Plains Coreopsis

Plains Coreopsis

Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt.

Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)

▲ ▼ mature, flowering plants

▲ flowers, stems, leaves

▲ stem and leaves

▲ ▼ flowers/inflorescences

▲ wetter field with many plains coreopsis

Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt., Plains Coreopsis: (Bayer Code: CRLTI; US Code COTI3)

U.S. native summer annual that grows 6-24 inches tall, producing slender, green, almost threadlike stems that are usually unbranched until flowering
Leaves are spaced wide-apart on stems, and are bipinnately lobed, with linear, almost needle-like lobes
Flower heads are at tips of bare flowering stems, and are about 1 inch diameter; ray flowers are yellow, often with a darker red base near center of head (or all dark red ray flowers); disk flowers are orange-brown
Bracts below the head are triangular and green and extend beyond the flowers as the head matures
Common in wetter cultivated crops or open wetlands, but found in drier upland soils, rocky sites, too
Reproduces readily by seed
Commonly included in wildflower mixes