Gray-headed Coneflower

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Detailed Information

Flower:

Up to 15 droopy yellow petals, each about 2 inches long, surround a thimble-shaped cone ½ to ¾ inches tall. The cone is gray or greenish and turns brown, flowering from the bottom up. One plant has from 10 to 25 flowers, each at the end of a long stem.

Leaves and stem:

Leaves near the base of the plant are up to 8 inches long and 5 inches across, deeply divided into 3 to 7 narrow lobes, on fairly long stems. Lobes may be further divided, or coarsely toothed. The leaves on the upper part of the plant are usually small, unlobed, stalkless, and few in number. Leaves feel rough from short stiff hairs. The stem is ridged and hairy.

Notes:

I sometimes think that if you've seen one coneflower, you've seen them all, but each species is indeed unique. Gray-headed Coneflower is a much taller plant than Prairie Coneflower, blooms later, and has much larger leaves. Cut-leaf Coneflower is also a tall plant with lobed leaves, but it has a more bulbuous cone and the leaf lobes are broad.

More photos

• a young plant, about 3 feet tall
• a colony of Gray-headed Coneflower

Photos taken at Long Lake Regional Park, New Brighton, MN, July 2006 and 2007

Comments

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