Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Prairie coneflower

PRAIRIE CONEFLOWER

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Ratibida columnifera (Nutt. ) Woot. & Standl.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 1-3 feet

Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July, August

Stems:

Erect, slender, single or clustered, sometimes branched, grooved, rough.

Leaves:

Alternate, stalked, to 6 inches long, 2.5 inches wide, pinnately 1-2-divided; segments 5-13, narrow, unequal, linear or lanceolate, appressed-hairy, gland-dotted; tips pointed or blunt.

Inflorescences:

Heads, solitary to several, terminal, on stalks to 10 inches long, columnar, to 2 inches tall, 1/2 inch thick; bracts 5-14 in 2 series, outer series linear-lanceolate, turning downward.

Flowers:

Ray florets 4-11, to 1.25 inch long, spreading or drooping, yellow, bases sometimes reddish purple; tips notched; disk florets numerous, corollas brownish, each covered by gray scale prior to opening, open from base of receptacle to top.

Fruits:

Achenes, oblong, less than 1/8 inch long, flattened, gray, tipped with 1-2 teeth, enclosing small seed.

Habitat:

Dry prairies, open waste ground, and roadsides.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Forage Value:

Livestock consume prairie coneflower in its early-growth stage.

Uses:

Great Plains Indians brewed a tea from the leaves and flowers and used the leaves and stems medicinally to treat poison ivy, rattlesnake bites, headaches, and stomachaches. Prairie coneflower is sometimes used in flower gardens.

Prairie coneflower