Kendall County (IL) Forest Preserve District
Prairie Dock
(Prairie Rosinweed)
Silphium terebinthinaceum
[C-value
5]
Aster family (Asteraceae)
Blooms July -
September
The native Prairie Dock is common in our area. It prefers full sun, a deep loamy soil, and moist to slightly dry conditions. Habitats include moist to dry black soil prairies, shrub prairies, hill prairies, savannas and prairie remnants along railroads. The flowering stalk of this perennial can be up 10' tall. At its base is a rosette of large basal leaves, up to 18" long and 12" wide, spade-shaped with a thick sandpapery texture. A naked flowering stalk emerges from the base and grows 3-10' tall dividing gracefully into a panicle of yellow composite flowers and spherical green buds. Each flower, 2-3" across, has 15-30 yellow ray florets surrounding numerous yellow disk florets.
Prairie Dock at Jay Woods Forest Preserve August 14, 2013
Prairie Dock at Oswego-Montgomery Library August 15, 2013
Prairie Dock basal leaves and emerging flower stalk at Jay Woods Forest Preserve July 12, 2012
Prairie Dock (pre-blooming) at Subat Forest Preserve July 1, 2013
Prairie Dock at Richard Young Forest Preserve August 29, 2012
Prairie Dock colony at Richard Young Forest Preserve September 4, 2013
Young: "This noble relic is a hallmark of our once vast prairies".
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