#starry rosinweed

[faguscarolinensis]

Silphium astericus / Starry Rosinweed at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[every-living-beast]

Some flowers from my walk

Starry rosinweed

And daisies

Both in the Asteraceae family

[cedar-glade]

Hmmm is that Silphium trifoliatum,  whorled rosin weed, growing in acidic volcanic sand substrate in Wichita short grass prairie. A bit unusual and if so it would be considerably disjunct and also depauperate. If you look you’ll notices wider leaves(really they are about the same width just true S. trifoliatum is conduplicate (taco’d/folded up) where as these are almost recurved(bent down) or flat), the petioles seem off( bit shorter), the stem color is off(green vs red), and the ligules(daisy rays) are wider and shorter than they should be for Silphium trifoliatum, branching capitulescence  of Silphium trifoliatum is pretty noticeable(why I think they are showier.) and this one is just forming three forks on lower capitulescence, and the population also seems somewhat clonal too. The real reason for all of this is that this is a var. of a showier(depending on who you ask because I disagree tbh but if its suggested as a helpful thing in keys it may help in the field) species known for inhabiting coastal regions and shortgrass prairies. If anything I agree with the individual capitulum’s being showier.

True Silphium asteriscus var. trifoliatum, growing in the bottomlands near one of many Volcanic lakes, in mixed savannah-scrub habitat.

Whorled Starry Rosinweed.

As a comparison, here is Huffman prairie ecotype of true Silphium trifoliatum, red stemmed, conduplicate, pretty darn branched. less showier capitulum due to size.

[wordswimmer]

This is one of six Starry rosinweed flowers that we planted months ago. They were barely an inch high at the time. Neither Susan nor I expected them to grow much more than a foot, but, wow, these flowers—way more than six now— are higher than my hips, one or two almost shoulder high. And they have attitude, you know? Like, hey, I’m here, and you better stop and take note! So bold. So indomitable. Always reaching higher. Each day more full of life than the day before. #starryrosinweed #rosinweed #rosinweedflower #yellow #flower #flowersofinstagram #flower #flowerstagram #flowerslovers #frontyardgarden #florida #sarasota https://www.instagram.com/p/CEo913aHZTn/?igshid=1fkwglx4rllhs

[faguscarolinensis]

Silphium astericus / Starry Rosinweed at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[faguscarolinensis]

Silphium astericus / Starry Rosinweed at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[faguscarolinensis]

Bombus impatiens on Silphium astericus / Common Eastern Bumblebee on Starry Rosinweed at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[faguscarolinensis]

Silphium astericus / Starry Rosinweed at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[faguscarolinensis]

Silphium astericus / Starry Rosinweed at the North Carolina Botanical Gardens at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, NC

[faguscarolinensis]

Silphium astericus / Starry Rosinweed at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC