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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY | ||
| The sunflowers are found around the
globe in many different places, from temperate climates, like in Saskatchewan,
to mountains or in dry regions. The sunflower family is very large and contains
about 19,000 species! As you can imagine, the plants in this family can
look very different from one another. The sunflowers can be shrubs or herbs,
with many different leaf shapes and flower colours. One thing that is common
to all sunflowers is the type of flower arrangement. In this family, there
are many flowers grouped together into a head, like the one you see on a
daisy. It looks like one flower from a distance, but when you get close
you will see that it is actually made up of many, small flowers. The head
may have ray flowers on the outside and disc flowers on the inside, or only
one of the two kinds. Many of the seeds, like the dandelion, have a fluffy
structure attached to the seed. This is called the pappus and helps the
seeds to spread in the wind. You probably know a lot of plants in the sunflower family. Sunflowers can be plants you eat or plants that you may grow in the yard. For example, did you know that lettuce is from the sunflower family? So are the marigolds in the garden! Maybe you have heard of Echinacea? It is a plant in the sunflower family that is used to make medicine. Some of the sunflowers are also weeds, like the dandelion. |
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| PEARLY EVERLASTING | ||
| LATIN NAME: Anaphalis margaritacea | ||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | ||
| Pearly everlasting is between 20 and 80 cm tall, with fibrous roots and dark brown to reddish-brown, woody rhizomes. The stems are white-woolly. This plant has a tuft of leaves at the base of the stem, but these leaves soon fall off. There are many leaves on the stem. These leaves are white-woolly above and below, and the edges may be rolled under. The flowers are in heads, which are grouped in a flat-topped cluster. Each head has many pearly white bracts. | ||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | ||
| Pearly everlasting grows in sandy or gravel soils in forested areas. | ||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | ||
| This plant has been recorded only on the west side of the province, from north of Cluff Lake to the Cypress Hills. It is found in six ecoregions: Cypress Upland, Mixed Grassland, Moist Mixed Grassland, Aspen Parkland, Mid-Boreal Upland, and Athabasca Plain. | ||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | ||
| Pearly everlasting is on the species at risk list because the populations are small and isolated from each other. | ||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY PEARLY EVERLASTING | ||
| * Are the bracts on the head pearly white? * Does the plant have a rhizome? * Are the leaves and stem white and woolly? * Did you find it on the west side of the province? |
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| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found pearly everlasting! | ||
