As a young one, I often did headstands. Not only did I want to test my physical capabilities, but I also wanted to test my perspective. Looking at the familiar bedroom or living room upside down changed my perspective. If you have been passing by the familiar clasping coneflower here in Acadiana each spring and summer for years, you should consider looking at this native wildflower from a new perspective.
All twelve of our year’s months offer roadside plants we may easily dismiss. Right now, our ditches and often overgrown areas are offering Dracopis amplexicaulis, the clasping coneflower. You know it! Yellow petal-like ray flowers wrap around the stem and are shaped like an elongated heart. At the base of these oblong heart shapes is often a reddish-purple color. They connect to and droop away from a cone in the center, not unlike a dark thimble.Its scientific name describes this very appearance with amplexus meaning “encircling” and caulis meaning “stem.”If you are not convinced by the clasping coneflower’s aesthetic appeal, perhaps you should consider its pedigree. It is part of the family Asteraceae, which includes over 32,000 species. Among these are Helianthus (sunflowers), Chrysanthemum, Echinacea, Dahlia, and Zinnia. Alternatively, safely pull over on your local road and inspect up close!
Pollinators are also drawn to these wildflowers. Bees and butterflies use them as a nectar source. The scientific community is concerned about declines in native pollinator populations, so the clasping coneflower being seemingly omnipresent is beneficial. Celebrating Dracopis amplexicaulis can be one of the ways we celebrate National Pollinator Month in June!
The Cherokee indigenous peoples found utility beyond beauty and nectar for the clasping coneflower. Along with wild onion or garlic, they used the wildflower juice for earaches. The leaves were used make a tonic and diuretic tea.
If you have become more convinced of the merits of the clasping coneflower, know that this native grows well in various types of soils and conditions. Full sun and moisture should allow these low-maintenance flowers to reach their common height of one to three feet.It is an annual, however, it should reliably self-seed each year.
You need not be a pollinator or a member of a Native American tribe with an extensive history of ethnobotany to appreciate Dracopis amplexicaulis. You need only a new perspective.Article for publication May 26, 2023
The LSU AgCenter and the LSU College of Agriculture