Found these flowers at Parrot Bay Conservation Area near Kingston ONtario...Any idea what they are....they are quite tall....almost 6 feet tall....(I am 5'6" and some were slightly shorter and some were almost half a foot taller).... Sunflower-like....???
Thank you!!! I just looked up that name and the petals and the leaves certainly look the same, but the centres of the flowers I saw don't look as big as the pictures I am seeing of the flower you named....???...
Right you are..., a bit small for telekia Might also be Inula helenium. Better picture showing leaves would help.
Your wildflower is most assuredly Elecampane or Inula helenium. It is an import from Europe, perhaps cultivated for its medicinal properties, and sometimes met with in damp clearings and field margins in Eastern Ontario. Good pictures that match yours are to be found at http://www.ontariowildflower.com/alien_wildflower_meadow.htm#elecampane and a good overview of the veterinarian and medicinal benefits claimed for its use are given at http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_elecampane.htm I am not surprised it impressed you. It looks very big, somehow out of place and almost tropical when you stumble across it. Some sources say its origin is Asiatic. Cheers! Ken.
