Thank you so much for identifying the groundsel bush for me! I have another plant I’m unsure of. It’s a perennial, about 6 feet tall that I found growing several places in the wild in the Charleston area. It was flowering in September, during the gulf fritillary migration, so it was quite spectacular covered in butterflies.
Hi Anne,
this is a very interesting-looking plant. It is possible that I have not seen it. My best guess is that it is Verbesina virginica, frostweed. Usually the leaves are not lobed, however. Please look at pictures of it on the internet, including here: http://allthingsplants.com/ideas/view/frostweed/1367/All-About-Frostweed-Verbesina-virginica/ and let me know if it seems to be this plant. If not, I’ll try again and ask around further.
As always, I’m open to suggestions! I finally figured out how to allow comments here!
-Dr. Steven R. Hill, Botanist, SCNPS