Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Tansy
Tanacetum vulgare
Aster family (Asteraceae)

A European introduced garden plant that escaped cultivation, Tansy earned its vulgare (common or ordinary) label for its weedy nature. The plant often overtakes large tracts of moist disturbed soils.


© Dr. James Altland & Oregon State University

Description

Introduced aromatic , 16-72" tall. Numerous yellow, button-like disk flowers, formed into flat-topped branching clusters at end of stems. Leaves are , fern-like with divided leaves. Leaf axis is . Small pitted on leaves produce strong odor. Stems are often purple-red. Browned flowers persist into fall and early winter. Seeds are yellow-brown capped with a .

Field Marks

Yellow button-like flowerheads in clusters; fern-like, aromatic leaves.

© Al Schneider

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.

A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.

Glands are plant structures that secrete liquids, salts or other substances. Glands often appear as hairs with a drop of liquid at the end.

Like the teeth on a saw, leaves and other surfaces can have toothed edges.

pinnate -- A compound leaf with two rows of leaflets.

canopy -- The foliage of a tree; the crown. Also the upper layer of a forest.

alternate -- leaves alternate along the main stem and are attached singly.

wing -- Pea flowers have wings.