Today I’m separating and cleaning seeds of Yellow Coneflower to plant next spring. Last summer I watched American Goldfinches land on this flower when it was blooming in my prairie flower garden. Bird matched bloom, yellow for yellow. A bird would tear off the end of a petal with its bill and eat it.
Turns out flower petals are very good for you — if you’re a goldfinch.
Yellow carotenoid chemistry
Yellow flowers contain carotenoids. Carotenoids are pigments that make living things yellow, red, or orange. Like carrots, which is where the word carotenoid comes from. Carotenoids are also antioxidants, which protect animals from infection and disease.
Unlike some other pigments, carotenoids don’t get made in the animal’s body. They have to come from food. By eating flower petals, goldfinches acquire the color that the males use to make their feathers gorgeous for mating season. The health effects are side benefits.
Iconic flower of the prairie
Yellow Coneflowers are native to the North American prairie and are among the showiest of wildflowers. If you live in southeast Iowa, you’re at the dead center of the plant’s natural range. Maybe that’s why it grows so generously here.
It’s not only the petals that are yummy. Goldfinches and other birds also eat the seeds in winter. There are plenty to go around, because every Yellow Coneflower produces thousands of seeds.
The seed heads of Yellow Coneflowers make nourishing meals to help birds stay well fed through months of freezing weather. The black shells contain the fat-rich seed inside — like sunflower seeds, but smaller.
Scientific Name: Ratibida pinnata
Common Names: Yellow Coneflower, Pinnate Prairie Coneflower, Gray-headed Coneflower, Weary Susan, Drooping Coneflower
Beautifully written and informative.
Wish I still had contacts at NatGeo. Your talents deserve a broader global audience, people who might otherwise never become aware of the miracles in the world in which you live.