TALL ELEPHANT'S FOOT

CAUTION: The book, Medicinal Natural Products: A Biosynthetic Approach, by Paul Dewick, states that Elephantopus may be toxic, especially cytotoxic, due to the chemical germacranolide elephantopin. 

VERY LITTLE IS WRITTEN OF THIS PARTICULAR SPECIES' MEDICINAL USES: Medicinal properties of native plants currently under evaluation include” this species, which contains “chemistry of two tumor inhibiting structures.”  Florida Ethnobotany lists no uses.  

NATIVE TO: “Florida to South Carolina and Louisiana.” [6]
HABITAT: Usually found in pine flatwoods. [16] Dry woods, usually associated with pine, pine barrens, dry oak hammocks, deciduous forests, scrubby flatwoods, shaded roadsides. 
DESCRIPTION: An herbaceous short-lived perennial, 1-3 feet tall, very rarely to 4 feet. Winter dormant. [13]
- STEMS: Hairy.
- LEAVES: Alternate, lanceolate, pubescent, mostly basal, only a few stem leaves, to 8" long, "darker on the upper side." 
- FLOWERS: "The plant produces numerous small flowerheads in a tight cluster, each head generally containing only 4-5 florets." Branched atop stems, purple to pink, sometimes white, appear August-October. The flowers may occasionally appear in white. 

WILDLIFE: The flowers attract many pollinators, including bees, tachnid flies, and butterflies.
CULTURE:
- HARDINESS: USDA Zones 8A to 10B [10F].
- LIGHT: Full to part sun. 
- USES: “Good for accents, borders, and xeriscapes.” [3]  "Primarily recommended for natural landscapes and habitat restorations. Also wildflower gardens." [16]
SIMILAR SPECIES: Three other species of Elephantopus occur in the wild here in Florida, and all three are native. 2bnthewild.com lists these related species: “Smooth Elephant’s Foot, Elephantopus nudatus, is very similar but with smooth leaves.  Elephant's Foot, Elephantopus tomentosus, has large basal leaves and, usually, purple flowers.  Carolina Elephant's Foot, Elephantopus carolinianus, usually has no basal leaves. The flowers tend to be white.” 
A SIMILAR AFRICAN SPECIES: This species looks very much like the related, Elephantopus scaber of tropical eastern Africa, a traditional medicine [anti-inflammatory], [2] the leaves of which are sometimes gathered in the wild and eaten. [11]  SEE CAUTION ABOVE. E. scaber is “cooked and eaten like spinach” [11] and is “used in Colombia and Brazil as a tonic, febrifuge, and diaphoretic, against cough, bronchitis, and asthma.” [Roig, 1945 via 1].