White-flowered Rosin Weed

This perennial member of the Asteraceae or sunflower and daisy family is an odd looking plant because it looks like a white daisy on steroids. Silphium albiflorum has large 2-3 inch diameter flowers and can be as tall as 40 inches. Their leaves can reach 12 inches in length and are deeply lobed making them appear pinnately compound. The robust stems and the surfaces of the leaves are rough and covered in sticky hair. They bloom from late spring to mid-summer in central Texas grasslands where they are found in calcareous, sandy or gravelly soils.