Cyanthillium cinereum is an annual herb up to 120 cm (4 feet) tall. It produces flat-topped arrays of numerous flower heads, each with pinkish or purplish disc florets but no ray florets.[8] The species can be confused with Emilia sonchifolia, but the flower bracts of the latter are much longer and vase-shaped.[citation needed]
Cyanthillium cinereum has been used for smoking cessation in Thailand and other countries, and as relief for the common cold.[9]
It used to be called Vernonia cinerea, but apparently there was a taxonomic update, sometime prior to early 2014.
^Funk, V. A., P. E. Berry, S. Alexander, T. H. Hollowell & C. L. Kelloff. 2007. Checklist of the Plants of the Guiana Shield (Venezuela: Amazonas, Bolivar, Delta Amacuro; Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana). Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 55: 1–584
^Carnevali, G., J. L. Tapia-Muñoz, R. Duno de Stefano & I. M. Ramírez Morillo. 2010. Flora Ilustrada de la Peninsula Yucatán: Listado Florístico 1–326
^García-Mendoza, A. J. & J. A. Meave. 2011. Diversidad Florística de Oaxaca: de Musgos a Angispermas 1–351. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria