Congdon's woolly sunflower facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Congdon's woolly sunflower |
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Eriophyllum
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E. congdonii
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| Eriophyllum congdonii Brandeg.
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Congdon's woolly sunflower (its scientific name is Eriophyllum congdonii) is a special and rare flowering plant. It belongs to the aster family, which includes many well-known flowers like daisies and sunflowers. You can only find this plant growing naturally in California.
Where Does It Grow?
Congdon's woolly sunflower is native to the mountains of central Mariposa County, California. It likes to grow along the Merced River valley, especially inside Yosemite National Park. There's also another small group of these plants found on the side of Telescope Peak in Inyo County. This makes it a truly unique California plant!
What Does It Look Like?
Plant Size and Leaves
Congdon's woolly sunflower is an annual herb. This means it grows from a seed, flowers, produces seeds, and then dies all within one year. It usually grows straight up, with branches reaching about 30 centimeters (or 1 foot) tall.
Its leaves are quite unique. They are covered in a soft, white, woolly fuzz, which gives the plant its "woolly" name. These leaves are usually 1 to 4 centimeters (about 0.4 to 1.6 inches) long. Sometimes, they might have a few small, shallow lobes or bumps along their edges.
Flowers and Seeds
The plant produces a single flower head. This head looks like one big flower, but it's actually made up of many tiny flowers grouped together. In the center, you'll see lots of small, yellow disc florets. These are the tiny, tube-shaped flowers that make up the center of a sunflower.
Around the edge of the flower head, there are 8 to 10 bright yellow ray florets. These are the petal-like parts that you usually think of as the "petals" of a daisy or sunflower. Each ray floret is about 3 to 5 millimeters (0.12 to 0.20 inches) long.
After the flowers bloom, the plant produces its fruit. This fruit is a rough-haired achene. An achene is a small, dry fruit that contains a single seed, like the seeds you find in a sunflower head. Each achene has a tiny, scaly pappus on top. The pappus helps the seed float away in the wind, spreading the plant to new places.
