Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Large

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate grassland

Range

North America

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Spines

Status

Common

About

The cup plant, native to eastern and central North America, has a stem that grows up to 10 feet tall and a flower head that is about the size of a human hand. The cup plant's leaves are triangular and have a toothy edge, and it blooms in the summer with daisy-like yellow composite flower heads.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Asterales

Family

Asteraceae

Genus

Silphium

Species

Silphium perfoliatum