When I first became interested in wildflowers, I went on a guided hike with a botanist. I was in awe of his knowledge of the flowers he pointed out along the trail. I spotted a pretty flower and asked its name. He replied, “It’s a DYC!”  I asked, “ Oh, what’s a DYC?” (I will modify the first word to keep this family friendly!) He responded, “It’s a *#$%@ & yellow composite!” A few years later I finally understood what he meant, there are a LOT of yellow composites, and some are difficult to identify!

A composite flower is in the aster family. Members of that family include daisies, sunflowers, dandelions, black-eyed Susans, goldenrods, zinnias, chrysanthemums, thistles, rosinweeds, and many others.

If you pick a dandelion out of your yard, you are not holding one flower, you are holding numerous small, individual flowers. Split the dandelion apart to isolate an individual and you will see it has all the parts of a complete flower. There is an anther that produces the pollen. This is the male part of the flower. The female part of the flower which is connected to the ovary will become the seed. You will also notice the fuzzy immature pappus that becomes the white parachute which will carry the seed in the wind.

All composites are made up of a few to hundreds of individual flowers in a single flower head. In the center are the disk flowers, each one can make a single seed. What we think of as petals around the outside of the flower are called ray flowers. These are attention getters and landing pads for pollinators.

Fall is a great time to see DYCs and other composite flowers. The fields and roadsides are often carpeted in yellow goldenrods, purple ironweed, pink thistles, and white frostweed. Composites are very important flowers for bees, butterflies, moths, and other pollinators. Each individual flower produces a small amount of nectar to attract the insects so they will spread pollen to make seeds. Black-eyed Susan flowers have ultraviolet reflecting areas that insects can see. Humans are not able to see light in this wavelength.

You will see many of these flowers if you go on a hike in the woods and fields in the fall. The photo of the very tall plant I am standing next to is prairie dock that blooms in August. Planting native flowers in your yard will add beauty to your neighborhood, attract pollinators, and some are important plants for larval food sources (insect baby food). The DYCs are a great addition to any garden!

Kris Light photographs wildflowers, animals and anything of interest with many of her best photos used in her website: click Search All Galleries to see photos. Her Outreach Science classes are available for public, private and homeschool groups through the AMSE. Kris welcomes questions at email.