Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

PLAINS COREOPSIS

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Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt.

Riley County, Kansas

Annual

Height: 2-4 feet

Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family

Flowering Period: June, July, August, September

Stems:

Erect, single, much-branched above, glabrous.

Leaves:

Mostly opposite, nearly sessile or short-stalked, 2 to 4 inches long, 1-2 times pinnately divided; segments narrowly linear; upper leaves less divided.

Inflorescences:

Heads, numerous, terminal, .5 to 1.5 inch wide; bracts in 2 series, outer bracts 6-9, narrowly lanceolate to triangular, 1/2 as long as inner bracts

Flowers:

Ray florets 6-10, somewhat wedge-shaped, to 1/2 inch long, yellow with reddish brown spot at bases; tips prominently 3-lobed; disk florets numerous, corollas 4-lobed, purplish brown.

Fruits:

Achenes, linear, tiny, flattened, often wingless, black, usually without bristles or scales, enclosing small seed.

Habitat:

Damp disturbed sites, roadside ditches and low, sandy areas.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Uses:

Native Americans made a hot beverage from plains coreopsis, and early settlers placed plants in their mattresses because they believed they repelled fleas and bedbugs.

Comments:

Plains coreopsis is cultivated as an ornamental.

Plains coreopsis head