Coneflowers, Sunflowers (part2)

I have busted my brain trying to come up with an easy key that works in the field for these guys, and I just can't do it. I have failed, I'm worthless, it's over, I quit, the world is coming to an end.

But then the more work I do looking these up, the more I read; this resembles that, this looks exactly like that, these two can't be separated, these hybridize, the genus and species need revised, etc.  Okay, now I don't feel so bad, so on with it.

PLANTS WITH OPPOSITE LEAVES (for the most part). What? Didn't he say for the most part once before?  Yep, just covering my butt. Some are both alternate and opposite. Now you see why a key isn't easy.

Plant with opposite leaves that reach around and form a cup (perfoliate)
Cup Plant, Silphium perfoliatum

While occurring on prairies, Cup plant it is commonly found in our area on floodplains. The cup will often be found full of water.

Leaves mostly basal, elongate, entire or weakly toothed, rays distinctly notched or lobed.
Lance-leaved Coreopsis, Coreopsis lanceolata

Lance-leaved Coreopsis is widespread in Ohio in many habitat types. Because it only grows a couple feet tall, it is frequently cultivated.

Leaves divided...next
Leaves simple...later

Leaves always in 3's.... Always? Really? Yippie!  (well, the majority of the plant, but not always), darn
Tall Coreopsis, Coreopsis tripteris

Tall Coreopsis is a common prairie species. I have seen it used a lot in seed packs when reclaiming disturbed sites.  It has no problem reaching 10 feet. These plants are special, they're even taller than the trees.

Leaflets 5-7 or more....Bidens polylepis, Beggar-ticks, Spanish Needles, Stick-tight

Bidens polylepis is widespread in our area. Most Bidens tend to stick to wet soils, but this species commonly spreads to drier hillsides. This species has 10-20 VERY hairy bracts behind the rays.
Bidens aritosa has fewer bracts, but otherwise can't be separated, and some authors simply lump the two. Hey now, there's an idea.

Here's an unknown three-leaved species I have yet to get a name on. The Bidens are tough. Sometimes you need a hand lens to examine the achenes (seeds), and that's still no guarantee. Scott Namestnik thinks this might be Bidens coronata. Since you can't see behind the flower heads, it's hard to be sure. Bidens are best done with specimens in hand rather than by photos.

Leaves paired...coming up
Leaves whorled...Whorled Rosinweed, Silphium asteriscus var. trifoliatum

Leaves of three, Rosinweed it must be...but

Further west in prairie country is another Rosinweed, Silphium integrifolium.  It is a two-leaved species not found in Ohio.

Yet throughout my area I see lots of this two-leaved version all the time. I hear integrifolium is being cultivated for seed packs, but I also hear there is a two-leaved variety of Whorled Rosinweed. So which is it? I say we blame it on the horticulturalists.

BTW, one of the things to look for that Silphiums show differently than the sunflowers are these short, broad green bracts behind the flower head.

Plants without stalked leaves, or at least appearing so. (That means don't go up to it with a hand lens to check, just make a general observation).

Stem smooth or rough...coming up
Stem AND leaves covered in SOFT velvety hairs...Downy Sunflower, Helianthus mollis

The texture alone should aid in identification, if not, check out the heart shaped leaf base.

Plant smooth or rough, not downy soft.

Nodding Bur-marigold, Bidens cernua. Actually one of the easier Bidens to recognize. Leaves clasp the stem, are narrow, and the flowers often nod or droop.

Woodland Sunflower, Helianthus divaricatus. Notice in the first two pics how it appears the leaves lack stems. Only when examining closely can you see they have short stalks. Look for this to form thickets on forest edges. Another common thing with many Helianthus, each pair of leaves grows in the opposite direction from the previous pair.

Leaves VERY long and narrow, barely an inch wide, many times longer than wide. Saw-toothed Sunflower, Helianthus grosseratus

Leaves shorter, wider, a few times wider than long.  Too vague? keep going.

Saw-toothed Sunflower is widely distributed in Ohio. Escapes from prairies and forms dense thickets in disturbed fields and wet ditches. Another VERY similar species in Ohio is the Tall Sunflower, H. giganteus. Tall sunflower has unstalked leaves and a rough stem. Saw-tooth has obvious petioles and a smooth stem often with a glaucus (white) coating.

Only now are we getting to the ones that look alike. Huh?

Small Wood Sunflower, Helianthus microcephalus. Whenever I see these along roadsides, what sticks out the most is the rather small flowers, usually under 2 inches. The stem is smooth, and the leaves get quite small near the flowers. It tends to send its flowers out on long stalks in a spreading manner, as if to say, "I'm not as big or showy as the others, but notice me anyway".

Stiff-haired Sunflower, Helianthus hirsutus. Stem covered in bristly hairs. Leaves hard and rigid, sandpapery, broader than some other species. Common on wood edges, often in thickets.

Thin-leaved Sunflower, Helianthus decapetalus. Leaves narrower and softer than previous species. Leaves tapering at both ends, sometimes forming a wing at base. Leaves lighter green beneath. Another similar species is the Pale-leaved Sunflower, Helianthus strumosus. It's leaves have white undersides.

