A striking flower is blooming in the Meadow. The linked web site says…

“Prairie coneflowers are popular native plants for flower gardening. Native Americans used them for a variety of medicinal uses and also made tea out of the flowers and leaves. If you rub the disks, they smell something like anise.”

Ecosystem Connections: Bees, butterflies, and other insects are drawn to the flowers, where they receive nectar in exchange for their cross-pollination services. Herbivores ranging from caterpillars to woodchucks eat the leaves.