Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Bigflower coreopsis

BIGFLOWER COREOPSIS

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Coreopsis grandiflora Hogg ex Sweet

Clay County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 1-3 feet

Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July

Also Called:

Large-flowered coreopsis.

Stems:

Erect, slender, usually clustered, branching, pubescent or nearly glabrous.

Leaves:

Opposite, simple, short-stalked to nearly sessile, spread evenly along stem, 1 to 4 inches long, pinnately divided; segments 3-5, narrowly linear, less than 1/5 inch wide; lowermost leaves frequently undivided.

Inflorescences:

Heads, few or sometimes solitary, terminal, on naked stalks to 6 inches long; heads 1.5 to 2 inches wide; bracts lanceolate, to 2/5 inch long, margins whitish, fringed with hairs.

Flowers:

Ray florets 7-9, yellow, 1/2 to 1 inch long, tips 4-lobed; disk florets with 5-lobed corollas, deep yellow.

Fruits:

Achenes, thin, flat, winged, black, tipped with 2 short scales, enclosing small seed.

Habitat:

Dry, open, rocky or sandy, prairie uplands and slopes, and along roadsides.

Distribution:

Principally east 1/3 of Kansas.

Origin:

Native

Comments:

Bigflower coreopsis often is grown as an ornamental in flower gardens.