Anyone ever try Cup Plant?

[Weasel]

I stopped at Ernst Seed to get another bushel of winter rye and five pounds each of ladino & medium red clover. They always have different, interesting native stands growing around the parking lot. I saw these and was instantly intrigued.

I'm 6'1" and these were well over my head. The large leaves on the stalks were interesting too.

My immediate thought was they were an annual and wouldn't amount to much in the winter. I asked the girl in the office what they were and she said Cup Plant. To my surprise they are a perennial! And can grow to 11 feet!

From Ernst's catalog:

Cup Plant
Silphium perfoliatum

A robust, long-lived, flowering species with a thick stem; large leaves surround the stem. Blooms from July to September. Grows to 11' tall. May be used as forage for domestic animals with multiple cuts; best established by planting in the fall as a dormant seeding, with germination occurring in the spring; high potential as a bioenergy crop; provides food for birds and wildlife; attracts native pollinators.

http://www.ernstseed.com/seed-mix/species/?catalog-id=3676

Forage, screening, attracts pollinators, native & perennial. Very, very interesting. It is a bit expensive but I might have to give it a try.

 

[yoderjac]

Please let us know ho it performs. I've seen it on "deer tolerant/resistant" lists. I'm not sure if that means deer don't use it much or if it just tolerates heavy browsing. It would also be good to see some nutritional information on it. I'd love to find a good nutritious perennial that covers our mid summer period. It would be great to find a good alternative to soybeans.

 

[yoderjac]

Just searching around, this was the only thing I could find on nutrition:

Currently there is a testing phase for feeding the shredded plants to cattle. Analyses of the clippings of Silphium perfoliatum were made in order to compare material of two harvests with material of only one harvest per year (from a crop field in Bayreuth near Geigenreuth). The results show the following crude protein contents per 100 g dry organic matter (TM):
Two harvests:
1st cut June 13, 2013: crude protein content 11,9 %, TM: 8,9 %
2nd cut August 29, 2013: crude protein content 9,2 %, TM: 13,9 %
one harvest:
harvest August 29, 2013: crude protein content 3,45 %, TM: 27,2 %
According to these analyses Silphium perfoliatum shows high protein contents that seem to make it very suitable for feeding to cattle and dairy cows. The high water content of freshly harvested plants in the version with two harvests can be reduced by a short wilting phase after cutting, thus ensilage is also possible.

Thanks,

jack

 

[CrazyEd]

We have it. Good native plant for wildlife. Birds especially love it.

 

[wiscwhip]

CE, how tall does it get in your sandbox?

 

[mikmaze]

Never heard of it by the common name, just silphium. Ive seen it with its square stems about a half inch thick, massive plant, seemed to do well in a damp area as well.

 

[woodduck]

A beautiful wildflower. Its funny you mention it. It was pointed out to me yesterday by a guy who uses them mixed in with other wild flowers and NWSG for cattle grazing. They were only about 5ft tall because he had already grazed this pasture earlier in the year. He pointed out the bird droppings on the leaves left by songbirds that drink from the dew that collects in the "cups".

 

[Bill]

I have some of that growing wild around my place. Never knew it's official name.

It gets at least 8 foot tall. I only ever see a few plants here and there. Never looked for browse on it but I will now. I suspect since the few I see are so tall my deer don't prefer it as food.

 

[JFK52]

I have some in the mix of forbs that were planted on my 12 acre prairie restoration.

 

[Weasel]

Thanks for posting that info jack. I'll post my planting experience with it here when I get started.

JFK I'd like to hear more details about your cup plant.

 

[JFK52]

My 12 acre prairie is in the Almond, WI 54909 area. Southcentral WI has sandy type subsoil with LOTS of rocks. The ground gets full sun and is level. I put 5 different grasses and 20 forbs into the mix when I had my prairie professionally planted from seed 24 years ago. The field had been rented out as a cash corn crop ground by the previous owner. I prepped it for a year by mowing, spraying roundup and disking before the planting. Some prairie seed is so small it needs a pressurized planter for the job to be done right. Other forbs included are white false indigo, bergamont, leadplant, compass plant, butterfly milkweed, purple cone flower, rough blazing star and others. Since the forbs were much more expensive than the grasses I might have only bought an ounce or two of a certain forb seed to be planted. The prairie has done very well and I am proud of it. I burn it on a four or five year rotation.

The cup plant is easy to spot as it grows very tall compared to a lot of the other forbs. I can't tell you for certain if it is browsed by the deer. I do know the deer use the prairie and eat the forbs in it. I would have to put out an exclusion cage to tell for sure if they browse a specific forb.

My prairie was planted for all wildlife to use. Monarch butterflies, honey bees, foxes, western thatch ants, birds of all sorts including turkeys and of course deer utilize it. I hired a professional prairie consultant to customize my seed mix for the prairie with my location, type of soil and sun exposure and stated wildlife goals in mind. It was well worth the money as I was a prairie novice at the time.

 

[CrazyEd]

My 12 acre prairie is in the Almond, WI 54909 area. Southcentral WI has sandy type subsoil with LOTS of rocks. The ground gets full sun and is level. I put 5 different grasses and 20 forbs into the mix when I had my prairie professionally planted from seed 24 years ago. The field had been rented out as a cash corn crop ground by the previous owner. I prepped it for a year by mowing, spraying roundup and disking before the planting. Some prairie seed is so small it needs a pressurized planter for the job to be done right. Other forbs included are white false indigo, bergamont, leadplant, compass plant, butterfly milkweed, purple cone flower, rough blazing star and others. Since the forbs were much more expensive than the grasses I might have only bought an ounce or two of a certain forb seed to be planted. The prairie has done very well and I am proud of it. I burn it on a four or five year rotation.

The cup plant is easy to spot as it grows very tall compared to a lot of the other forbs. I can't tell you for certain if it is browsed by the deer. I do know the deer use the prairie and eat the forbs in it. I would have to put out an exclusion cage to tell for sure if they browse a specific forb.

My prairie was planted for all wildlife to use. Monarch butterflies, honey bees, foxes, western thatch ants, birds of all sorts including turkeys and of course deer utilize it. I hired a professional prairie consultant to customize my seed mix for the prairie with my location, type of soil and sun exposure and stated wildlife goals in mind. It was well worth the money as I was a prairie novice at the time.

Sounds like a job well done, share some pics if you can!

 

[Warner32]

I was going to say you could plant that stuff to have some pretty flowers to pick for the ladies and its screening your plot at the same time! Haha