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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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| BEAKED ANNUAL SKELETONWEED | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Shinnersoseris rostrata | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Beaked annual skeletonweed is 20 to 100 cm high. This plant has a long, slender taproot to obtain water from the sandy soil in which it lives. The stem is branched in a pattern that appears regular from the top. When the leaves or stem are broken, a white milky sap comes out. The leaves are long and thin and are arranged alternately on the stem. The heads have purple or pink ray flowers. There are seven to nine long, slender, green bracts on the heads. The pappus is whitish or yellowish. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Beaked annual skeletonweed grows in dry, sandy soil in sand dunes. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in the southwestern part of the province in the Mixed Grassland and Cypress Upland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Beaked annual skeletonweed is threatened because it is restricted to sand dune regions of the province. Most local populations are small. This species is easily mistaken for rush skeletonweed and may be overlooked. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY BEAKED ANNUAL SKELETONWEED | |||||||||
| * Is the pappus white or yellowish? * Does the plant have a white, milky sap? * Is the branching pattern regular? * Did you find it in a sand dune in southwestern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found beaked annual skeletonweed! | |||||||||
