CURLY-CUP GUMWEED
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| File Size: 82 KB |
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Grindelia squarrosa (Pursh ) Dunal
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| Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas |
| Biennial |
| Height: 4-40 inches |
| Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family |
| Flowering Period: June, July, August, September |
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| Also Called: | | Curly-top gumweed. | | Stems: | | Erect to spreading, often solitary, short-branched above, glabrous. | | Leaves: | | Alternate, simple, sessile, clasping, oblong to ovate, .5 to 2.75 inches long, .25 to .75 inch wide, dotted with minute resinous glands; margins toothed to occasionally entire; tips blunt to pointed; upper leaves reduced. | | Inflorescences: | | Heads, several to numerous, terminal, 1 to 1.5 inches wide; bracts overlapping, sticky; tips turning outward. | | Flowers: | | Ray florets 12-37, about 1/2 inch long, yellow; disk florets numerous, dark yellow. | | Fruits: | | Achenes, small, ribbed, tipped with 2-8 fine-toothed awns, enclosing small seed. | | Habitat: | | Dry, disturbed sites, waste areas, and roadsides. | | Distribution: | | Throughout, more frequently in north 1/2 of Kansas. | | Forage Value: | | Livestock find curly-cup gumweed unpalatable due to the tannins, oils, and resins it contains. | | Uses: | | Many Great Plains tribes used this plant medicinally to treat coughs, colds, stomachaches, liver disorders, snow-blindness, and as a wash for saddle sores. | | Comments: | | The common name comes from the resinous sap and curling bracts of the flowering heads. The roots can grow to 6 feet long, giving plants good drought resistance. |
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| Curly-cup gumweed |  | | 159 KB | | Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas |
| | Curly-cup gumweed |  | | 90 KB | | Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas |
| | Curly-cup gumweed |  | | 173 KB | | Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas |
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