This species is usually called either the Common or the Smooth Ironweed, and has been called the Prairie or Western Ironweed also, though there is another species better called the Western Ironweed. It is a shorter Ironweed of usually 2 to 4 feet high, though 6 feet is possible. It does spread by rhizomes, underground stems. Its central stem that can be whitish or green or red-purple is hairless, as are the top and bottom of the leaves. The leaves are mostly narrow lanceolate and get to be 5 inches long by 1/2 inch wide, and leaves are either sessile, (directly attached to the stem), or only have a short petiole. The flower clusters are on the small side and are densely clustered. Like other Ironweed species, the foliage is bitter so that it deters feeding by mammals. This species is native from southeast North Dakota down through Oklahoma, found in most of MN, WI, IL, & MO, found in all of Iowa, areas of Indiana & Ohio, to northeast Ohio. Some sources write of the cold hardiness being USDA Zone 3 to 7.

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