Long-Bracted Tickseed Sunflower Wildflower Notebook

Probably to no one's surprise, this plant is a member of the Aster family. I'm naming this the Tickseed Sunflower because it seems the best ID - The plant is also close to the Jerusalem Artichoke (there are two species) that grows in our region. Both of these plants grow in sunny, moist conditions like pond edges and ditches, but they also can survive pretty well in fields and meadows. The Jerusalem Artichokes have a large leaf while this plant has a thinner, pointed, and serrated leaf, thus my ID. Tickseed Sunflowers are found in almost all the region to the east of the Rocky Mountains. Blooming time is August through October, and this picture was taken in mid-September 2013, in Tylersport, Pennsylvania, USA. I used my Canon T4i camera with the Tamron Macro lens 90mm. These cheery flowers brighten the roadsides then, when the seeds form, they turn into hitchhikers. The seeds grab onto animal fur (or clothing) and get carried to new growing locations. This is a nice write up: http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/wetland/plants/ts_sunflower.htm