Good year for compass plants

The compass plant, Silphium laciniatum, is an icon of the tall grass prairie, and is featured on the logo of The Prairie Enthusiasts. It does best in deeper, more mesic soils, although it will also grow on drier sites.

This species can be readily established from seed in planted prairies, although it generally takes four or five years before it starts to flower. (It spends the first few years developing its extensive root system.)

At Pleasant Valley Conservancy our planted prairies now have compass plants in bloom, and this year the plants are impressively tall. The photo here shows Kathie measuring the length (9 1/2 feet) of a plant growing in the Crane Prairie. This planted prairie, now in its fifth growing season, has dozens of compass plants in flower right now.

When we started restoration work in 1997, there was no compass plant here, even in our prairie remnants, probably because of the grazing history. Cattle "love" compass plants!