Bruce, thanks for the call. It was great hearing from you. There's no doubt about it, that's compass plant! For living things, everything is a trade off. In this case, the young plants have very big, wide leaves. That helps with photosynthesis but exposes the leaves to more ultraviolet radiation. To compensate, the plant orients its leaves north and south to reduce exposure to this radiation.

This seed came from a road ditch about 20 miles north of Bruce's place. He also has two other Silphiums, S. perfoliatum (cup plant) from just south of Schyler and S. integrifolium (rosinweed)from the road ditch about 1/2 miles from Bruce's place. The leaves of cup plant actually form a cup that holds water.

I'd always wondered about the color of male goldfinches. If you see one land on a sunflower or Silphium blosum, it blends in perfectly.

There are so many wonderful native plants growing in ditches, we just have to watch for them. They seldom transplant well because they have such deep roots. Seeds are the best way to go.

Norm Kopecky