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Verbesina alternifolia
Also called Alternate Leaved Crownbeard, Wing Stem, Yellow Iron Weed
Wingstem is a tall, native North American perennial daisy with winged stems and bright yellow late-summer flowers. It grows best in fertile, moist soil near creeks or in open bottomland, and it can spread aggressively by rhizomes.
Verbesina alternifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is commonly known as wingstem or yellow ironweed. It is native to North America.
The name "wingstem" refers to the petioles of the leaves, which run down the stem and form raised ridges or "wings" along it. The plant grows 3-8 feet tall with an unbranched stem until reaching the inflorescence at the very top. Its yellow flower heads, which bloom in late summer through early fall, are 1-2 inches wide and consist of up to 10 bright yellow ray florets that are angled downward, each bearing a notch at the end, as well as a spherical cluster of tubular yellow disk florets in the center.
This plant grows in fertile, moist low-lying areas, such as near creeks and in open bottomland woods, usually not far from a body of water or woodland. The tubular disk florets in the center of every flower head attract long-tongued insects such as bumblebees and butterflies, while being less attractive to shorter-tongued insects like wasps and flies.
Verbesina auriculigera · Verbesina barclayae · Verbesina brachypoda · Verbesina centroboyacana · Chapman's crownbeard · Bigleaf crownbeard · Verbesina ecuatoriana · Golden crownbeard · Verbesina harlingii · Gravelweed · Verbesina kingii · Verbesina latisquama
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Verbesina alternifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
