Thursday, December 30, 2010

Plant of the Week


Prairie coreopsis

Coreopsis palmata Nutt.
other common names: tickseed, stiff tickseed, stiff coreopsis
Coreopsis: from the Greek, meaning “having the appearance of a bug,” referring to the buglike shape of the seeds. The common name tickseed also refers to the ticklike shape of the seed.
Palmata: means “palmate,” like the fingers radiating out from the hand or “palm,” referring to the shape of the leaves
Daisy family: Asteraceae (Compositae)

Photograph by Thomas Rosburg, Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie: The Upper Midwest, Second Edition

Monday, December 27, 2010

This Week in Iowa Nature

Holiday travelers along Highway 30 in western Iowa will cross the major drainage divide separating the Missouri and Mississippi watersheds; the marker is at a roadside park just east of Arcadia in Carroll County.

The Iowa Nature Calendar, by Jean Prior and James Sandrock