Verbesina encelioides, Golden Crownbeard
Scientific Name: Verbesina encelioides
Common Name: Golden Crownbeard
Also Called: American Dogweed, Butter Daisy, Cowpen Daisy and South African Daisy
Family: Asteraceae, Sunflower Family
Synonyms: (Verbesina encelioides ssp. encelioides, Verbesina encelioides ssp. exauriculata, Verbesina microptera, Verbesina exauriculata, Ximenesia encelioides, Ximenesia exauriculata, Verbesina encelioides var. exauriculata, Ximenesia encelioides var. cana, Ximenesia encelioides var. exauriculata)
Status: Native
Duration: Annual or, perennial.
Size: To 3 feet or more.
Growth Form: Forb/herb, subshrub; stems short, pubescent; multiple branches, disagreeable odor.
Leaves: Green, grayish-green; mostly alternate, whitish under leaves from dense white hairs, lanceolate, deltoid or triangular, leaf petioles, 3 prominent veins from petiole, margins toothed.
Flower Color: Yellow, orange-yellow; 2 inch flowers, radiate heads, singular or many; flower stalks or peduncles, ray flowers 8 to 15 florets; discoid flowers numerous, yellow to light brown; fruit is an achene.
Flowering Season: April to November, May to December in California.
Elevation: Up to 7,000 feet.
Habitat Preferences: Lower and upper desert areas, disturbed areas, roadsides, fields, disturbed areas, cattle lots and sandy and gravelly areas.
Recorded Range: Throughout much of the United States, Baja California and Mexico. An introduced species in Hawaii. Throughout Arizona.
U.S. Weed Information: No data available.
Invasive/Noxious Weed Information: No data available.
Wetland Indicator: No data available.
Threatened/Endangered Information: No data available.
Verbesina encelioides ssp. exauriculata, Golden Crownbeard (AZ) and
Verbesina encelioides ssp. encelioides, Golden Crownbeard.
Comments: With good conditions in wet years, Golden Crownbeard may cover large areas with bright yellow flowers and found in smaller numbers during drier years. The photos above were taken during a moderate drought period in Arizona with little else in bloom at the time. Often seen along roadsides or disturbed grounds and over-grazed range lands.
The flowers, nectar and seeds are readily used or eaten by insects, butterflies and birds.
Also see Rothrock's Crownbeard, Verbesina rothrockii.
Several herbal medicinal uses have been identified, species account from Native American Ethnobotany, University of Michigan, Dearborn.