Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

ENGELMANN'S DAISY

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Engelmannia peristenia (Raf. ) Goodman & C.A. Lawson

[=Engelmannia pinnatifida A. Gray ex Nutt.]

Scott County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 8-20 inches

Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July, August

Also Called:

Cut-leaf daisy.

Stems:

Erect or spreading, single or clustered, densely stiff-hairy.

Leaves:

Alternate, stalked below to sessile above, deeply pinnately divided, 3 to 12 inches long, 1/2 to 3 inches wide, stiffly-hairy; lobes round-toothed; upper leaves less divided.

Inflorescences:

Clusters of heads, terminal, on stiff stalks 1 to 5 inches long; heads 1 to 1.5 inch wide; bracts in several series, linear to lanceolate, greenish.

Flowers:

Ray florets 8-10, about 1/2 inch long, yellow; disk florets numerous, corollas yellow.

Fruits:

Achenes, egg-shaped, flattened, tipped with several short scales, enclosing small seed.

Habitat:

Dry, open, sandy or limestone sites.

Distribution:

West 1/2 of Kansas.

Comments:

The tips of the ray florets curl under the heads during hot weather. Engelmann's daisy is consumed by livestock and disappears from grazed areas. Named for Dr. George Engelmann, 1809-1884, a German-born physician and botanist who worked in St. Louis.

Engelmann's daisy florets