Prairie coneflower

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Prairie coneflower

Prairie coneflower

Prairie coneflower

Prairie coneflower head

Prairie coneflower

Prairie coneflower

Prairie coneflower leaf

Prairie coneflower leaf

Prairie coneflower leaf

Prairie coneflower

Prairie coneflower

Prairie coneflower

Prairie coneflower

Prairie coneflower

Morphology

Stem

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.

Inflorescence

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.

Flower

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.

Fruit

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

Ecology

Habitat

Dry prairies, open waste ground, and roadsides.

Distribution

Throughout Kansas.

Practical Information

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.