Star Tickseed

Bushy to wiry, nearly glabrous plants with leaf blades mostly simple, mostly oblanceolate, and 2–15+ mm wide and with relatively small heads, florets, and fruits from coastal Mississippi and included here in Coreopsis pubescens may merit recognition as C. debilis Sherff or C. pubescens var. debilis.

Perennials, 20–70(–90+) cm. Aerial nodes proximal to first peduncle usually (5–)6–12+, distalmost 1–3 internodes 4–6(–10+) cm. Leaves: mostly cauline on proximal ²/3–⁷/8 of plant heights; petioles 2–10(–25+) mm; blades usually simple, rarely with 1–2(–3+) lateral lobes, simple blades or terminal lobes lance-elliptic to oblanceolate or lanceolate, 15–60(–80) × 2–25(–35) mm. Peduncles (7–)12–15+ cm. Calyculi of lanceolate to lance-linear bractlets 3–7 mm. Phyllaries lance-ovate to lanceolate, 5–8+ mm. Ray laminae yellow, 12–15+ mm. Disc corollas 4.6–5.4 mm, apices yellow. Cypselae 2.5–3 mm, wings ± spreading, ± chartaceous, entire. 2n = 26 (+ 0–2B).

Coreopsis pubescens var. debilis (Sherff) E. B. Smith; C. pubescens var. robusta A. Gray ex Eames

Coreopsis pubescens, called star tickseed, is a North American species of tickseeds in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the central and southeastern United States from eastern Kansas and eastern Texas east as far as Virginia, Florida, and the Carolinas. There are also reports of isolated populations in New England and in northern Indiana, probably as escapes from cultivation.

Coreopsis pubescens is a perennial which sometimes grows as much as 90 cm (3 feet) tall. Flower heads are yellow, with both ray florets and disc florets. It is found in a variety of habitats such as granite outcrops, pine-oak woods, and roadsides.