Ratibida columnifera (Nutt.) Wooton & Standl.

Upright prairie coneflower (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Asterales > Asteraceae > Ratibida

Characteristics

Taprooted, with clustered stems 3-12 dm, strigose or partly hirsute, generally leafy to above the middle; lvs pinnatifid or partly bipinnatifid, the ultimate segments linear or lanceolate, entire or nearly so, relatively few and often very unequal, generally many of or all them 1.5 cm or more; heads (1-)several or many, naked-pedunculate, the disk columnar, 1.5-4.5 cm, 2-4.5 times as long as thick; rays yellow or (f. pulcherrima (DC.) Fernald) partly or wholly brown-purple, 1-3.5 cm, spreading or reflexed; style-appendages very short and blunt; achenes with the inner margin fringed-ciliate to nearly smooth, usually slightly winged; pappus an evident awn-tooth on the inner angle of the achene, and often also a shorter one on the other angle; 2n=26, 27, 28, 34-38. Prairies and other dry, open places; Minn. to Mo. and La., w. to Mont., Tex., and n. Mex., and occasionally intr. e. June-Aug. Taprooted, with clustered stems 3-12 dm, strigose or partly hirsute, generally leafy to above the middle; lvs pinnatifid or partly bipinnatifid, the ultimate segments linear or lanceolate, entire or nearly so, relatively few and often very unequal, generally many of or all them 1.5 cm or more; heads (1-)several or many, naked-pedunculate, the disk columnar, 1.5-4.5 cm, 2-4.5 times as long as thick; rays yellow or (f. pulcherrima (DC.) Fernald) partly or wholly brown-purple, 1-3.5 cm, spreading or reflexed; style-appendages very short and blunt; achenes with the inner margin fringed-ciliate to nearly smooth, usually slightly winged; pappus an evident awn-tooth on the inner angle of the achene, and often also a shorter one on the other angle; 2n=26, 27, 28, 34-38. Prairies and other dry, open places; Minn. to Mo. and La., w. to Mont., Tex., and n. Mex., and occasionally intr. e. June-Aug.
More
Perennials, to 105+ cm; taprooted. Leaves 2–15+ × 0.8–6 cm, 1–2-pinnatifid, lobes 3–14, narrowly linear-lanceolate to narrowly oblong-ovate, 1–16 mm wide, faces hirsute, gland-dotted. Heads 1–15, held well beyond leaves. Peduncles (1.5–)6.5–48+ cm (ribs tan, prominent). Phyllaries 5–14, outer linear, 4–14 × 0.5–2 mm, inner lanceolate-ovate, 0.8–3 × 0.8–2 mm. Paleae 2.3–3.5 × 0.5–3 mm, resin glands oval-oblanceolate, 0.6–1.5 mm. Ray florets 4–12; corollas yellow, purplish yellow, or maroon, sometimes bicolor (maroon/yellow), laminae lanceolate-ovate to elliptic-oblanceolate, 7–35 × 4–17 mm. Discs columnar, 10–50 × 7–12 mm. Disc florets 200–400+; corollas greenish yellow, often purplish distally, 1–2.5 mm; style branches 0.5–1.4 mm, proximal 2/3–3/4 stigmatic, apices rounded. Cypselae oblong, 1.2–3 × 1.2–2 mm, abaxial margins glabrous, adaxial margins and apices glabrous or ciliate; pappi (tan) usually of 1–2 toothlike projections, sometimes 0. 2n = 28.
A daisy family plant that keeps growing from year to year. It grows 60 cm high and spreads 45 cm wide. The leaves are alternate and deeply divided into narrow segments. They are 5-10 cm long. The flowers are yellow disks. The flowers heads occur as several together in cone like disks. They are 1-5 cm high. The fruit is a grey-black flattened achene.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 0.1 - 0.5
Mature height (meter) 0.68 - 0.85
Root system tap-root
Rooting depth (meter) 0.5
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

It is a temperate plant. It grows in the prairie region of the USA. It suits hardiness zones 4-9.
More
Dry plains, prairies and ravines. Sandy, silty, or rocky open ground in Texas.
Light 7-9
Soil humidity 2-6
Soil texture 1-6
Soil acidity 4-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 3-8

Usage

The leaves and flower heads are brewed into tea.
Uses beverage environmental use medicinal tea
Edible flowers leaves
Therapeutic use Analgesic (flower), Dermatological Aid (flower), Panacea (flower), Analgesic (leaf), Dermatological Aid (leaf), Snake Bite Remedy (leaf), Gynecological Aid (leaf), Analgesic (unspecified), Gastrointestinal Aid (unspecified), Veterinary Aid (unspecified), Febrifuge (unspecified), Emetic (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by divisions or seedlings.
Mode divisions seedlings
Germination duration (days) 14 - 28
Germination temperacture (C°) 20
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -40
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Ratibida columnifera leaf picture by Ashley M (cc-by-sa)
Ratibida columnifera leaf picture by Emma Niven (cc-by-sa)
Ratibida columnifera leaf picture by Bre Bitz (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Ratibida columnifera flower picture by Terri Buttleman (cc-by-sa)
Ratibida columnifera flower picture by jay norris (cc-by-sa)
Ratibida columnifera flower picture by Rochelle Fjeldstrom (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Ratibida columnifera world distribution map, present in Argentina, Canada, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Mexico, and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:217868-2
WFO ID wfo-0000083837
COL ID 4RLZM
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Ratibida columnifera f. columnifera Ratibida columnaris Lepachys columnaris Ratibida pulcherrima Ratibida sulcata Lepachys columnifera Obeliscaria columnaris Rudbeckia columnifera Rudbeckia columnaris Ratibida columnaris Lepachys columnifera f. columnifera Ratibida columnaris f. columnaris Obeliscaria pulcherrima Rudbeckia columnaris Rudbeckia columnaris var. columnaris Ratibida columnifera subsp. columnifera Ratibida columnaris var. columnaris Ratibida columnifera var. columnifera Lepachys columnaris var. pulcherrima Ratibida columnaris var. pulcherrima Ratibida columnifera var. pulcherrima Lepachys columnifera var. columnifera Lepachys columnaris var. columnaris Ratibida columnifera f. pulcherrima Ratibida columnifera