Conoclinium coelestinum (L.) DC.
Mist-flower, blue mistflower, blue boneset
Blue mistflower is native to North America.
Plants: 12–30″ (30–76 cm) in height. Sometimes stems are numerous.
Leaves: Roughly triangular (deltate) or ovate, opposite, wrinkly, with blunt teeth (dentate or dentate-crenate), up to 3 ⨉ 2″ (7.6 ⨉ 5 cm).
Flowers: In clusters that are almost flat-topped, and 1–3″ (2.5–7.6 cm) around. The flowers are brushlike disc flowers—composed of 40-50 threadlike disc florets each ½″ (1.3 cm) around. They are blue or purple. Sort of. Steve Christman at Floridata says others have described the unique color as clear blue, powder blue, azure blue, bluish-purple, reddish-purple, blue-pinkish, and pink-purplish. He prefers “sky-blue pink.” Flowers are ¼–⅜″ (6.3–9.5 mm) in size, appearing from July to October. Technically these are composite flowers, like other members of the enormous aster family, but this species lacks ray flowers.
Fruits: Seeds are black, tiny and elongated, with white hairs at one end.
Habitats: Floodplains, pond and stream margins, fields and wet meadows, along roadsides.
Online References:
4/14/2015 · Everglades National Park, Florida · ≈ 3 × 2½″ (7.6 × 6.6 cm) 
4/13/2015 · Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, Everglades National Park, Florida · ≈ 4 × 4½″ (10 × 11 cm) 
4/13/2015 · Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, Everglades National Park, Florida · ≈ 6 × 4″ (16 × 10 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Asteridae | A large class that encompasses asters |
| Order | Asterales | Flowering plants with a central disk flower and surrounding petals, like daisies |
| Family | Asteraceae | The aster family, which also includes daisies and sunflowers; from the Greek ἀστήρ, “star,” for the star-shaped flowers |
| Genus | Conoclinium | From Greek κῶνος (konos), “cone;” and κλινίον (klinion), “little bed” |
| Species | coelestinum | “Sky blue,” for the flower color |
Conoclinium coelestinum description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.