Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Leavenworth eryngo

LEAVENWORTH ERYNGO

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Eryngium leavenworthii T. & G.

Greenwood County, Kansas

Annual

Height: 1-3 feet

Family: Apiaceae - Parsley Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September

Stems:

Erect, stout, branched above, glabrous, purplish.

Leaves:

Alternate; lower stem leaves short stalked, broadly oblanceolate, 1 to 2.5 inches long, to .75 inch wide; upper stem leaves sessile, broadly ovate to circular, deeply palmately divided into narrow, spiny segments.

Inflorescences:

Heads, ovoid-oblong, 1 to 1.5 inches long, 1 inch wide, purplish, terminal; bracts, spiny, pinnately cleft, subtending heads and projecting from tops of heads.

Flowers:

Tiny, whitish to purple; petals 5; stamens 5, bluish.

Fruits:

Dry, oblong, covered with whitish scales.

Habitat:

Dry, rocky prairies, roadsides, open woodlands, and waste areas, most abundant on limestone or chalk soils.

Distribution:

Principally southeast quarter of Kansas.

Comments:

At first glance, this plant resembles a thistle, but it is actually a member of the parsley family. Named for its discoverer, Melines Conklin Leavenworth (1796-1862), an explorer, army surgeon, and botanist.

Leavenworth eryngo head