Native Plants

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Monday - November 23, 2015
From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification, Herbs/Forbs
Title: Identification of Verbesina occidentalis (Yellow crownbeard) in Burnet County TX
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
Looked up (small) yellow crownbeard..yellow, no description or pic. Csn you tell me if this is what is in this pic? THX! Can't insert a pic to say y/n. 😟it's in Burnet, Co..SE of Marble Falls..butterflies all over it. Identified by someone in another state, checking if that's correct. You can use the pic if that's what it is.ANSWER:
Sorry but our Mr. Smarty Plants database doesn't allow attachment of photos for us to ID. I can, however, give you some information about the species of crownbeards that occur in Texas and, specifically in or near Burnet County.
All the crownbeards are listed under the Genus Verbesina. If you click on "Subordinate Taxa" in the menu at the top of the page, you can see all species listed by the USDA Plants Database. For each species there is a map showing its distribution and, if you follow, the instructions on the page, you can expand the map to see the county distributions highlighted in green within the states. In our Native Plant Database we have 11 species of Verbesina. You are correct that there are no photos or description of the species with the common name of yellow crownbeard, Verbesina occidentalis (Yellow crownbeard), in our Native Plant Database, but you can see photos and more information for Verbesina occidentalis (Yellow crownbeard) from Wildflowers of the United States, Southeastern Flora, and Discover Life. For most of the species in the USDA Plants Database they have a distribution map that gives county records. However, for Verbesina occidentalis the only thing it shows is that it has been reported in Texas. If you look at the USDA Plants Database's distribution map, you will see that there is no county distribution data available. Here is a description of this species from Flora of North America.
There are other species of Verbesina that have yellow flowers that do show a record in Burnet County or an adjacent county. They are:
Verbesina encelioides (Cowpen daisy or golden crownbeard) occurs in Burnet County as you can see on the USDA Plants Database distribution map. Here is a description of the species from Flora of North America.
Verbesina lindheimeri (Lindheimer's crownbeard) does not occur in Burnet County, but does occur in Bell, Travis and Blanco Counties according to the USDA Plants Database distribution map. Here is a description of the this species from Flora of North America. Here are photos from Purola Reserve in Hays County TX
My feeling is that the crownbeard you saw in Burnet County was Verbesina encelioides (Cowpen daisy or golden crownbeard). It has been recorded from Burnet County, it has a wide distribution over the state and over most of the United States; however, you can use the descriptions from Flora of North America and the photos from our Native Plant Database and the other sources named above to help you identify just which species it is.
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