Arnica

(Arnica mollis)

 

Color Photograph: Western wetland flora: Field office guide to plant species. U.S.D.A. Soil Conservation Service, West National Technical Center.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Arnica (Arnica mollis)

Identification: A large (2 inches in diameter) sunflower type flower with 10 to 14 rays each with 2 or three small teeth. Stems and leaves hairy. Leaves opposite, elongate tapering toward the apex and base. Leaf petiole nearly absent, almost sessile to the stem. Plant 1 to 2.5 feet in height.

Distribution: Throughout Canada and southward in the east to northern New York, New Hampshire, Maine, and New Brunswick. The species also extends southward throughout most of the western United States.

Habitat: Arnica is a boreal species found above treeline on mountain slopes and cliffs.

Flowering period: July to September

Arnica (Arnica mollis)

Similar Species:

Arnica could be mistaken for a number of yellow composites, but the alpine habitat is a good identifying character.

Similar Species

No Similar Species