Thanks to my wife's work with a conservation-minded gardening group, dozens of wildflower species adorn our Columbia, Missouri, yard; of these, rosinweed is certainly the tallest, topping out at almost seven feet. A native of prairies east of the Rockies, this wildflower may look like a sunflower species but is actually a member of the aster family.
Since rosinweed spreads by both seed and root systems, it may form extensive stands under favorable conditions. And while it attracts a wide variety of pollinating insects, it is also a host plant for gall wasps, the larvae of which attack its tall, sturdy stem. In some regions of the country, this wildflower has been domesticated for seed oil and livestock forage.
Of course, at our place, rosinweed is purely decorative though we welcome all pollinators that visit these towering plants.
