Golden glow

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Golden glow

Golden glow

Golden glow

Golden glow leaf

Golden glow leaf

Golden glow

Golden glow

Morphology

Stem

Erect, branched above, whitish, glabrous, often somewhat waxy.

Leaves

Alternate, broadly ovate to lanceolate, 2.8 to 16 inches long, 1 to 8 inches wide, many deeply divided in 3-7 segments; surfaces mostly glabrous or sparsely stiff-hairy beneath; margins coarsely-toothed, deeply-cut or sometimes entire; tips pointed; basal leaves often absent at flowering, stalked; stalks 6-20 inches long; stem leaves stalked or sessile; upper leaves much smaller, lanceolate, entire to toothed.

Inflorescence

Heads 2-25, 1.2 to 3.2 inch across, in loose, corymb-like array; bracts 8-15, ovate , elliptic, lanceolate, to linear, 1/3 to 3/5 inch long, leafy, spreading or bent downward; margins mostly fringed; tips pointed.

Flower

Ray florets 6-13, elliptic to oblanceolate, 3/5 to 2 inches long, yellow, drooping; disk florets 150-300, about 1/6 inch long, dull yellow; chaffy bracts blunt, sticky-pubescent at tip.

Fruit

Achene, 4-angled, (square in cross-section), about 1/6 to 1/5 inch long, tipped by short, toothed crown.

Ecology

Habitat

Stream and river banks, margins of lakes and ponds, open woods, thickets, roadsides; moist soils.

Distribution

Primarily east 2/5 of Kansas

Practical Information

Forage Value

The lower leaves remain green over winter, providing food for white-tailed deer.

Uses

Native Americans applied a compound poultice of blossoms to burns; took a compound tea of steeped roots for indigestion and applied the liquid to the legs and chest of horses as a stimulant. Young stems were eaten like celery, the leaves used in spring salads, and the young leaves and shoots were boiled and fried with fat or cooked with eggs.

Additional Notes