Helianthus annuus
Helianthus eggertii
common sunflower, hairy leaf sunflower, sunflower
Eggert's sunflower
erect, usually hispid.
erect, glabrous (distinctively bluish, glacous).
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; all or mostly opposite;
sessile;
blades (1-nerved) lanceolate to lance-ovate, 7–16.5 × 1.5–3.5 cm, bases cuneate, margins entire or serrulate, faces glabrous (abaxial) or strumose (adaxial), gland-dotted.
2–20 cm.
1–4 cm.
hemispheric or broader, 15–40(–200+) mm diam.
hemispheric, 10–25 mm diam.
(13–)17–30(–100+);
laminae 25–50 mm.
10–18;
laminae 15–20 mm.
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).
70+;
corollas 5–7 mm, lobes yellow;
anthers dark, appendages dark or ± yellowish.
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.
30–38, lanceolate, 12–16 × 3.5–4.5 mm, (margins ciliate) apices acuminate, abaxial faces glabrate, not gland-dotted.
1–9.
1–5.
(3–)4–5(–15) mm, glabrate;
pappi of 2 lanceolate scales 2–3.5 mm plus 0–4 obtuse scales 0.5–1 mm.
4–6 mm, glabrous;
pappi of 2 aristate scales 3–4 mm plus 0–1 deltate scales 0.5–1 mm.
9–11 mm, 3-toothed (middle teeth long-acuminate, glabrous or hispid).
9–11 mm, entire or ± 3-toothed (apices deltate).
= 34.
= 102.
Helianthus annuus
Helianthus eggertii
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 eggertii is similar to H. strumosus and H. laevigatus; it is distinguished by the distinctive blue coloration of stems and leaves and by the leaves usually 1-nerved, in contrast to the 3-nerved condition typical for the genus. It is listed federally as an endangered species; R. L. Jones (1994) found it to be more common than was previously thought, and it is now in the process of being removed from the federal list.
of conservation concern
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
LA Plants, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria, 
SW CO Wildflowers, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
