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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. | |||||||||
| ASTER-LIKE BOLTONIA | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Boltonia asteroides var. recognita | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Aster-like boltonia grows as tall as 150 cm. The rhizomes are woody. The stems are woody at the base and are dark green with straw-coloured stripes. The leaves alternate on the stem and do not have a leaf stalk. The leaves often have a pointy tip and are without hairs. The heads are in flat-topped clusters. The bracts on the heads are straw-coloured at the base and green or brown at the tip. The ray flowers are white to lilac and have a pappus of very small bristles and 2 – 4 awns. The disc flowers are yellow. The fruit is 2 – 3 mm long and has awns. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Aster-like boltonia grows in wet places, like sloughs and ditches, often with wild mint and golden tickseed. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found across southern Saskatchewan in the Mixed Grassland and Moist Mixed Grassland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Aster-like boltonia is threatened because it is restricted to a few areas and the number of plants within each population is low. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY ASTER-LIKE BOLTONIA | |||||||||
| * Are ray white or purple? * Are the stems and leaves hairless? * Do the fruits have awns? * Did you find it southern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found aster-like boltonia! | |||||||||
