Morning brides facts for kids

Chaenactis cusickii is a special kind of flowering plant found in North America. It's often called Morning Brides or Cusick's Pincushion because of its pretty, delicate flowers. This plant is part of the big aster family, which includes many well-known flowers like sunflowers and daisies!

What Does the Morning Brides Plant Look Like?

The Morning Brides plant is quite small. It rarely grows taller than 15 cm (about 6 inches). This plant is a perennial, which means it lives for more than two years and often comes back year after year.

Each branch of the plant can have one to five (or sometimes more) flower heads. These aren't just single flowers! A flower head is actually a cluster of many tiny flowers grouped together. The Morning Brides plant has white or pale pink disc florets. These are the small, tube-shaped flowers you see in the center of a daisy or sunflower. It does not have ray florets, which are the petal-like flowers you see around the edge of a daisy.

Where Do Morning Brides Grow?

You can find the Morning Brides plant growing in specific parts of the United States. It has only been found in southeastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho. It likes to grow in these areas, making it a unique part of the local plant life.

How Did This Plant Get Its Name?

The scientific name Chaenactis cusickii honors an American botanist named William Conklin Cusick (1842-1922). A botanist is a scientist who studies plants. William Cusick spent a lot of time exploring and collecting plants, especially in the Pacific Northwest region. Naming a plant after someone is a way to remember their important contributions to science.