Here's a pic I added since the original post. Helianthus strumosus, Pale-leaved Sunflower. Similar to decapetalus yes, but more confusing with hirsutus to me. The entire plant on hirsutus is covered with stiff hairs that are very obvious. H. strumosus has scattered hairs on the stem, especially at the nodes and leaf petioles, but overall the plant looks more glabrous. The petioles are longer and the leaves wider than hirsutus.

Very common and often overlooked is the Ox-eye or False Sunflower, Heliopsis helianthoides. Superficially it looks like everything else, but the flower rays are a very rich and deep yellow-orange. The stem also appears segmented like rabbit-ears, and results in this multiple stem growth you see above. While that's not unique to this species, my eyes are drawn to it more here than on others, and it just works for me.
 In the sunflowers, the center head is where the reproductive portions are housed. In ox-eye, the rays themselves are fertile. You can't see that unless you pull off a ray.

Jerusalem Artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus. It's hard to give a detailed description of this. Half the plant is alternate, the other half opposite. I've just come to recognize it even when driving by it. It has the broadest and most numerous leaves of anything I've posted in part 2. It's a late season bloomer found in bottomland forests. The roots are edible.


Well there it is. An attempt at least to work with a difficult group of plants. I don't know how accurate I've been, and it will take an expert to hopefully straighten me out someday. If any are misidentified, and that bothers you, well you can go to helianthus.

Sunflowers, Coneflowers, and DYC's (part 1)

DYC's?  Yes, Damn Yellow Composites. Let's tell it like it is.  This is one of those difficult groups to get to species. I'm going to attempt to separate many of those I have seen in this area, both wild and in plantings. Rather than deal with a genus all at once, I will use morphological characters to 'try' and keep them apart. Since this is an extremely large subject, I will post in several parts.

A) Does the plant have very showy rays?  (Rays look like flower petals)
B) Are the rays extremely reduced or totally absent?  Let's deal with these first.

A) Majority of leaves simple
B) Majority of leaves compound or divided.

We have a common simple leaved species called Beggar-ticks, Bidens connata

In order to do the others, you have to look at the bracts or Phyllaries. These are the green leaf-like structures surrounding the flower head.

Rays reduced or absent
A) Phyllaries averaging 6-8...Stick-tight, Bidens frondosa
B) Phyllaries averaging 10-12...Stick-tight, Bidens vulgata

Bidens frondosa

Bidens frondosa

vulgata

Bidens vulgata, compare the two species by looking at the amount of green behind the flower head.

Now on to the showier ones.

A) Main stem of plant with distinct WINGS...we'll do these first
B) Main stem of plant without wings...4

1a) Leaves opposite... Crowns-beard, Verbesina helianthoides
1b) Leaves alternate...2

Crowns-beard is a south-central Ohio species not normally found here, but I have seen it in prairie plantings.

Continuing with alternate
2a) Flower heads compact, gumball-like, rays 3-lobed...3
2b) Flower heads loose, spreading, rays unlobed, drooping below flower head...Wingstem, Verbesina alternifolia

Wingstem is too tall to photograph in one shot, so here are the flowers, leaves, and stem. Wingstem is common in bottomlands and wet soils.

3a) Flower heads light colored, yellow-green...Common Sneezeweed, Helenium autumnale
3b) Flower heads dark colored, purple-brown...Purple-headed Sneezeweed, Helenium flexuosum

Common Sneezeweed occurs in various habitats, but I have found it more often in moist soils than the next species.

I see the Purple-headed most often in dry upland soils and prairies.


Plants with most leaves alternate.  What's this 'most' bit. Sorry, some can be both.

4a) Leaves primarily basal, large and broad, up to two feet in length...5
4b) Leaves smaller, more well distributed along the stem...6

5a) Leaves almost as wide as long, elephant ear like...Prairie Dock, Silphium terebinthinaceum
5b) Leaves similar in size but highly divided, looking fern-like...Compass Plant, Silphium laciniatum

Prairie Dock, the classic species of the prairie grasslands. It can grow up to 10 feet tall, and send roots down 10-15 feet. There is one variety whose leaves are divided similar to Compass Plant.

Compass Plant with the very divided leaves. Compass Plant turns itself to follow the sun throughout the day.

6a) Leaves simple...7
6b) Leaves compound or divided...8

7a) Leaves elongate, covered in soft velvety hairs...Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta
7b) Leaves shorter, broader, either smooth or with a slight rough touch...Brown-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia triloba

The common Black-eyed Susan. There are many varieties of this used in gardening.

Brown-eyed Susan looks very similar to Black-eyed Susan.  The flower rays are usually shorter, blunter. The stem often turns red, and the basal leaves are often divided (triloba).

Another often planted species is the Orange Coneflower, Rudbeckia fulgida. Looking a bit like both the above, it has egg shaped leaves, and deep yellow rays with a tint of orange throughout, or at the base of each ray.



8a) Leaflets divided into narrow segments, flower head gray/black, rays growing downward, drooping...Gray-headed Coneflower, Ratibida pinnata

8b) Leaflets broadly divided, uppermost simple, flower head yellow/green, rays spreading outward or only slightly drooping...Green-headed Coneflower, Rudbeckia laciniata

Gray-headed Coneflower is a common prairie pioneer species. Over time it will be out competed by other plants.

Green-headed

Look for Green-headed Coneflower in moist soils of shady forests or forest edges.


Those were the easy ones. The impossible opposite branched ones are coming. I only say that because none of them fit easily into a "simple" key, and part two may end up as just species descriptions.