Yellow Crownbeard: Late Summer Bright Yellow of Verbesina occidentalis

Summary: Yellow Crownbeard (Verbesina occidentalis) is a New World perennial native to eastern United States. Bright yellow flowers open from late summer to autumn.

winged stems and bright yellow, irregularly placed ray flowers of Yellow Crownbeard (Verbesina occidentalis), C & O Canal National Historical Park, Montgomery County, central Maryland: Fritzflohrreynolds, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Verbesina occidentalis is a New World flowering plant native to the eastern United States.

Verbesina occidentalis claims eastern homelands, outside of New England, from Pennsylvania westward to the Lower Midwest (skipping Arkansas and Indiana) and the Great Plains states of Oklahoma and Texas and southward all the way to the Gulf Coast.

Verbesina occidentalis is known commonly in English as Southern Crownbeard, Stickweed or Yellow Crownbeard.

The common name of Stickweed recognizes the stems’ persistence throughout winter landscapes.

Yellow Crownbeard thrives in sunny habitats, such as hayfields, meadows, pastures, roadsides and even woodlands.

Yellow Crownbeard is a tall perennial, often soaring as high as 13 feet (3.96 meters).

Leaves are paired as opposites along the stem. Lance-like or oval in outline, leaves are hairless, with serrated, or toothed, edges. Leaves reach large lengths of 3 to 8 inches (7.62 to 20.32 centimeters), with widths of 2 to 4 inches (5.08 to 10.16 centimeters).

Showy, bright yellow flowers open in clusters atop stems and winged stems from late summer through autumn. Each flower consists of inner disc flowers with sparse, outer ray flowers.

The irregular placement of outer ray flowers, usually 2 to 4 in number, gives an asymmetrical look to the bloom. Ray flowers measure lengths of 0.5 to 0.75 inches (12.7 to 19.05 millimeters), with narrow widths of 0.15 to 0.27 inches (4 to 7 millimeters).

Fruiting produces a brownish black nutlet.

Yellow Crownbeard's profusion from late summer through autumn endears it to honeybees (Apis spp.) as a source of varietal honey, which reflects the color and flavor of a predominant nectar source. Yellow Crownbeard-sourced honey features a light yellow color.

Yellow Crownbeard also attracts soldier beetles (Cantharidae family), garden heroes that pollinate as well as protect. Soldier beetles prey upon such super-annoying garden pests as aphids (Aphididae family) and grasshoppers (Orthoptera order). With usually orange-yellowish and black coloring, soldier beetles stand out on Yellow Crownbeard leaves and camouflages in Yellow Crownbeard flowers.

Yellow Crownbeard plants mark the southwestern border between my house's southern, tree-shaded lawn and a richly diverse, sunny meadow.

Already exceeding, at 5.5 feet (1.67 meters), my height, Yellow Crownbeard exuberantly brightens the late summer landscape, giving glimpses of autumnal glory and attracting busy honeybees and sedate soldier beetles.

Yellow Crownbeard (Verbesina occidentalis) in Great Falls Park, Fairfax County, Northern Virginia; Aug. 22, 2012: Fritz Flohr Reynolds (fritzflohrreynolds), CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Yellow Crownbeard (Verbesina occidentalis), C & O Canal National Historical Park, Montgomery County, central Maryland: Fritzflohrreynolds, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Verbesina_occidentalis_-_Yellow_Crownbeard.jpg

Yellow Crownbeard (Verbesina occidentalis) in Great Falls Park, Fairfax County, Northern Virginia; Aug. 22, 2012: Fritz Flohr Reynolds (fritzflohrreynolds), CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/fritzflohrreynolds/7883977580/

For further information:

Gibson, Steve. "Varietal Honey, Varroa Mites." North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension > Cleveland County Beekeepers Association. September 2013.
Available @ http://cleveland.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/September2013-bee-newsletter.pdf?fwd=no

"Stickweed or Yellow Crownbeard: Verbesina occidentalis." Virginia Tech Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science > Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide.
Available @ http://oak.ppws.vt.edu/~flessner/weedguide/veeoc.htm