compass plant

noun

any of various plants having leaves that tend to lie in a plane at right angles to the strongest light, hence usually north and south, especially Silphium laciniatum.

compass plant

Also calledrosinweed a tall plant, Silphium laciniatum, of central North America, that has yellow flowers and lower leaves that tend to align themselves at right angles to the strongest light, esp in a north-south plane: family Asteraceae (composites)
any of several similar plants

First recorded in 1840–50

I never seen but one good compass plant, an' that was the prairie Golden Rod.

To Reynolds Phebe was as a compass plant by which he learned to measure right and wrong, but, best of all, she pointed him to God.

The compass-plant, or rosin-weed, as it is commonly called, is the Silphium laciniatum of the botanists.

Look for the compass-plant, if you have the command of prairies.

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