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• Parthenium integrifolium

Parthenium integrifolium — wild feverfew

Facts

Wild feverfew is native to North America, but adventive in New England, perhaps because the species is sometimes grown in wildflower and medicinal herb gardens. Wild feverfew was used as an alternate malaria remedy during World War I, when the supply of Cinchona bark (quinine) was disrupted. It has many other uses in traditional medicine.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bract cycle number

  there are two main cycles of bracts

  Bract outer side hair type

  • the bracts are hairy, with simple hairs on their outer surface
  • the bracts are not hairy on their outer surface

  Bract outer side hairs

  • the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces
  • the bracts are not hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract separation

  the bracts appear completely unconnected to one another on all flower heads

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are lanceolate (widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip)
  • the main bracts are orbicular (roughly circular)
  • the main bracts are ovate (egg-shaped)

  Bract texture

  • the bracts appear thin, flexible and nearly translucent
  • the bracts have a similar texture to a leaf

  Disk flower color

  • white
  • yellow

  Disk flower lobe number

  5

  Disk flower number

  • 11-20
  • 21-50

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  the disk flower has either only pollen- or only seed-producing parts

  Disk flower shape

  the disk flower is tube-shaped (cylindrical), or gradually widening like a funnel

  Disk width

  4–7 mm

  Flower head number

  each flowering stem has four or more flower heads on it

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, each flower has a single enlarged lobe or strap

  Flower head platform

  the base has papery scales on it

  Flower head position

  some or all the flower heads are grouped in clusters of two or more

  Flower head profile

  • the disk is conical across the top
  • the disk is flat or nearly flat across the top

  Flower head shape

  the flower head is hemispherical (like the bottom half of a sphere)

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has tubular disk flowers in the center and ray flowers, these often strap-shaped, around the periphery

  Height of flower head base

  4–6 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  • the inflorescence is flat-topped in profile
  • the inflorescence is not flat-topped but appears rounded, with some flower heads distinctly higher than others

  Number of bracts at flower head base

  10–12

  Ovary cross-section

  • the ovary has five or more corners in cross-section
  • the ovary is compressed (flattened)

  Ovary hair type

  the ovary has hairs on it, but the hairs have no glands

  Ovary hairs

  the ovary has hairs on it

  Ovary lines or ribs

  there are two lines or ribs visible on the ovary

  Ovary profile

  in profile, the ovary is roughly egg-shaped, but widest above the middle

  Peduncle length

  1–12 mm

  Ray flower color

  white

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  the ray flowers have carpels or stamens, but not both

  Ray flowers

  • 1-5
  • 6-10

  Ray length

  1–2 mm

  Reproductive system

  all the flowers on the plant contain both carpels and stamens

  Style branch number

  the style has one branch

  Width of flower head base

  5–8 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Dispersal unit

  the seeds fall off or are dispersed separately from one another

  Number of pappus parts

  • 0
  • 4

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  3–4 mm

  Seed hair tuft length

  0.3–0.6 mm

  Seed hair tuft tips

  the pappus hairs are slender

  Seed tuft scale number

  0–4

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of flat scales that are not split or frayed at the tips

  Top of disk flower ovary

  NA

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  there is no plume, or the plume is made up of scales, awns, a crown, or a rim

• Glands or sap

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  the plant is perennial, it shows evidence of previous year's leaves, stems or stem bases

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  the plant has one or more swollen storage organs underground, such as bulbs, tubers or corms

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy

  Leaf arrangement

  • alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem
  • the leaves are growing only at the base of the plant (basal)

  Leaf blade base

  • the leaf has a distinct petiole
  • the leaf has no petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow

  Leaf blade edges

  • the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes
  • the edge of the leaf blade has teeth

  Leaf blade hairs

  the leaf blade has simple hairs with no glands, and not tangled or wooly

  Leaf blade length

  At least 30 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)

  Leaf blade tip

  • the tip of the leaf blade is acuminate (tapers to a long, thin point)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)

  Leaf blade veins

  the leaf blade has one main vein running from the base towards the tip

  Leaf blade width

  10–120 mm

  Leaf disposition

  • the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem
  • the lower leaves are larger, toothier, and/or on longer stalks than the upper leaves

  Leaf stalk

  • the leaves have leaf stalks
  • the leaves have no leaf stalks, but attach directly to the stem

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaflet number

  0

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Massachusetts

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem cross-section

  the flowering stem is circular, or with lots of small angles

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem bloom

  there is no powdery or waxy film on the stem

  Stem internode hair direction

  • NA
  • the hairs are pressed flat against the plant, pointing either towards the plant's tip or towards it's base

  Stem internode hair type

  • NA
  • the hairs on the stem are plain, without glands or branches, and not tangled

  Stem internode hairs

  • the stem has hairs between the nodes
  • the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem wings

  the stem does not have wings on it

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae