prairie wildflower

Prairie rosinweed

Silphium integrifolium

Also known as Wholeleaf Rosinweed, Entire-leaf Rosinweed

Native to the Great Plains, the Midwest, and the Southeast

Indiana to Mississippi, west to eastern Great Plains

Light Full sun Sun tolerance
Moisture Moisture preference
Zones 4–8 Cold to heat range
Bloom Jul–Sep Flowering time
Height up to 6 ft to 1.8 m
Life cycle Perennial Annual to perennial

Full details, see below

In the garden

A prairie wildflower for full sun. At up to 6 ft, it needs room in meadows and sunny borders. Hardy in USDA zones 4–8.

Growing conditions

Light

Full sun Partial shade Full shade

Moisture

Dry Moist Wet

Hardiness zones

Find your zone:

Pollinators & wildlife

Bees Common Eastern Bumble Bee

also Western Honey Bee, Eastern Carpenter Bee, Brown-belted Bumble Bee +40 more
Two-spotted Bumble Bee, American Bumble Bee, Ligated Furrow Bee, Bicolored Striped Sweat Bee, Pure Green Sweat bee, Bombus fervidus, Red-belted Bumble Bee, Two-spotted Longhorn Bee, Black-and-gold Bumble Bee, Half-black Bumble Bee, Lemon Cuckoo Bumble Bee, Flat-tailed Leafcutter Bee, Rusty-patched Bumble Bee, Dark-veined Longhorn Bee, Pugnacious Leafcutter Bee, Silky Striped Sweat Bee, Louisiana Painted-Dark bee, Sunflower Mining Bee, Silver-tailed Petalcutter, Megachile inimica, Petulant Leafcutter Bee, Squash Longhorn-Cuckoo, Agile Longhorn Bee, Megachile brevis, Ceratina dupla, Nomada vincta, Lasioglossum cinctipes, Osmia conjuncta, False Sunflower Cuckoo Nomad Bee, Big-cheeked Angled-Mason, Melissodes coloradensis, Melissodes bimaculatus bimaculatus, Strand's Carpenter Bee, Andrena polemonii, Melissodes dentiventris, Xenoglossa strenua, Svastra compta, Svastra obliqua, Two-spotted Miner Bee, Megachile policaris
Butterflies Monarch

also Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Painted Lady, Zabulon Skipper +2 more
Papilio cresphontes, Silvery Checkerspot
Beetles Goldenrod Soldier Beetle

also Slender Flower Longhorn Beetle, Ornated Tumbling Flower Beetle, Metacmaeops vittata +1 more
Mordella scutellaris
Also visited by
- Flower flies:
  
  Transverse-banded Flower Fly, Aldrichia ehrmanii +2 more
  Scar-horned Blacklet, grasshopper bee fly
- Hummingbirds: Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Wasps: Hidalgo Mason Wasp

Butterflies that use this plant

Documented host and nectar records. Each links to a planting guide for that butterfly.

Full plant details

Where it grows

Habitat: PrairieThe wild plant community it grows in.
Native range: The Great Plains, the Midwest, and the SoutheastUnited States (17): AL, AR, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MN, MO, MS, NE, OK, SD, TN, TX, WI. Where it grows wild on its own, by state and province.
Native distribution: Indiana to Mississippi, west to eastern Great PlainsThe same native range, usually more exact than the state list, and often noting where it has spread beyond it.

Growing conditions

Light: Full sunHow much sun it takes, from full sun to full shade.
Hardiness zones: USDA 4–8 · Canadian 5–7The cold-to-heat climate range it survives.
Soil: Well-drained soilsThe soils it grows in naturally.
Soil texture: Light to heavy (sandy to clay)The soil grade it prefers, from sand to clay.
Soil pH: Mildly acid to mildly alkalineThe acidity to alkalinity it tolerates (7 is neutral).
Soil quality: Low (tolerates poor soil)How rich a soil it needs. Many natives prefer lean soil and flop in rich beds.

Growth & form

Height: up to 6 ft (to 1.8 m)Typical mature height.
Spread: ~3 ft (0.9 m)How wide one plant gets, a guide to spacing.
Life cycle: PerennialWhether it lives a single season (annual), two (biennial), or returns for years (perennial).
Growth rate: RapidA relative ranking versus other plants of the same type (USDA), not an absolute rate.

Flowers, foliage & fruit

Type: WildflowerWhat kind of plant it is.
Bloom: Jul–SepWhen it flowers.
Flower color: YellowThe bloom color, or colors.
Fruit/Seeds: Winged acheneThe seed or fruit it sets after flowering.
Toxicity: None knownWhether any part is poisonous to people or pets.