Field Guide

Golden aster can cover entire valleys with its bright yellow flowers. It blooms June through October and is scattered mostly south of the Missouri River.

Yellow crownbeard and its close relatives are called wingstems because of lengthwise, winged ridges along the stems. Look for it blooming, May through October, in open and rocky areas.

With its yellow composite flowers and round seedheads of fluffy “parachutes,” goat’s beard looks like a gigantic dandelion. A native of Europe, many people view it as an invasive weed.

Rough-fruited cinquefoil is common in most of North America in fields and pastures, along roadsides, and other disturbed areas. It’s a stout, tall, hairy plant with five yellow to cream-colored, slightly notched petals.

Cacti make us think of the desert southwest, but there is at least one species native to Missouri. This prickly pear grows in glades, sand prairies, rocky open hillsides, and other dry, sun-soaked areas.

The flower clusters of green-flowered or spider milkweed bear large flowers for a milkweed. The jazzy purple hoods are dazzling against the greenish-yellow petals.

True to its name, common evening primrose is the most common and widespread evening primrose in Missouri. It is most noticeable late in the season, when it reaches its greatest height and the flowers at the top are most visible.

Yellow wood sorrel is both a garden weed and a wild edible. It has a pleasant sour taste, which is why some people call it sourgrass and add it to salads.

Missouri’s cattails are all tall wetland plants with narrow, upright leaves emerging from a thick base, and a central stalk bearing a brown, sausage-shaped flower spike.

Pondweeds are rooted aquatic plants with underwater leaves on long, flexible, jointed stems. Some have floating leaves, too, that are differently shaped. Missouri has about 10 species in the pondweed genus.