Plectocephalus americana
Family: Asteraceae
Plant Description: Annual to 1 m high with lanceolate or elliptic leaves 1-16 cm long. Heads solitary, 3-4 cm high and up to 1 cm wide, discoid. Corolla light purple-violet.
Plant Trivia: important butterfly nectar plant. It resembles the Texas Thistle, Cirsium texanum, but it does not have the spiny leaves and involucres typical of thistles.
Plant Field Identification:
Occurrence: Fairly frequent on sandy or clayey loams or caliche in prairies and openings. Attractive and showy.
Bloom: April-June
stxflora 