Cyanthillium cinerea (L.) H.Rob.

English: Ironweed, Little Ironweed, Vernonia

Mandarin: 夜香牛 (ye xiang niu)

Kingdom: Plantae (2635)

  Phylum: Tracheophyta (2573)

    Class: Magnoliopsida (2146)

      Order: Asterales (237)

        Family: Asteraceae (221)(family description)

          Genus: Cyanthillium (1)

            Epithet: cinerea (L.) H.Rob. (3)

Synonyms: Blumea chinensis (L.) DC., Blumea esquirolii H.Lév. & Vaniot, Cacalia cinerea (L.) Kuntze, Cacalia erigerodes (DC.) Kuntze, Cacalia erigeroides Kuntze, Cacalia exilis (Miq.) Kuntze, Cacalia kroneana (Miq.) Kuntze, Cacalia rotundifolia Willd., Calea cordata Lour., Chrysocoma violacea Schum. & Thonn., Cineraria glaberrima Spreng., Claotrachelus rupestris Zoll. & Moritzi, Conyza abbreviata Wall., Conyza bellidifolia Wall., Conyza chinensis L., Conyza cinerascens Wall., Conyza cinerea L., Conyza elegantula Wall., Conyza heterophylla Lam., Conyza incana B.Heyne, Conyza ivifolia Burm.f., Conyza mollis Willd., Conyza prolifera Lam., Conyza sinensis J.F.Gmel., Conyza subsimplex Wall., Crassocephalum flatmense Hochst. & Steud., Cyanopis erigeroides DC., Cyanopsis decurrens Zoll. & Moritzi, Erigeron pisonis Burm.f., Eupatorium arboreum Reinw., Eupatorium myosotifolium Jacq., Eupatorium sinuatum Lour., Isomeria chinensis (L.) Wight, Isomeria cinerea Wight, Monosis elaeagnoides Kunth, Musteron bellidifolium (Wall.) Raf., Pteronia tomentosa Lour., Seneciodes cinereum (L.) Kuntze, Senecioides cinerea (L.) Kuntze ex Britton & P.Wilson, Serratula cinerea (L.) Roxb., Vernonia abbreviata Wall., Vernonia cinerea (L.) Less., Vernonia cyanonioides Walp., Vernonia cyanopioides Walp., Vernonia diffusa DC., Vernonia erigeroides DC., Vernonia exilis Miq., Vernonia fasciculata Blume, Vernonia kroneana Miq., Vernonia lastii Engl., Vernonia laxiflora Less., Vernonia lentii Volkens & O.Hoffm., Vernonia leptophylla DC., Vernonia montana Hook.f., Vernonia physalifolia DC., Vernonia rhomboidea Edgew., Vernonia rhomboides Edgew., Vernonia rupestris (Zoll.) Hook.f., Vernonia sinulata Miq., Vernonia villosa W.F.Wright, Vernonia zollingeriana Sch.Bip.

abbreviata => shortened

arboreum => like a tree

bellidifolium => leaves like the genus Bellis

chinensis => of Chinese origin

cinerascens => with ashen-grey shadings

cinerea => ashen-grey

cinereum => ashen-grey

cordata => heart-shaped, as of leaves having the stalk at the notched end

decurrens => decurrent (as a leaf descending down a stem)

diffusa => spread about, wildly or loosely spreading

esquirolii => in honor of Joseph Henri Esquirol (1870-1934), French missionary, linguist and plant collector in Yunnan, P.R. China

fasciculata => clustered, growing in bundles

glaberrima => very smooth, smoothest

heterophylla => bearing leaves of more than one kind

incana => hoary, grey with age, like grey felt

laxiflora => loose flowered

leptophylla => fine or slender leaves

mollis => soft, tender, usually meaning pubescent like velvet

montana => growing in the mountains

prolifera => proliferous, producing bunched growth or offsets or young plantlets

rhomboidea => diamond-shaped

rotundifolia => referring to the rounded leaves

rupestris => rock-loving, or growing between rocks (rupes, a rock)

sinensis => of Chinese origin

sinuatum => having a deep, wavy margin (like the oak-leaf)

tomentosa => densely covered with short, soft, tangled hairs

villosa => hairy or shaggy

violacea => derived from the Latin "viola" meaning violet

zollingeriana => in honor of Heinrich Zollinger (1818-1859), Swiss botanist working manily in Java

Climate: tropical

Habitat: mesophytic

Habit: herb

Flower colour: violet, white

Check for Cyanthillium cinerea at

World Flora Online, GBIF or IPNI

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