COMPASS PLANT
Jack Schmidling Productions, Inc.
One of the things we have attempted to do on our property is to dedicate a small part as a prairie restoration project. We removed, to the extent we could, all non-native plants and planted species that were found in the original tall grass prairies. This week we introduce one of those hardy and very special plants.
Silphium laciniatum
The Compass Plant is a member of the Sunflower (Compositae) family.
When in bloom, small sunflower-like heads open atop 6 to 10 foot stalks. These arise from a large cluster of very large and deeply notched leaves at the base.
The most interesting characteristic of the plant can be seen in the following picture.
The compass plant supposedly served as a compass for prairie travelers who lost or fogot to bring a compass.
The leaf in the background was not behaving itself very will when I took this photo but you can get the idea from the one in the foreground.
18016 Church Road ~ Marengo IL 60152
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COMPASS PLANT
What is probably unique in the plant world is the ability of the leaves of the compass plant to orient themselves in a North and South direction.
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