Florida Tasselflower

Cupid's Shaving Brush, Florida Tasselflower

Emilia fosbergii Nichols.

Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)

Emilia fosbergii Nichols., Cupid’s Shaving-Brush, Florida Tasselflower: (Bayer Code: EMIFO; US Code EMFO)

• Tender annual or short-lived perennial native to Asia that grows 0.5 to 3 feet tall
• Produces a rosette of medium-green, spoon-shaped leaves with round-pointed tips and small teeth on the margins
• Flowering stems have more widely-spaced, lanceolate leaves that have bases that wrap around the stem
• Head inflorescences are about 0.25 to 0.5 inches diameter at the tips of stems, and appear as old-time shaving brushes, with bright red to pink ray flowers
• Base of inflorescence is cylindrical to urn-shaped, and bracts below the head are linear, with pointed tips
• Found in tropical to sub-tropical areas disturbed soils, turf, landscapes, right of ways--tends to like moist, sandy soils
• Found only in Hawaii and southeastern states in U.S. so far

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