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Signs: Gumweed / Torchflower, Three-Flowered Avens
Located in the Signal Hill Nature Habitat
(Click on the picture for larger view)
(Unless otherwise indicated, photos by Don of www.Tatagwa.com)
Gumweed
(Grindelia squarrosa -Pursh- Dunal)
This low growing branched plant can be either perennial or biennial.
It has a deep taproot, smooth stems and hairless leaves. The leaves are
clasping on the upper part of the plant but have petioles on the lower part.
Flowers, which appear in August, are bright yellow and 2 to 3 cm across.
The name Gumweed comes from the cluster of bracts below the flower
head which are covered with a sticky "gummy" sap. This plant is unedible
to ruminants but the fruits are used by upland game birds.
Torchflower, Three-Flowered Avens
(Geum Triflorum Pursh)
The Torchflower is one of the earlier flowering prairie plants.
Around May or June, it can be seen in full bloom, with three red
blossoms rising above the the remains of last year's plants.
Later in the growing season, this plant is recognizable by its three
dense clusters of hair-like structures. The mid-late season form
of torchflower is responsible for it being called
"old man's whiskers"