Fleischmannia prasiifolia (Griseb.) R.M. King & H. Rob., Phytologia 19: 205. 1970

Robinson, Harold, 2015, The genus Fleischmannia in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay (Eupatorieae, Asteraceae), PhytoKeys 57, pp. 61-92 : 76-77

Fleischmannia prasiifolia (Griseb.) R.M. King & H. Rob., Phytologia 19: 205. 1970

Eupatorium prasiifolium Griseb., Goett. Abh. 19: 119. 1874. Type: Argentina. Tucuman: in pratis alpinia pr. Cienega, 1873, Lorentz 408 (holotype M).

Description.

Erect to scrambling perennial herbs 30-100 cm tall, stems terete, striate, drying brownish, densely hirsutulous; branches ascending, spreading at less than 30° angles, internodes 4-12 cm long. Leaves opposite; petioles 0.1-1.2 cm long; leaf blades ovate, base obtuse to subtruncate, margins each with 5-8 usually blunt serrations, apex usually narrowly acuminate, surfaces pilosulous, coarser on veins below; triplinervate from petiole, veins dark. Inflorescence of large dense clusters of heads at tips of leafy branches, branches puberulous; peduncles 2-4 mm long, densely puberulous. Heads ca. 5 mm high, 4-5 mm wide; involucral bracts ca. 30, gradate, 1.5-5.0 mm long, outer narrowly ovate, inner narrowly oblong, apices obtuse, often lavender tinged. Florets ca. 25-30 in a head; corollas reddish, ca. 3 mm long, basal tube ca. 0.7 mm long, throat ca. 1.5 mm long, lobes ca. 0.5 mm long, few or no short hairs outside; anther thecae ca. 0.8 mm long; style branches slightly broadened distally. Achenes ca. 2 mm long; with pale setuliferous ribs; pappus white, with ca. 40 bristles ca. 2 mm long, slightly broader and contiguous at base.

The most significant distinctions are the strongly ascending branches, the rather sparsely pilosulous adaxial surfaces of the leaves, the densely corymbiform clusters of numerous heads in the inflorescence, the lavender or reddish corollas and the pale ribs on the submature achenes.

Specimens seen.

Bolivia: Tarija, Prov. Gran Chaco, Sanadita, 90-1.20 m de altura, flor lila, 8.8.1981, R.E.(ERTS) 294 (LPB, MO); Tarija, Prov. Cercado, 54.9 km E of Tarija-Padcaya road, on road to Entre Rios, Elev. 2050 m, Moist shrubby vegetation, heavily disturbed, 21°29'S. 64°20'W, corollas pinkish-purple, 1 May 1983, J.C. Solomon 10306 (MO, US); Prov. Cercado, 10 km NW of Tomatas (5 km N. of Tarija), on road through Erquis, elev. 2200 m, Angusturas de Erquis, isolated packet of moist shrubby vegetation, 21°28'S, 64°50'W, corollas purplish-pink, 9 May 1983, J.C. Solomon 10601 (MO, US).