The Elephant Foot

As gardeners go, I would consider myself fairly typical. I try to grow too many plants in too small a space, and I am always eager to experiment with new or novel plants. Those that make the cut and end up in my garden are not always perennial favorites - a very good friend sometimes refers to my garden as a "weed patch."

Flowers such as roses are appreciated by most people - in addition to their beauty they possess an unmistakable signature scent. Their inclusion in gardens is rarely questioned. Many less showy plants (including some that are just plain ugly) often have a quiet charm, or one or more unusual attributes that make them garden-worthy.

I will try to make my case for an odd little plant with a very odd name. It lacks colorful flowers or foliage, and no society exists to praise it or favor it.

Elephantopus elatus (or Florida Elephant Foot) is a member of the large plant family Asteraceae, which also claims the cheerful sunflower and the daisy as members. Common in dry, upland forests in Florida, it seems to have an affinity for thin, sandy soils. Usually about six to ten inches across, the plant forms a small ground-hugging rosette of large and hairy flat leaves that resemble lettuce or salad greens. In the late summer and early fall it sends up a tall, wiry spike that branches multiple times at the top, and terminates in flattened, three-leaved bracts that enclose multiple tiny purple flowers. The tiny flowers open in succession over a period of several weeks and attract even tinier pollinating insects.

My original two plants were purchased about six years ago, and planted next to a small Sparkleberry tree (Vaccinium arboreum). They have been marching slowly eastward ever since, and now number around three dozen. The tall, wiry spikes of flowers and seed capsules tend to lean, dropping small gray seeds as they bend. The Florida Elephant Foot has found my garden much to its liking. The plants grow to the size of paving stones, and the flower spikes are nearly hip high. I have done nothing to tempt them to stay, but I am pleased they have found my garden refuge to their liking.

The Paynes Prairie Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society will be holding their annual Fall Plant Sale on September 25-26, at Morningside Nature Center in Gainesville.