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• Dichotomous Key
• Asteraceae
• Asteraceae Group 4
• Coreopsis
• Coreopsis tinctoria

Coreopsis tinctoria — golden tickseed

Facts

Golden tickseed is a widely-grown garden ornamental, and has spread throughout the eastern United States. It is outside its native range in New England. This plant may be used to make a rich, red dye, and a tea of the plant was drunk by Zuni women desiring a female baby.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bract color

  the bracts are not colored or tinged with pink, red or purple

  Bract cycle number

  there are two main cycles of bracts

  Bract inner side hairs

  the bracts are not hairy on their inner surfaces

  Bract outer side hair type

  the bracts are not hairy on their outer surface

  Bract outer side hairs

  the bracts are not hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract separation

  at least some flower heads have bracts connected to one another at or near their bases

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are lanceolate (widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip)
  • the main bracts are oblong (roughly rectangular but rounded at the ends)
  • the main bracts are of a different shape than the given options
  • the main bracts are ovate (egg-shaped)

  Bract spines

  the bracts have no spines

  Bract texture

  • the bracts appear thin, flexible and nearly translucent
  • the bracts have a similar texture to a leaf

  Bract tip color

  the tips are the same color as the center of the bract

  Bract tip orientation

  the bracts are pressed against the plant, or spreading out at the tips

  Bract tip shape

  • the tips of the bracts acute (have a sharp point)
  • the tips of the bracts are rounded

  Bracts

  there are at least two distinct forms of bracts in different cycles

  Disk flower color

  pink to red

  Disk flower lobe number

  4

  Disk flower number

  • 11-20
  • 21-50
  • 6-10
  • more than 50

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  the disk flower has both pollen- and seed-producing parts

  Disk flower shape

  the disk flower is tube-shaped (cylindrical), or gradually widening like a funnel

  Flower head number

  each flowering stem has only one to three flower heads on it

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, each flower has a single enlarged lobe or strap

  Flower head platform

  the base has papery scales on it

  Flower head platform surface

  the scales are smooth, no visible hairs

  Flower head position

  each of the flower heads is separate on its own peduncle (stalk), not clustered in groups

  Flower head profile

  • the disk is flat or nearly flat across the top
  • the disk is rounded across the top

  Flower head shape

  the sides of the flower head are roughly parallel, like a cylinder

  Flower head width

  25–52 mm

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has tubular disk flowers in the center and ray flowers, these often strap-shaped, around the periphery

  Height of flower head base

  4–9 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  the inflorescence is flat-topped in profile

  Inflorescence stem

  the stem of the inflorescence is not hairy

  Number of bracts at flower head base

  14–18

  Ovary cross-section

  the ovary is compressed (flattened)

  Ovary hair type

  the ovary has no hairs on it

  Ovary hairs

  the ovary has no hairs on it

  Ovary profile

  in profile, the ovary is oblong (roughly rectangular but rounded at the ends)

  Ovary wing number

  • 0
  • 1-2

  Peduncle hair type

  NA

  Peduncle hairs

  the peduncles have no hairs

  Peduncle length

  10–150 mm

  Ray flower color

  • green to brown
  • yellow

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  • the ray flowers have carpels or stamens, but not both
  • there are neither carpels nor stamens in the ray flowers

  Ray flowers

  • 1-5
  • 11-15
  • 6-10

  Ray length

  12–18 mm

  Reproductive system

  • all the flowers on the plant contain both carpels and stamens
  • some of the flowers on the plant have only carpels or stamens, while others have both carpels and stamens

  Smaller bracts at base of bracts

  there is a cycle of much smaller bracts outside the cycle of larger and longer bracts

  Style branch number

  the style has two branches

  Style branches

  the style branch is wider at the tip and has a flattened end, or the style branches are wider at the tips and have flattened ends

  Width of flower head base

  4–25 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Number of pappus parts

  0

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  1.5–4 mm

  Ovary width in developed fruit

  0.6–0.8 mm

  Seed hair tuft bases

  NA

  Seed hair tuft color

  NA

  Seed hair tuft details

  NA

  Seed hair tuft length

  0 mm

  Seed hair tuft tips

  NA

  Seed hairs uniform

  NA

  Seed tuft scale number

  0

  Seed tuft type

  there is no pappus on the ovary

  Top of disk flower ovary

  NA

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  there is no plume, or the plume is made up of scales, awns, a crown, or a rim

• Glands or sap

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  • the plant is annual, it lacks evidence of previous years' growth
  • the plant is perennial, it shows evidence of previous year's leaves, stems or stem bases

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  there is a thickened taproot on the plant

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  opposite: there are two leaves per node along the stem

  Leaf blade base

  the leaf has a distinct petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow

  Leaf blade edges

  the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes

  Leaf blade hairs

  NA

  Leaf blade length

  10–60 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is filiform (extremely narrow, thread-like)
  • the leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)
  • the leaf blade is oblanceolate (lance-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)
  • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)

  Leaf blade surface colors

  there is no noticeable color variation on the upper surface of the leaf

  Leaf blade tip

  • the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is obtuse (bluntly pointed)

  Leaf blade veins

  the leaf blade has one main vein running from the base towards the tip

  Leaf blade width

  5–25 mm

  Leaf disposition

  the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem

  Leaf spines

  there are no spines on the leaf edges

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have leaf stalks

  Leaf stalk length

  2–60 mm

  Leaf tip extension

  NA

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Specific leaf type

  • the leaf has a row of two or more lobes on each side of the central axis
  • the leaf has a row of two or more lobes on each side of the central axis, and each lobe itself has rows of lobes on each side of the lobe's central axis

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem internode hair direction

  NA

  Stem internode hair length

  0 mm

  Stem internode hair type

  the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem internode hairs

  the stem has no hairs between the nodes

Wetland status

Usually occurs in non-wetlands, but occasionally in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACU)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae