Flora of North America species comparison

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Helianthus cusickii
Helianthus cusickii

blueweed, blueweed sunflower, Cusick's sunflower, Texas blueweed, turnip-root sunflower
Habit Perennials, 60–120 cm (taproots stout, parsniplike).
Stems

erect to prostrate, glabrous or glabrate.
Leaves

cauline; mostly opposite, petioles 0–1 cm;

blades (light to dark green, 3-nerved at bases) lance-linear to lanceolate, 5–15 × 0.5–2.5 cm, bases cuneate, margins entire, abaxial faces glabrous or scabro-hispid, gland-dotted.
Peduncles

2–10 cm.
Involucres

hemispheric, 12–28 mm diam.
Ray florets

12–16;

laminae 20–35 mm (abaxial faces gland-dotted).
Disc florets

40+;

corollas 6.5–7.5 mm, lobes yellow;

anthers usually dull orange or orange-brown, sometimes yellowish, appendages dull orange to yellowish.
Phyllaries

12–18, lanceolate, 11–18 × 1.5–3 mm, apices acute to acuminate, abaxial faces gland-dotted.
Heads

1–3.
Cypselae

4–5 mm, glabrate;

pappi of 2 aristate scales 3–4.2 mm.
Paleae

(lanceolate) 9–13 mm, subentire or 3-toothed (apices sparsely hairy, sometimes gland-dotted).
2n

= 34.

Helianthus cusickii
Phenology Flowering late spring–summer.
Habitat Dry slopes, open woods
Elevation 600–2000 m [2000–6600 ft]
Distribution
map from FNA
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Helianthinae > Helianthus
Sibling taxa
H. agrestis, H. angustifolius, H. annuus, H. anomalus, H. argophyllus, H. arizonensis, H. atrorubens, H. bolanderi, H. californicus, H. carnosus, H. ciliaris, 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
Name authority A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 21: 413. (1886)
Source FNA vol. 21, p. 168. Treatment author: Edward E. Schilling.
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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