Leavenworth’s Tickseed Coreopsis

Description

Botanical Name: Coreopsis leavenworthii

Common Name: Leavenworth’s Tickseed, Common Tickseed

Description: There are 12 species of Coreopsis native to Florida. A common name for all 12 species is tickseed. Leavenworth’s tickseed has been documented to be growing wild in all but 11 Florida counties. The only other places it’s found growing in the entire world is two Alabama counties. Which means it is almost entirely endemic to our lovely state. How cool is that!!

This is a beautiful annual to short-lived perennial with yellow flowers that likes to reseed itself. It likes moist, acidic soils in sun to part sun. Will grow in clay, loam, or sandy soil. It won’t grow as well in very dry soils for extended periods of time. It quickly grows 1-3 feet tall with the flower stems adding another foot or so. It will usually clump .5 – 1.5 feet wide. Bloom time is spring into summer. Can bloom year round in frost-free parts of the state. Pruning the first flush of blooms back before they set seeds can help it to rebloom. But be sure to leave some faded blooms so it can reseed. Its natural habitat is mesic pine flatwoods. Is not rabbit resistant but is deer resistant.

‘The 1- to 2-inch wide daisy-like flowers have a center of dark brown to black disk florets surrounded by bright yellow scalloped ray florets. Its bright green leaves are small, narrow and range from simple to lobed to deeply divided, thus giving the plant a more open appearance. Leaves are oppositely arranged. Stems are slender and glabrous with many branches. Seeds are born in awned achenes with membranous wings.’ ~Florida Wildflower Foundation~

Butterflies love the flowers for their nectar. It also attracts honeybees, native bees, and wasps for its nectar and pollen.

Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water. Moderate tolerance of salty wind. Needs protection from direct salt spray.

This plant in 1-gallon containers is 5 – 15 inches tall.

Plant Lore: Ten out of Florida’s 12 native Coreopsis species are found only in North Florida and the Panhandle. Coreopsis is our State wildflower. The common name “tickseed” comes from the seeds looking like little ticks. The Seminole tribe used this plant to make an infusion used for heat prostration. All parts of tickseed, including the flowers, foliage, and stems are non-toxic and edible.

Florida Hardiness Zones 8 – 11