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Asteraceae
Compass Plant
Silphium laciniatum
Direction, rootedness, prairie endurance.
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Genus
- Silphium
- Native to
- Central and eastern North America
- Bloom season
- Summer
- Type
- Herbaceous perennial
- Height
- 1.8–3.6 m
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Deep, well-drained
- Water
- Low; drought-tolerant
- Hardiness
- 3–9
- Lifespan
- Extremely long-lived; over 100 years
Did you know
- Compass plant is named for its remarkable habit of orienting its leaves north-south to minimize midday sun exposure — pioneers crossing the prairies actually used it for navigation.
- Its taproot can plunge over 4 meters (15 feet) into the prairie soil, making it nearly impossible to dig up once established.
- The root system stores so much water and energy that compass plants survived prairie fires, droughts, and the plow (briefly) — though most populations vanished with European agriculture.
- Each plant can live over 100 years and only begins to flower after several years of building its root system underground.
- Aldo Leopold wrote movingly about compass plants in 'A Sand County Almanac', mourning how few survived the conversion of the tallgrass prairie.
Color meanings
Yellow
Steady guidance