The scientific name means “resembling a saw” and refers to the leaf-margins. It is not a true gumweed but has similar bur-like heads. It differs from the gumweeds in having several unequal hair-like bristles on the seed, whereas the seeds of gumweeds have 2-8 stiff bristles.
YELLOW SLEEPY DAISY
Yellow Sleepy Daisy (Xanthisma texanum) is a yellow daisy with lazy habits, for the heads do not open until noon. It is close kin to the white lazy daisy (Aphanostephus skirrobasis), and the two may often be found growing in the same fields. The large heads of lemon-yellow flowers are quite showy and attractive, 1½ inches broad, solitary at the ends of the branches. The ray flowers are narrow, about one inch long, and conspicuously lance-shaped at the tips.
This plant blooms in the late spring and summer and is found on sandy prairies or open woods in Central Texas. It is an annual, the stem branched above, commonly about 1-1½ feet high. The leaves are glossy green, somewhat narrow, and one to two inches long. It has been introduced into cultivation in the North and East. The name is Greek, meaning “dyed yellow.”
BERLANDIER’S GOLDEN ASTER IRON FLOWER
Berlandier’s Golden Aster (Chrysopsis berlandieri) is common on roadside banks and prairies of Central and West Texas. Growing from a perennial root, the branched stems sprawl in clumps about a foot broad and are thick with yellow heads soon after a heavy rain. The heads are nearly an inch broad, the flowers all yellow. The leaves are whitish and somewhat woolly. It blooms in the summer and fall.
Spiny-Leaved Yellow Aster. Iron Flower (Sideranthus spinulosus) has yellow heads much like the preceding, but the leaves are quite different, being divided into narrow segments which are bristle-pointed rather than spiny as the name indicates. “Sideranthus” means “iron flower.” It is very abundant on prairies and hills in the western part of the state and ranges to Canada and Mexico. It blooms from March to October. The iron flowers are often called gold daisies. The southern iron flower (Sideranthus australis) is common in Southwest Texas.
