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common sunflower, hairy leaf sunflower, sunflower

blueweed, blueweed sunflower, Texas-blueweed, yerba parda

Habit Annuals, 100–300 cm. Perennials, 40–70 cm (rhizomatous or with creeping roots, often forming extensive colonies).
Stems

erect, usually hispid.

decumbent to ± erect, glabrous or glabrate (glaucous).

Leaves

mostly cauline; mostly alternate;

petioles 2–20 cm;

blades lance-ovate to ovate, 10–40 × 5–40 cm, bases cuneate to subcordate or cordate, margins serrate, abaxial faces usually ± hispid, sometimes gland-dotted.

cauline; mostly opposite;

sessile;

blades (often bluish green, 1- or 3-nerved) linear to lanceolate, 3–7.5 × 0.5–2.2 cm, bases ± cuneate, margins entire or serrate (usually ciliate and undulate), faces glabrous or glabrate to hispid.

Peduncles

2–20 cm.

(1–)3–13 cm.

Involucres

hemispheric or broader, 15–40(–200+) mm diam.

hemispheric, 12–25 mm diam.

Ray florets

(13–)17–30(–100+);

laminae 25–50 mm.

10–18;

laminae 8–9 mm.

Disc florets

150+(–1000+);

corollas 5–8 mm (throats ± bulbous at bases), lobes usually reddish, sometimes yellow;

anthers brownish to black, appendages yellow or dark (style branches yellow).

35+;

corollas 4–6 mm, lobes reddish;

anthers brownish red, appendages brownish red (style branches yellow).

Phyllaries

20–30(–100+), ovate to lance-ovate, 13–25 × (3–)5–8 mm, (margins usually ciliate) apices abruptly narrowed, long-acuminate, abaxial faces usually hirsute to hispid, rarely glabrate or glabrous, usually gland-dotted.

16–19, ovate to lance-ovate, 3–8 × 2–3.5 mm, (margins ciliate) apices obtuse to acute, abaxial faces glabrate to ± strigose, not gland-dotted.

Heads

1–9.

1–5.

Cypselae

(3–)4–5(–15) mm, glabrate;

pappi of 2 lanceolate scales 2–3.5 mm plus 0–4 obtuse scales 0.5–1 mm.

3–3.5 mm, glabrous;

pappi of 2 aristate scales 1.2–1.5 mm.

Paleae

9–11 mm, 3-toothed (middle teeth long-acuminate, glabrous or hispid).

7–7.5 mm, subentire to 3-toothed (apices obtuse to acute, hairy, gland-dotted).

2n

= 34.

= 68, 102.

Helianthus annuus

Helianthus ciliaris

Phenology Flowering summer–fall. Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Open areas Roadsides, ditches, cultivated fields, open drainage areas
Elevation 0–3000 m (0–9800 ft) 10–2600 m (0–8500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; SPM; Mexico; intoduced nearly worldwide
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; IL; KS; NE; NM; NV; OK; TX; UT; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Tamaulipas)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Helianthus annuus is widely distributed, including weedy, cultivated, and escaped plants. It is the only native North American species to become a major agronomic crop. Despite its considerable variability, attempts have failed to produce a widely adopted infraspecific system of classification. Forms with red-colored ray laminae, known from cultivation and occasionally seen escaped, trace their ancestry to a single original mutant plant. It hybridizes with many of the other annual species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Helianthus ciliaris is considered a noxious weed in some states. It can propagate vegetatively from detached pieces of rhizome and spread aggressively, especially in cultivated fields. It has been noted to occur in Idaho and Washington, where control measures have been taken to eliminate it.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 21, p. 149. FNA vol. 21, p. 169.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Helianthinae > Helianthus Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Helianthinae > Helianthus
Sibling taxa
H. agrestis, H. angustifolius, H. anomalus, H. argophyllus, H. arizonensis, H. atrorubens, H. bolanderi, H. californicus, H. carnosus, H. ciliaris, H. cusickii, H. debilis, H. decapetalus, H. deserticola, H. divaricatus, H. eggertii, H. exilis, H. floridanus, H. giganteus, H. glaucophyllus, H. gracilentus, H. grosseserratus, H. heterophyllus, H. hirsutus, H. laciniatus, H. laevigatus, H. longifolius, H. maximiliani, H. microcephalus, H. mollis, H. neglectus, H. niveus, H. nuttallii, H. occidentalis, H. paradoxus, H. pauciflorus, H. petiolaris, H. porteri, H. praecox, H. pumilus, H. radula, H. resinosus, H. salicifolius, H. schweinitzii, H. silphioides, H. simulans, H. smithii, H. strumosus, H. tuberosus, H. verticillatus, H. ×laetiflorus
H. agrestis, H. angustifolius, H. annuus, H. anomalus, H. argophyllus, H. arizonensis, H. atrorubens, H. bolanderi, H. californicus, H. carnosus, H. cusickii, H. debilis, H. decapetalus, H. deserticola, H. divaricatus, H. eggertii, H. exilis, H. floridanus, H. giganteus, H. glaucophyllus, H. gracilentus, H. grosseserratus, H. heterophyllus, H. hirsutus, H. laciniatus, H. laevigatus, H. longifolius, H. maximiliani, H. microcephalus, H. mollis, H. neglectus, H. niveus, H. nuttallii, H. occidentalis, H. paradoxus, H. pauciflorus, H. petiolaris, H. porteri, H. praecox, H. pumilus, H. radula, H. resinosus, H. salicifolius, H. schweinitzii, H. silphioides, H. simulans, H. smithii, H. strumosus, H. tuberosus, H. verticillatus, H. ×laetiflorus
Synonyms H. annuus subsp. jaegeri, H. annuus subsp. lenticularis, H. annuus var. lenticularis, H. annuus var. macrocarpus, H. annuus subsp. texanus, H. aridus, H. jaegeri, H. lenticularis, H. macrocarpus
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 904. (1753) de Candolle: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 5: 587. (1836)
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