It looks similar to the annual ageratum and in that regard is sometimes commonly called Hardy Ageratum or Wild ageratum, Pink eupatorium, and Blue boneset. These are just some of the many common names used to identify this eye-catching Florida native wildflower. Found in riverine swamps, moist meadows and roadside ditches, its flowers give the appearance of a blue fog when blooming en masse. Flowers are very attractive to pollinators, especially butterflies, moths and long-tongued bees.
Some of these photos were made along the Wekiva Springs Wet-to-Dry Trail. Very tall stands of Conoclinium coelestinum are currently blooming along the trail.
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This showy native plant that is considered a weed in the coastal plain, growing along roadsides on moist ditch banks. Under cultivation, it becomes a choice perennial with 8 weeks of blue flowers from late summer until frost. It is nectar-rich and pollinators love it. I found a stand of Blue Mistflower this week along the Wekiva Spring Wet-to-Dry Trail (trail closest to the spring boil). This stand, growing in the margins of a swamp was quite tall (to 3m, 9-10 feet).
From Greek konos, a cone, and klinion, "a little bed," referring to the flower receptacle. In the Caribbean this plant has many different colloquial names most widely known as "bouton blanc" ("white bud" in Dominica) but also "celestina" (or "heavenly" in Cuba), "herbe a bouc" ("billy goat herb" in Martinique) mastruço" ("the crucifier" in Brazil), "petite pain doux" ("little sweet bread" on multiple islands), rompezaragüey ("shoe breaker" in Dominican Republic), "yerba de cabro" ("goat herb" in Puerto Rico), and "zeb a fam" ("woman's herb" in the French Antilles).
Description
Mistflower’s many branched stems that bear dense, flat clusters of disk florets that vary in color from bright blue to lavender to pinkish-white. Ray florets are absent. Long protruding stamens give the flower heads a fuzzy appearance. Light green linear bracts surround the flower base. Leaves are almost triangular in shape, with toothed margins and faintly pubescent surfaces. They are petiolate and oppositely arranged. Fruits are small achenes with tiny hairs that aid in wind distribution. Roots are rhizomatous.
Planting
This plant prefers moist humus-rich soils that do not dry out in full sun to partial shade areas. Purplish stems have toothed deltoid leaves. Blueish purple flowers are fluffy, tubular (to 1/ 2” across). Cut back taller plants in spring to prevent flopping. This is a great plant to consider for a wildflower garden or naturalized area, does especially well around pond borders as long as spreading roots will not affect other plants. It is not recommended for smaller planting areas as it spreads aggressively by its rhizomes and self-seeding. Propagate by clump division in early spring. This plant is moderately resistant to damage from deer.
Classification History
Because of extensive parallelism and convergence generic definition in the Asteraceae has long been problematic. Linnaeus put this species in Eupatorium in 1753, as as had Plukenet, Dillenius, and Gronovius before him. De Candolle put it in Conoclinium by 1836, and even then, some did not accept the disposition. However, as now understood via DNA, Conoclinium is a genus of three species endemic to the eastern United States and nearby Mexico. Like many plants in Eupatorium, this one has a long history of medicinal use.
Common Names
Bouton blanc is used in Dominica as a tea for colds or simply as a cooling tea. Formerly the herb was widely used as a diuretic, against coughs and colds and dysmenorrhea, to induce abortion, and as a bath for skin eruptions. Conoclinium coelestinum plants contain alkaloids, cyanogenic glycosides, and volatile oils such as eugenol (oil of cloves), coumarin (a vanilla scented compound), and dicoumarol, a naturally occuring anticoagulant.
Caution
Mistflower has a wide range throughout the East and Midwest. Many cultivars have been developed, so be sure to buy locally sourced plants. Praxelis clematidea is a very aggressive invader that looks a lot like Mistflower. The flowerheads are taller than wide, its seeds are black, and its leaves smell like cat urine when crushed. It grows in drier soils and is usually found in disturbed sites.
Seeds
Mistflower seeds are available through the Florida Wildflowers Growers Cooperative. Plants are often available at nurseries that specialize in native plants. 
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