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Apiaceae
Rattlesnake Master
Eryngium yuccifolium
Prairie grit and sculptural strength.
- Family
- Apiaceae
- Genus
- Eryngium
- Native to
- central and eastern United States
- Bloom season
- Mid Summer
- Type
- herbaceous perennial
- Height
- 1–1.5 m
- Sunlight
- full sun
- Soil
- well-drained, average to dry
- Water
- low
- Hardiness
- 3–8
- Lifespan
- long-lived prairie perennial
Did you know
- Looks more like a yucca than a wildflower — its sword-shaped leaves are an evolutionary surprise within the carrot family.
- Early settlers and Indigenous peoples believed (incorrectly) that the root cured rattlesnake bites — hence the name.
- Each round flower head is actually a tight cluster of dozens of tiny individual blossoms, like a sea holly cousin.
- Choctaw weavers made sandals from its tough fibers, examples of which survive in archaeological sites in Missouri.
- It is a critical nectar source for the rare prairie soldier beetle and dozens of native solitary wasps.
Color meanings
White
stark prairie clarity
Greenish White
wild sculptural form