Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Gumweed

This small caterpillar and others were curled up on Gumweed flowers near one of the sloughs east of Calgary this morning. A friend very kindly invited me to go looking for shore birds on several of these sloughs. As always, I am happy as can be with whatever interesting things I can find. Have tried to ID this caterpillar using the Internet, but no luck so far : )

This young (?) Grasshopper was hiding out in a Gumweed flower when a few of us went to botanize Horseshoe Canyon, near Drumheller, in the Alberta Badlands (Dinosaur country!) on 21st August. This is a common native plant of western North America, though I don't see it very often. The underside of the flower is gummy. Also called Curlycup Gumweed. Belongs to the Sunflower family.

Came across quite a bit of this plant yesterday afternoon at Shaw's Meadow. It belongs to the Aster family. Young buds often have sticky, white sap on them. Grows June to September.

A closer photo of a Gumweed flower bud, showing the white, sticky sap that this plant produces. I have read that the sticky flower heads can be used as a substitute for chewing gum.