Silphium (genus)

This article is about the plant genus. For the extinct ancient plant, see Silphium.

Silphium
Silphium integrifolium
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Subfamily: Asteroideae
Tribe: Heliantheae
Subtribe: Engelmanniinae
Genus: Silphium
L.
Type species
Silphium asteriscus

Silphium is a genus of North American plants in the tribe Heliantheae within the family Asteraceae.[1][2]

Members of the genus, commonly known as rosinweeds, are herbaceous perennial plants growing to 0.2 m (8 in) to more than 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) tall, with yellow (rarely white) flowerheads that resemble sunflowers. In the rosinweeds, the outer florets in the head are fertile and the inner florets are sterile;[3] in the sunflowers, the reverse is true.[4]

The name of the genus comes from the Ancient Greek word for a North African plant whose identity has been lost, though it is known its gum or juice was prized by the ancients as a medicine and a condiment.[3]

  1. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1753). Species Plantarum (in Latin). Vol. 2. pp. 919–920.
  2. ^ "Silphium L.". Tropicos. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  3. ^ a b Clevinger, Jennifer A. "Silphium". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2008-06-24 – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  4. ^ Schilling, Edward E. (2006). "Helianthus". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 21. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.