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What do "small," "medium" and "large" numbers mean?
They refer to how many insects were collected per meter square in a 30 second sample. Small means less than 2 insects; medium indicates 2 to 10 insects, and large suggests greater than 10 insects. |
home> native plant fact sheets> golden alexanders
Enhancing Beneficial Insects with Native Plants
Golden alexanders
Zizia aurea (L.) Koch |
Group: Dicot
Family: Apiaceae
(carrot)
Growth Habit: Tree/shrub
Duration: Perennial
U.S. Nativity: Native, east of the Rocky Mountains
Natural Enemies Attracted: Medium numbers of Chalcidoidea and Empididae. Small numbers of Orius insidiosus, Cynipoidea and Coccinellidae.
Pests Attracted: Medium numbers of thrips, lygus bugs, and aphids. Small numbers of leafhoppers, weevils and froghoppers.
Bees attracted: Moderate numbers (between 1-5 bees per meter square in a 30 second sample) of bees including yellow-faced bees, Andrenid bees, sweat bees, and cuckoo bees. |
| Species Notes: Flat yellow flower clusters from 2-4 inches across open on stalks 2-3 ft tall. This species was small in stature in its second year of growth, but filled in completely and bloomed prolifically by the third year. Plants bloomed from late May through mid June. This species was the fourth most attractive to natural enemies in the early season. |
About the Plant Species Graph: Average number of beneficial insects collected at each plant species the week before, during, and after peak bloom, for plant species blooming from mid-August through early October (+ standard error). Golden Alexanders (Zizia
aurea) boxed in red. Bars for natural enemies are in green, bars for bees are in yellow. Bars for native plants are solid and nonnative plants are striped. The black line on the top graph shows the number of natural enemies in grass with no flowering plants (grass control). Plants are listed in order of peak bloom. |
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| Habitat: Includes full sun to partial sun, and average to moist soils. Naturally occurring in areas with tamarack and poison sumac in boggy ground and fens and on river banks in openings and thickets. Also found in open woods, meadows, and along fencerows.
Cultivation and Management: Can be grown from seed (flowers in third year) or plug material (flowers in second year). Attractive foliage remains lush for the entire growing season.
Availability: Species is available as seed, plug or container grown material from various native plant nurseries. Michigan Native Plant Producers Association
For more information: USDA-NRCS PLANTS database |
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| This fact sheet prepared by: Doug Landis, Anna Fiedler, Department of Entomology, Michigan State University. Please note: The information presented at this web site should be considered a guideline to be adapted for your situation. MSU makes no warranty about the use of the information presented here. Read disclaimer. |
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