Helianthus debilis |
Helianthus anomalus |
|||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
cucumberleaf sunflower, weak sunflower |
anomalous sunflower, western sunflower |
|||||||||||||||||
Habit | Annuals or perennials, 30–200 cm (taprooted). | Annuals, 25–60 cm. | ||||||||||||||||
Stems | decumbent to erect, glabrous, hirsute, or puberulent. |
erect, sparsely hispid. |
||||||||||||||||
Leaves | mostly cauline; mostly alternate; petioles 1–7 cm; blades deltate-ovate, lance-ovate, or ovate, 2.5–14 × 1.8–13 cm, bases cordate to truncate or broadly cuneate, margins subentire to serrate, abaxial faces glabrate to hispid, not gland-dotted. |
mostly cauline; mostly alternate; petioles 1.2–5 cm; blades ovate to lance-ovate, 4.5–13 × 1–4 cm, bases cuneate, margins entire, abaxial faces sparsely hispid, not gland-dotted. |
||||||||||||||||
Peduncles | 9–50 cm. |
4–9 cm. |
||||||||||||||||
Involucres | hemispheric, 10–22 mm diam. |
hemispheric, 20–27 mm diam. |
||||||||||||||||
Ray florets | 11–20; laminae 12–23 mm. |
7–12; laminae 18–37 mm. |
||||||||||||||||
Disc florets | 30+; corollas 4.5–5 mm, lobes usually reddish, sometimes yellow; anthers dark, appendages dark (style branches usually reddish, rarely yellow). |
25+; corollas 6.8–7.5 mm, lobes reddish; anthers dark, appendages dark (style branches reddish). |
||||||||||||||||
Phyllaries | 20–30, lanceolate, 8–17 × 1–3 mm, apices acute to long-attenuate, abaxial faces glabrous or ± hispid, not gland-dotted. |
11–23, laceolate to lance-linear or lance-ovate, 17–33 × 1–2.9 mm (notably surpassing discs), (margins ± ciliate) apices attenuate, abaxial faces usually sparsely hispid to hispidulous. |
||||||||||||||||
Heads | 1–3. |
usually borne singly. |
||||||||||||||||
Cypselae | 2.5–3.2 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy; pappi of 2 lanceolate or lance-linear scales 1.2–2.5 mm. |
4.6–9 mm, appressed hairy; pappi of 2 linear scales 2–4.5 mm plus 4–6 scales 1–3.5 mm. |
||||||||||||||||
Paleae | 7.5–8 mm, apices 3-toothed (middle teeth acuminate, usually glabrous or hispid, sometimes ± villous or bearded). |
7–8 mm, apices 3-toothed (middle teeth attenuate, apices purplish, ± hispid). |
||||||||||||||||
2n | = 34. |
|||||||||||||||||
Helianthus debilis |
Helianthus anomalus |
|||||||||||||||||
Phenology | Flowering spring–fall. | |||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Sand dunes | |||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 1300–1500 m (4300–4900 ft) | |||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AL; CT; FL; GA; LA; MA; MD; MI; MS; NC; NH; NY; PA; RI; SC; TX; VA; VT; WV
|
AZ; UT |
||||||||||||||||
Discussion | Subspecies 5 (5 in the flora). C. B. Heiser (1956) placed 8 subspecies in Helianthus debilis; he noted that alternative taxonomic treatments might recognize these in as many as three species, or expand the single species to include H. petiolaris. Later, Heiser et al. (1969) separated three of the subspecies as H. praecox. Isozyme data (R. P. Wain 1982, 1983; L. H. Rieseberg and M. F. Doyle 1989) show that all are closely related. Documented hybridization with H. annuus further complicates the situation. The treatment by Heiser et al. is followed here. Helianthus debilis is adventive beyond the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
L. H. Rieseberg (1991) provided evidence that Helianthus anomalus is a hybrid species derived from H. annuus and H. petiolaris, and subsequent work has confirmed and extended that hypothesis. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||||||||||||||
Key |
|
|||||||||||||||||
Source | FNA vol. 21, p. 150. | FNA vol. 21, p. 154. | ||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Helianthinae > Helianthus | Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Helianthinae > Helianthus | ||||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 367. (1841) | S. F. Blake: J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 21: 333. (1931) | ||||||||||||||||
Web links |