Crownbeard is the common name of Verbesina, a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s, in the daisy family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 (Asteraceae

Asteraceae

The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

). They bear yellow flowers similar to small sunflower

Sunflower

Sunflower is an annual plant native to the Americas. It possesses a large inflorescence . The sunflower got its name from its huge, fiery blooms, whose shape and image is often used to depict the sun. The sunflower has a rough, hairy stem, broad, coarsely toothed, rough leaves and circular heads...

s. The name Verbesina refers to the similarity of the foliage to that of the (unrelated) verbena

Verbena

Verbena , verbenas or vervains, is a genus in the family Verbenaceae. It contains about 250 species of annual and perennial herbaceous or semi-woody flowering plants. The majority of the species are native to the New World from Canada south to southern Chile, but some are also native in the Old...

.

Verbesina species are used as food plants by the larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e of some Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

 species. These include Schinia bina

Schinia bina

Schinia bina, or the Bina Flower Moth, is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is found from Mexico City to central Florida, and as far north as Canada....

, which has been recorded from V. encelioides

Verbesina encelioides

Verbesina encelioides is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. The species is native to the United States and Mexico. It is naturalized in the Middle East, Spain, Argentina, Australia and the Pacific islands....

, and Schinia siren

Schinia siren

The Schinia Moth is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is found in North America, including Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.The wingspan is about 22 mm....

which feeds exclusively on that species.

Actinomeris is a basionym

Basionym

Basionym is a term used in botany, regulated by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature...

 of Verbesina.

Selected species

• Verbesina alternifolia – Yellow Ironweed, Wingstem
• Verbesina arnottii
• Verbesina auriculigera
• Verbesina barclayae
  Verbesina barclayae
  Verbesina barclayae is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It is found only in Ecuador.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...
  
  
• Verbesina brachypoda
  Verbesina brachypoda
  Verbesina brachypoda is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It is found only in Ecuador.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland....
  
  
• Verbesina dissita
  Verbesina dissita
  Verbesina dissita is a rare species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name bigleaf crownbeard. It is native to northern Baja California in Mexico, where it is known from about 23 occurrences, although some of these may have been extirpated or are vulnerable to destruction...
  
  
• Verbesina ecuatoriana
  Verbesina ecuatoriana
  Verbesina ecuatoriana is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It is found only in Ecuador.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...
  
  
• Verbesina encelioides
  Verbesina encelioides
  Verbesina encelioides is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. The species is native to the United States and Mexico. It is naturalized in the Middle East, Spain, Argentina, Australia and the Pacific islands....
  
  - "Butter Daisy"; formerly Ximenesia
• Verbesina gigantea
• Verbesina glabrata
• Verbesina grisebachii
• Verbesina guatemalensis
• Verbesina harlingii
  Verbesina harlingii
  Verbesina harlingii is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It is found only in Ecuador.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...
  
  
• Verbesina hastata
• Verbesina howardiana
• Verbesina kingii
  Verbesina kingii
  Verbesina kingii is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It is found only in Ecuador.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.It is threatened by habitat loss....
  
  
• Verbesina latisquama
  Verbesina latisquama
  Verbesina latisquama is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It is found only in Ecuador.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland....
  
  
• Verbesina mameana
  Verbesina mameana
  Verbesina mameana is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It is found only in Ecuador.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montanes.It is threatened by habitat loss.-Source:...
  
  
• Verbesina minuticeps
  Verbesina minuticeps
  Verbesina minuticeps is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It is found only in Ecuador.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.It is threatened by habitat loss....
  
  
• Verbesina occidentalis
• Verbesina pentantha
  Verbesina pentantha
  Verbesina pentantha is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It is found only in Ecuador.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montanes.-Source:...
  
  
• Verbesina persicifolia
• Verbesina petrobioides
  Verbesina petrobioides
  Verbesina petrobioides is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It is found only in Jamaica.-Source:* World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. . Downloaded on 20 July 2007....
  
  
• Verbesina pseudoclausseni
  Verbesina pseudoclausseni
  Verbesina pseudoclausseni is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It is found only in Brazil.-Source:* World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. . Downloaded on 20 July 2007....
  
  
• Verbesina pustulata
• Verbesina rivetii
  Verbesina rivetii
  Verbesina rivetii is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It is found only in Ecuador.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.-Source:...
  
  
• Verbesina rupestris
  Verbesina rupestris
  Verbesina rupestris is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It is found only in Jamaica.It is threatened by habitat loss.-Source:* World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. . Downloaded on 20 July 2007....
  
  
• Verbesina saloyensis
  Verbesina saloyensis
  Verbesina saloyensis is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It is found only in Ecuador.-Source:* World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. . Downloaded on 20 July 2007....
  
  
• Verbesina subcordata
• Verbesina squarrosa
• Verbesina villonacoensis
  Verbesina villonacoensis
  Verbesina villonacoensis is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It is found only in Ecuador.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland....
  
  
• Verbesina virginica – White Crownbeard, frostweed
  • Verbesina virginica var. laciniata