Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Compass Plant Leaves



Compass Plant Silphium laciniatum
Leaf with back lighting.
Use on East and West Sides of patio for nice morning and late afternoon effect. Young Compass Plant leaves align their edges to the north and south sp that the sides face early morning and late afternoon sun but the edges face midday south sun, allowing the plant to conserve moisture by concentrating photosynthesis into the cooler parts of the day.
Mature plants that have deeper roots no longer need to use this tactic, so the leaves of older established plants form a rosette of randomly aligned leaves.

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