Perennials, 30-200 cm (bases woody). Stems branched, pubescent. Leaves mostly opposite (alternate in vars. gracillima and texana); petioles 0-10 mm; blades 1- or 3-nerved from bases, lanceolate, lance-linear, lance-ovate, lance-rhombic, linear, or oblong, 25-100 × 0.5-40 mm, bases acute, margins entire or ± dentate (often revolute), apices obtuse to acuminate, faces glandular-pubescent. Heads in paniculiform or corymbiform arrays. Peduncles 5-100 mm, glandular-pubescent. Involucres cylindric to narrowly campanulate, 7-15 mm. Phyllaries 22-26 in 4-6 series, green to stramineous, sometimes purple-tinged, 3-7-striate, unequal, margins scarious (often ciliate); outer ovate to lance-ovate (puberulent, often densely gland-dotted, apices acute to acuminate), inner lanceolate (± gland-dotted, apices obtuse to aristate). Florets 6-35; corollas pale yellow, yellow-green, pinkish lavender, or maroon, 4.5-6 mm. Cypselae 2.7-5.5 mm, glabrous or strigose, sometimes hispidulous or velutinous and/or gland-dotted; pappi of 20-28 white or tawny, usually plumose or subplumose, sometimes barbellate, bristles.
Plants 3-13 dm, densely puberulent to subglabrous; stems numerous; lvs narrowly lanceolate to broadly rhombic-lanceolate, the main ones 2.5-10 cm נ0.5-4 cm, gland-dotted beneath, entire or toothed, sessile or the lower short-petiolate; heads mostly in small corymbiform clusters terminating the branches; invol 7-14 mm, the inner bracts mostly linear or oblong, the outer subulate-deltoid to lanceolate, with slender attenuate tip; fls creamy-white; pappus-bristles 20; 2n=18. Dry open places, especially in sandy soil; N.J. to O., N.D., and Mont., s. to Fla. and Ariz. Aug.-Oct. (Brickellia e.) Three vars. in our range.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.