Vernonia proctorii is a rare species of flowering plant in the aster family

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...

 known by the common name Proctor's ironweed. It is endemic to Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

, where there are two populations. It is threatened by the destruction of its habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species

Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...

 of the United States.

This plant was first discovered in 1987 at Cerro Mariquita in the Sierra Bermeja

Sierra Bermeja

Sierra Bermeja is a mountain range in southwestern Puerto Rico. It covers the area from the Laguna Cartegena to the north, to the Caribbean Sea to the south. From the Boqueron Forest to the west, to La Parguera to the east. It consists of a combination of volcanic rocks, completely crossed by...

 of Puerto Rico. It was described to science as a new species in 1989. It is a shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 growing up to 1.5 meters tall with a stem covered in silvery hairs. The leaves have shiny green blades which are oval in shape and measure up to 3.5 centimeters long by 2.6 wide. The inflorescence

Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

 is a cluster of 2 to 5 flower heads

Head (botany)

The capitulum is considered the most derived form of inflorescence. Flower heads found outside Asteraceae show lesser degrees of specialization....

 containing small purple flowers.

The single wild population has 150 individuals as of the year 2008. Another population was started in 2009 when 36 cultivated individuals were planted in the Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge

Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge

Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge is located on the southwestern side of Puerto Rico in the municipio of Cabo Rojo. It was established in 1974, when 587 acres of land were obtained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from the Central Intelligence Agency which had operated the Caribbean Bureau of...

. Both populations are healthy and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service

United States Fish and Wildlife Service

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...

 considers the plant's outlook to be improving. It is still threatened because the population at the type locality is on privately owned land that may be used for grazing

Grazing

Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...

or cleared for development.