Rattlesnake Master

Eryngium yuccifolium is a perennial prairie species that reproduces only by seed. It flowers from mid to late summer and is pollinated by a number of common, non-specialized prairie insects. The seeds themselves posses no specialized dispersal structures, although the bristly bracts that subtend the flowers indicate the seeds may be dispersed in the fur of mammals. A study in a tallgrass prairie in Illinois found E. yuccifolium to be one of the most abundant species in the seed bank. General observations indicate that individual plants are long-lived, and that established populations in high-quality habitats are stable over periods of decades.