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Name That Plant!

Yellow, Daisy-type, in 5' Clumps

13 years ago

I've been trying to ID this plant for years. It's very common here. Like everything else this year, it's blooming early. The plants grow in clumps, 5' tall. Stems are a dark purple.

Leaves are slightly toothed, lanceolate, and sandpapery on top when rubbed toward the petiole. Undersides are smooth.

Most of these plants have flowers with 5 petals. A few plant clumps have flowers with 6,7 or 8 petals. Those latter clumps tend to have more narrow leaves, but there are exceptions. I'm only mentioning petals in case it turns out to be crucial.

I know there are hundreds of yellow daisy-like flowers, many fall blooming. I'm just hoping one of you wizards will know.

Here is a link that might be useful: Album of these Plants

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Comments (13)

Embothrium
13 years ago
Bidens?
lycopus
13 years ago
Maybe one of the woodland sunflowers, such as Helianthus strumosus, H. divaricatus, or H. hirsutus.
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I went through this same mix-up last winter. By doing lots of research, I realized that Dimorphotheca seems to have flowers in the yellow range only, is annual, and has flat,papery, pale seeds. It seems that Osteospermum has shades in white/blue/purple shades, is perennial, has little brown triangular ridged seeds, and the seeds are quite expensive when compared to Dimorphotheca. For this reason, I am trying my best to stick to the Latin names if I have them, as my friend who owns a seed company has been trying to impress upon me for years! The Dimorphotheca seeds I got in a trade this year have germinated and are doing well. A gardening neighbour had promised to split some of her Osteospermums this spring and share them with me but unfortunately, she passed away suddenly of a stroke on Dec. 26. I will miss her so much this year. Her house has been sold and I hope the new owners don't destroy her garden. She was 3 years into a 5 year project to create a meadow garden and it was coming along so nicely. I'll buy seeds and plant them in her memory. Northerner.
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Iris GW
13 years ago
I would suggest Helianthus also. It would be helpful to see the back of the flower - that can be a good identification point for these.
carol23_gw
13 years ago
Could be Helianthus microcephalus.

Here is a link that might be useful: Helianthus microcephalus
smkymtn1drer
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks, bboy, lycopis. esh_ga, and carol!

I took some photos of the backs, esh_ga.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rear 1-4
Iris GW
13 years ago
Those green things on the back are called "involucral bracts" (I learned that in a workshop a few years ago). I think you can see here that they are overlapping, which is characteristic of Helianthus. That's not to say that they don't overlap in others, but that combined with the length and shape of the bracts themselves and the scratchy leaves, etc .....

So, does still seem to be Helianthus and I would tend towards H. divaricatus which is certainly in the general area - I often find it on the edges of woods.

Here is a link that might be useful: H. divaricatus distribution
smkymtn1drer
Original Author
13 years ago
Wow --thank you, esh_ga!

Yes, that's my county in there. I really appreciate your help!

The help from all of you!
lycopus
13 years ago
If you measure the disk (the middle part) and it is less than 1.5 cm wide it is likely either H. microcephalus or H. laevigatus. Otherwise H. divaricatus is a good candidate if the petiole is less than 1 cm long.
Iris GW
13 years ago
I looked up H. microcephalus and it said the plant is usually only 2-3 feet tall, so that's why it didn't seem a good fit to me. But Newcomb's does say it can get to 6 feet .... Otherwise, the distribution would say that it is certainly a possibility.

Helianthus laevigatus is known as "smooth sunflower" - that would seem to go against the sandpapery feel described in the OP.

Always interesting!
lycopus
13 years ago
Good point. I initially thought the "smooth" just referred to the stem, but according to Gleason & Cronquist the leaves are "essentially glabrous" which would rule out H. laevigatus.
smkymtn1drer
Original Author
13 years ago
The disk is 1 cm and the petiole is 2 to 2.5 cm (I'm not sure if you measure it beyond its juncture with the leaf.)

The leaves are not glabrous, ruling out H. laevigatus. The petiole is too long for H. divaricatus.

The involucre does not look much like that of H. microcephalus as seen on Carol's link:

http://www.missouriplants.com/Yellowopp/Helianthus_microcephalus_page.html

but I think it does match the image on:

http://uswildflowers.com/detail.php?SName=Helianthus%20microcephalus

What do you all think?

Here is a link that might be useful: H. unknown Measurements
Iris GW
13 years ago
Ok, given the length of the petiole, I think now it is H. microcephalus. Kudos to Carol.
smkymtn1drer
Original Author
13 years ago
This was fun!!

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