Minnesota Wildflowers


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Grindelia squarrosa (Gumweed)

Plant Info
Also known as: Curlycup Gumweed, Curly-top Gumweed
Genus:Grindelia
Family:Asteraceae (Aster)
Life cycle:annual, biennial, short-lived perennial
Origin:native
Habitat:sun; fields, along roads
Bloom season:July - October
Plant height:6 to 36 inches
USDA PLANTS database:Minnesota county distribution map
Spotted in Ramsey County at:

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Detailed Information

Flower: 7+petals

[photo of flower] 3 to 20 flower heads per plant, 1-inch across with short yellow petals around a yellow center disk. Round, curled bracts surrounding each flower exude a sticky resin.

Leaves: alternate simple

[photo of leaves] Waxy leaves 1 to 2½ inches long with course teeth and often curled edges, generally oval with a pointed tip. Alternate attachment with no leaf stem.

Notes:

This plant is easily identified by its unusual bracts. The shape of the leaves reminds me of a succulent. It looked rather out of place in the middle of a field, surrounded by dry grasses.

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Map of native plant purveyors in the upper midwest

More photos

All photos taken at Long Lake Regional Park, New Brighton, MN, July-September 2006.

Comments

Have you seen this plant in Minnesota, or have any other comments about it?

Posted by: Dean W in Blue Mound State Park
on: 2009-08-27 18:36:30

We visited Blue Mounds, Split Rock, Camden, and Shetek state park this last weekend. We observed gumweed at Blue Mounds (rock county) and Camden (Lyon county). Our book lists it as gumweed but I notice some books call it curly cup gumweed. There is also a pasture two miles from where I live in Brown county that is loaded with gumweed. Is this gumweed and curly cup gumweed one and the same.

Posted by: K. Chayka
on: 2009-08-27 21:21:19

Most plants go by multiple names--some have a dozen or more common names, and may have multiple scientific names as well, all referring to the same plant. It can be very confusing.

Chances are the 2 are the same plant.

Posted by: Sonja in McGrath
on: 2010-12-12 12:37:06

Why is this plant listed as a Noxious weed? It looks gorgeous.

Posted by: K. Chayka
on: 2010-12-12 17:37:20

In MN, "noxious" often means an agricultural pest more than an ecological pest. That was true in this case and some MN counties had declared it a problem weed for that reason.

Seems it's been removed from the latest lists, just recently released by the DNR and the MN Noxious Weed Advisory Committee. I'll drop that designation.

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