blue mistflower
Conoclinium coelestinum
Its fluffy, disk-only flower heads lack ray florets entirely, giving them a unique misty appearance that looks like a blue-violet cloud.
- Scientific name
- Conoclinium coelestinum
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Asterales › Asteraceae › Conoclinium
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- wetland
- Habitat
- Wet meadows, stream banks, damp ditches, and low-lying open woods.
- Diet
- Autotrophic (photosynthetic, utilizing sunlight, water, and soil nutrients).
- Range
- Eastern United States, Central United States, Ontario, Canada
- Size
- 1 to 3 feet (30-90 cm) tall, forming dense colonies
- Lifespan
- Perennial (indefinite lifespan through rhizomatic spreading)
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat loss through wetland drainage, urban development, and indiscriminate herbicide application.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. You can safely approach and admire this plant. It is non-toxic to touch, but avoid ingesting wild plants. Enjoy watching the native bees and butterflies it attracts.
Conoclinium coelestinum , the blue mistflower , is a North American species of herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the sunflower family. It was formerly classified in the genus Eupatorium , but phylogenetic analyses in the late 20th century research indicated that that genus should be split, and the species was reclassified in Conoclinium .
Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
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