Species Image Gallery
(opens in a new window)
|THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY|
|The sunflowers are found around the
globe in many different places, from temperate climates, like in Saskatchewan,
to mountains or in dry regions. The sunflower family is very large and contains
about 19,000 species! As you can imagine, the plants in this family can
look very different from one another. The sunflowers can be shrubs or herbs,
with many different leaf shapes and flower colours. One thing that is common
to all sunflowers is the type of flower arrangement. In this family, there
are many flowers grouped together into a head, like the one you see on a
daisy. It looks like one flower from a distance, but when you get close
you will see that it is actually made up of many, small flowers. The head
may have ray flowers on the outside and disc flowers on the inside, or only
one of the two kinds. Many of the seeds, like the dandelion, have a fluffy
structure attached to the seed. This is called the pappus and helps the
seeds to spread in the wind.
You probably know a lot of plants in the sunflower family. Sunflowers can be plants you eat or plants that you may grow in the yard. For example, did you know that lettuce is from the sunflower family? So are the marigolds in the garden! Maybe you have heard of Echinacea? It is a plant in the sunflower family that is used to make medicine. Some of the sunflowers are also weeds, like the dandelion.
|LARGE-HEADED WOOLLY YARROW|
|LATIN NAME: Achillea millefolium var. megacephala|
|WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?|
|Large-headed woolly yarrow looks a little bit like the common yarrow you may know from roadsides, prairies and forested areas around the province, except that large-headed woolly yarrow is, as the name implies, woolly. The hairs are white or yellow. The leaves look fern-like and are smaller up the stem. The flowers are grouped into heads. The ray flowers are white and the disc flowers are yellow.|
|WHERE DOES IT GROW?|
|Large-headed woolly yarrow grows in sand dunes and on lakeshores.|
|WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN?|
|This plant only grows on the south edge of Lake Athabasca in the Athabasca Plains ecoregion in northern Saskatchewan. This variety is not found any where else in the world!|
|WHY IS IT RARE?|
|This plant is considered threatened in Saskatchewan because it is only found in one region.|
|HOW TO IDENTIFY LARGE-HEADED WOOLLY YARROW|
|* Does it have fern-like leaves
* Are there many flowers in a head?
* Are the ray flowers white?
* Did you find near Lake Athabasca?
|If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found large-headed woolly yarrow!|