(Silphium laciniatum ‘Compass Plant’)

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Compass Plant is a native perennial flower that grows in glades and prairies throughout the southeastern United States. At maturity, this plant reaches a height of 4-10' and features a thick hairy stem, 18” deeply divided lower leaves that get smaller as they progress upwards, and 5” yellow sunflower-like flowers with a yellow center. This plant can be grown in a large container, attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, it's both edible and medicinal, tolerates drought, resists deer, self-sows, and is used as a cut flower! 

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  • General Information
  • Germination
  • Seedlings
  • Care
  • Seed Saving
  • Companion Planting
  • Uses
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Family: Asteraceae 

Genus: Silphium L.

Species: compositum

Variety: Compass Plant

Native Range: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia

Ease of Growing: Moderate.

Grown as: Perennial
 
Maturity (Blooms): Fall

Light: Full Sun to Part Shade

Water: Medium

Soil Moisture: Medium to Dry

Attracts Beneficial Insects?: Yes. Attracts a number of important pollinators, including a variety of native bees and several types of butterfly, including the Monarch butterfly. Locate this towering plant behind shorter wildflowers.

Height: 4-10'
 
Spacing: 15-24”

Sow Depth: On soil surface
 
USDA Zone: 3a-9b

Produces: a thick hairy stem, 18” deeply divided lower leaves that get smaller as they progress upwards, and 5” yellow sunflower-like flowers with a yellow center. 
Fall plant or cold stratify for 2 to 3 months for best results. Sow seeds just below the soil surface at 70F and water.
Compass plant care is minimal as long as the plant is sited in full sun and moist to slightly dry, well-drained soil. The plant needs deep soil to accommodate its long taproot, which can reach lengths of 15 feet.
Be patient; two or three years are required for compass plant seedlings to grow into full-size, blooming plants, as most the energy is directed towards development of the roots. However, once the plant is established, it can survive for up to 100 years. Established plants self-seed readily.

​Compass plant is drought-tolerant but benefits from occasional watering, especially during hot weather. Be aware that the compass plant can become top heavy, especially when planted on windy slopes.
Allow seedheads to dry on plants. Remove and collect seeds in early-late September and store them in a cool, dry place.
Big bluestem, heath and smooth asters, rattlesnake master, showy sunflower, yellow star grass, round-headed bush clover, purple prairie clover, yellow coneflower, rosinweed, prairie dock, stiff goldenrod and prairie dropseed.
Livestock: It is reported that compass plant is palatable and nutritious and grazed by livestock especially in a juvenile state. It will decrease in heavily grazed pastures and eventually disappear from the site (Haddock, 2005). Eddy (1992) found it along roadsides in the Kansas Flint Hills, but rarely found it in pastures. 

Native American uses: The pounded root of compass plant was used by the Pawnees to make a tea for “general debility”. This tea was also used by the Santee Dakotas to rid horses of worms and by the Omahas and Poncas as a horse tonic (Kindscher, 1992). The Indian children of several tribes used the resinous sap as a chewing gum to cleanse their teeth and sweeten their breath. Preparations from compass plant were used by nineteenth century doctors as an antipyretic, diuretic, emetic, expectorant, tonic, styptic, antispasmodic, and stimulant and for their diaphoretic properties (Kindscher, 1992).

Wildlife: Birds and small mammals eat the seeds (Art, 1991). In grasslands, devoid of woody species, the compass plant provides a sturdy perch for prairie songbirds. Eastern kingbirds use the compass plant as a perch to locate and capture grassland insects (Platt and Harder, 1991).

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(Helianthus annuus ‘Autumn Beauty’)

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