The foliage, which has a taproot, stays low while the flowers are held floating above on long thin stems, catching the breezes and are bright, striking yellow.
It has a taproot and does very well at helping stabilize the sloping area, bring attractiveness to it at the same time. If you are broadcasting the seeds in or near a pasture you will like to know that this is a plant that is very nutritious to all classes of domestic livestock, game animals, and the seed heads are highly prized by many species of birds, and small mammals, as well as butterflies, and pollinators.
It is a plant that has been much used by Native Americans for centuries, as a medicine and as a ritual usage plant. An elixir of this plant has been used to treat pain, snake bites, poison ivy rashes, and many other ills. The heads of the plant have been used to make tea for and upset stomach, epileptic fits, headache, cough, and fever. When the flowers are boiled and a mordant added the liquid makes a beautiful orange-yellow dye. The Acoma and Laguna Indians used crushed leaves rubbed on mothers’ breasts to wean a child.
