Vernonia texana

Very similar to V. gigantea which also has short, straight conical projections on the lower leaf surfaces, and occasionally patches of longer curly hairs along the veins. They can be distinguished by their leaves which are lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate in V. gigantea and linear to lance-linear (sometimes mistaken for Helianthus angustifolius) in V. texana.

Tough and bitter, not palatable to cattle. Serves as a special value to native bees.

The genus name Vernonia is in honor of William Vernon, an English botanist of the early 1700s. The common name "ironweed" probably refers to its toughness. It is found in the north and central parishes of Louisiana and infrequently in east Texas. It ranges from Mississippi to Texas, and north to Arkansas and Oklahoma. The Vernonias often hybridize making field identification more difficult.