Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

Stiff Tickseed is a native, erect, perennial plant of the prairies and open woods, growing up to three feet high on stiff erect unbranched stems.

The leaves are opposite, stalkless, with three elongated lobes that divide above the base of the leaf. Sometimes the center lobe may divide again, and leaves near the top of the stem may not be lobed at all. The leaf stalk is winged, appearing to be a continuation of the center lobe. Fall color can be a brilliant deep russet-red.

The floral array is one to several flower heads on short stalks at the top of the stem.

Flowers: The flower heads are composite, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches wide and are composed of 8 yellow ray florets which have rays with rounded tips that are a bit ragged. The ray is broadest just above the center. These are neuter as to sex. The ray florets surround a central disc of up to 60+ disc florets with greenish corollas, shading to yellow as they open. These are bisexual and fertile. The corolla throat has 5 pointed lobes that do not reflex or spread outward. There are 5 stamens with dark brown anthers that tightly surround the style. Both stamens and style are exserted from the corolla throat when floret opens. The center disc is 1/3 to 1/2 inch wide. The outside of the flower head has 9 to 12+ long and narrow involucral bracts (called "calyculi") with pointed tips that spread outward and then upward when the flower is open. Above these are 8 shorter but broader phyllaries.

Seed: Fertilized disc florets produce dry oblong cypselae (similar to achenes), 5 to 6 mm long, without pappus, but with 2 thin wings with projecting tips. These are distributed by the wind shaking the stem.

Habitat: Stiff Tickseed grows from a rhizomatous root system and spreads to form colonies via the rhizomes. Without competition it can be aggressive. It is a true prairie plant and requires full sun, loamy soils with mesic to dry conditions. Plants can be grown from seed which requirers 60 days of cold stratification for germination. Best to plant fresh seed in the fall and let Winter do the work.

Names: The genus name, Coreopsis, is from two Greek words - koris, meaning 'a bug' and opsis, meaning 'like' and refers to the appearance of the dry fruit which resembles a bug or a tick. The species name, palmata, refers to 'lobed', like a hand with outstretched fingers, which is the way the leaf looks. The author name for the plant classification, from 1818 - ‘Nutt.’ refers to Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859) English botanist who lived and worked in America from 1808 to 1841. On his many expeditions he collected many species including some that had been originally collected by Lewis and Clark but lost by them on their return journey. He was indefatigable as a collector but incompetent in many practical matters. Washington Irving wrote of him in Astoria “Mr. Nuttall was a zealous botanist - forgetful of everything but his immediate pursuit.” He revised and added to French botanist Francois Andre Michaux’s 3 volume North American Sylva.