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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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| TWIN ARNICA | ||
| LATIN NAME: Arnica sororia | ||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | ||
| Twinleaf arnica is between 10 and 30 cm tall and has rhizomes. The stem and leaves have gland-tipped hairs. The leaves have three veins and can be basal or arranged oppositely on the stem. The flowers are found in solitary heads at the top of the plant. The outer row of bracts is not purple-tipped. The ray flowers are yellow. | ||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | ||
| Twin arnica grows in grasslands. | ||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | ||
| This plant is found in southern Saskatchewan in the Mixed Grassland ecoregion. | ||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | ||
| Twin arnica is endangered in Saskatchewan because there are few plants in the province. | ||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY TWIN ARNICA | ||
| * Are ray flowers yellow? * Are there gland-tipped hairs on the stem and leaves? * Are the stem leaves opposite? * Did you find it southern Saskatchewan? |
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| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found twin arnica! | ||
