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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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| FLOCCOSE TANSY | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Tanacetum bipinnatum ssp. huronense | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Floccose tansy grows as tall as 80 cm. The stem may be purplish and is very hairy towards the top. The leaves are divided two to three times into oval-shaped segments. The leaves are alternate but the leaflets are opposite. The leaves are covered in white or yellow hairs. There are five to ten heads in clusters at the top of the plant. The bracts and stalks are very hairy. There are a few yellow ray flowers and many yellow disc flowers. The fruits are ribbed. The pappus, if it is present, is a short crown. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Floccose tansy grows in sand dunes or on sandy lake shores. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in the northwestern part of Saskatchewan in the Athabasca Plain ecoregion. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Floccose tansy is vulnerable because it grows only in one small region of Saskatchewan. In addition, this plant is usually only numerous within very small local areas. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY FLOCCOSE TANSY | |||||||||
| * Are the leaves and stem very hairy? * Are flowers yellow? * Are there only a few heads? * Did you find it in the Lake Athabasca of northwestern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found floccose tansy! | |||||||||
