Asteraceae

Elephant's foot

Elephantopus scaber L.

Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Elephantopus

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Elephant's foot (Elephantopus scaber) — FlowerPhoto: portioid, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (5)

Chinese: 地胆, 地胆头, 地胆草, 地胆草（地胆头）, 燈豎朽, 磨地胆, 苦地胆, 苦地胆根
English: Elephant's foot
Malayalam: Prickly leaved elephants foot, ആനയടിയൻ
Sanskrit: गोजिह्विका
Thai: หญ้าไก่นกคุ่ม, 燈豎朽

Synonyms

Elephantopus carolinensis G.Mey.
Elephantopus scaber subsp. oblanceolata Kitam.
Elephantopus scaber subsp. oblanceolato-oblonga Kitam.
Elephantopus scaber var. albiflorus Kuntze
Elephantopus scaber var. typica J.Kost.
Elephantopus sinuatus Zoll. & Moritzi
Elephantopus sordidus Salisb.
Scabiosa cochinchinensis Lour.

Flowers

In flower: September to December (from 73 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)

Photos

FlowerPhoto: portioid, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: portioid, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: J.M.Garg, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Mokkie, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Simon Rebe, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Photo: syuhada, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Mokkie, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Greg III Espera, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Mokkie, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Toby Y, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

More in Elephantopus

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.