5 mm long.

Habitat

Moist sites such as river banks, lake margins, near springs, in groundwater forest, on black cotton soils, in mangrove; occasionally on saline or alkaline soils; 1–1950 m

Distribution

K4 K6 K7 P T2 T3 T6 T8 Z

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation

Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident