FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Crushed leaves strongly malodorous, hence the species name. Look for clasping, fuzzy leaves and whitish flowers.
Description: Unbranching, leafy perennial, 0.5 to 1 m tall, topped with dense clusters of white disk flowers.
Leaves: Alternate, sessile (and sometimes clasping), fuzzy, dull, thick, green leaves, stems often purplish. Leaves have tiny spines scattered along the margins.
Flowers/Fruit: Flat-topped clusters of white disk flowers that brown with age. Seeds with long bristles for dispersal. Flowers and fruits late July to October.
Habit and Range: Mainly found in the Coastal Plain and lower Piedmont, in marshes, Carolina bays, ditches, and borrow pits.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Pluchea foetida (stinking camphorweed) is similar to Pluchea odorata (sweetscent), which also has pinkish flowers, leaves with short petioles (not sessile or clasping) and grows in coastal wetlands (brackish and fresh). The less common Pluchea camphorata (camphor pluchea) is found in wetlands statewide. It has light pink flowers and large leaves with petioles (not clasping).
Click here to view Pluchea odorata.
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