The second species of the Silphium genus I will write about is Cupplant, Silphium perfoliatum. The epithet perfoliatum comes from the fact that the upright stems of this plant perforate the cup-like foliage creating a cup which holds water from which birds and insects can drink days after a rain. How cool is that?

But this plant stands tall, easily up to 8 feet tall to be precise. With a spread of about 36 inches it needs a lot of room. Yellow flowers in July, August, and September that attracts myriad bees, the seeds attract a great number of gold finches when ripe. But if you have room, plant it in any type soil that stays medium moist in full to part sun. It does reseed readily, so make sure you put it somewhere you are able to weed the new seedlings.

Threatened in Michigan and salt tolerant.