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| Plateau Goldeneye |
From late September to November our roadsides, woodland edges, and meadows are brimming with the profuse yellow blooms of Plateau Goldeneye (Viguiera dentata). Also called Toothleaf Goldeneye and Sunflower Goldeneye, this native plant is extremely drought tolerant, prefers well drained soils, and grows up to 3 feet in full sun and to 6 feet in partial shade. It can be found throughout central and west Texas, and into New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico.
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| Blooms appear at the tips of long, branched stalks |
Plateau Goldeneye is a bushy, much-branched plant that tends to grow in colonies. The yellow daisy-like flowers are numerous, 1.5 inches wide, and appear at the tips of long, slender, leafless stalks. These composite flowers have a button-like central cluster of fifty or more tiny yellow disk flowers surrounded by 10 to 14 golden yellow ray flowers with notched tips and nearly parallel veins.
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| Each ray flower (petal) has a notched tip and somewhat parallel veins |
The green leaves of Plateau Goldeneye are triangular with a broad base, tapering to a point, and toothed or serrated along the edges. They can vary from 1 to 6 inches in length, and can be attached to the stem in either alternately (near the base) or oppositely (toward the tip). As fall approaches, their typical rich green color turns more of a gray-green, and the plant starts to develop flower buds around September.
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| Leaves have roughly serrated or toothed edges |
Throughout its growing season, Plateau Goldeneye attracts many types of pollinators, especially bees, and is one of the preferred host plants for the Bordered Patch butterfly. In fall and winter, spent flower heads provide good forage for Lesser Goldfinches and other seed-eating birds, as each flower produces numerous achenes, or small, dry single-seeded fruits that do not open to release the seed. If left to its own devices, Plateau Goldeneye reseeds readily under favorable conditions, but it is easy to manage.
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| Bordered Patch |
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| Lesser Goldfinch |
The Aztec/Nahuatl people called this plant Chimalacate, and in several Mexican states infusions of Plateau Goldeneye are used as an antibacterial treatment for baby rash. A pharmaceutical study in 2008 confirmed that a compound extracted from this plant does indeed show antifungal properties. Plateau Goldeneye is in the genus Viguiera in the Aster family, and is named in honor of the 19th century French botanist and physician Louis Guillaume Alexandre Viguier. Regardless of this plant’s history, enjoy the glorious blooms it provides us in the fall, along the roads and trails of central Texas!
