[Members of the
Sunflower Family with Flower Heads like Sunflowers or Daisies in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington]
Calliopsis, Columbia Coreopsis, Golden Tickseed
Coreopsis tinctoria var. atkinsoniana
Synonyms: Coreopsis atkinsoniana, Coreopsis tinctoria var. tinctoria
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Columbia coreopsis as seen at left on the sandy beach at the Dalles Riverside Park in the Dalles, Oregon.......October 12, 2011. The photo at right shows Columbia coreopsis in bloom on the gravelly beach at Pierce Island, Columbia Land Trust lands in the western Columbia River Gorge.......September 7, 2019.
The photo at right shows the involucral bracts and underside of the ray flowers of Columbia coreopsis from The Dalles Riverside Park......... October 7, 2006.
Characteristics:
Columbia coreopsis is a fairly pretty winter annual
or biennial with fibrous roots, branched stems, and scant foliage from 20-120
cm in height. The herbage is entirely hairless. The lower leaves are pinnate
or bipinnate with linear or linear-elliptic leaflets. The upper leaves are simple
and entire.
The heads are numerous with both disk and ray flowers.
The disks are dark brown or reddish-brown, and the rays are yellow-orange (1-2
cm long). The base of the rays are often marked with orange. The involucre is
smooth, 6-10 mm tall, with linear to lanceolate bracts.
Habitat:
Columbia coreopsis is a wildflower of moist river
banks.
Range:
Columbia coreopsis is a native of the northern
Great Plains, from Saskatchewan to South Dakota.
In the Pacific Northwest, it is found along the
Columbia River (from British Columbia, northern Idaho, and western Montana)
downstream to Portland, OR), and several of its tributaries (the Okanogan, Spokane,
and Clark Fork Rivers). It is found throughout the Columbia River Gorge east
of Portland.
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Close-ups of the flower heads of Columbia coreopsis as seen at the Dalles Riverside Park in the Dalles, Oregon.........October 12, 2011.
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Columbia coreopsis as seen along the shoreline of Rowland Lake, Klickitat County, Washington, about halfway between Bingen and Lyle...........August 29, 2013.
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Columbia coreopsis observed along the shoreline of Pierce Island, Columbia River......October 7, 2021.
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The photo above shows the flower of Columbia coreopsis from The Dalles Riverside Park.........October 7, 2006.
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The photo above shows close-ups of the flower head of Columbia coreopsis as seen at The Dalles Riverside Park.........September 29, 2007. Click on each photo to see a larger version.
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A close-up (left) of a flower head of Columbia coreopsis as seen along the Columbia River shoreline at Pierce Island National Wildlife Refuge..........September 27, 2014 The photos at center and at right shows close-ups of flower heads of Columbia coreopsis as seen along the Columbia River shoreline at the McCord Creek delta...........October 14, 2015.
Late-blooming Columbia coreopsis observed on the cobble shoreline of Hamilton Island (originally Strawberry Island) just downstream of Bonneville Dam......November 29, 2023.
Paul Slichter