Helianthus laciniatus
Helianthus tuberosus
alkali sunflower
girasole, Jerusalem artichoke, Jerusalem sunflower, topinambour, tuberous sunflower
erect, usually strigose or hispid to glabrate.
erect, scabro-hispid to hirsute (sometimes glaucous).
cauline; opposite or alternate;
sessile;
blades (green or grayish, 1- or 3-nerved) lanceolate, 5–9 × 0.5–3.5 cm, bases ± cuneate, margins entire or irregularly toothed to lobed, faces strigose to strumose, gland-dotted (adaxial sometimes glaucous).
mostly cauline; opposite or alternate proximally, usually alternate distally;
petioles 2–8 cm (often ± winged);
blades (3-nerved from near bases) lanceolate to ovate, 10–23 × 7–15 cm, bases broadly to narrowly cuneate, margins entire or serrate (flat), abaxial faces puberulent or hirsutulous to tomentulose and gland-dotted (abaxial) or ± scabrous (adaxial).
4–13 cm.
1–15 cm.
hemispheric, 10–24 mm diam.
hemispheric, (10–25 ×) 8–12 mm.
14–20;
laminae ca. 8–11 mm.
10–20;
laminae 25–40 mm.
40+;
corollas 4.8–5.8 mm, lobes reddish;
anthers purplish, appendages reddish (style branches yellow).
60+;
corollas 6–7 mm, lobes yellow;
anthers dark brown or black, appendages dark or yellowish.
16–21, lanceolate, 6–7.5 × 1.8–2.5 mm (often subequal), (margins ciliate) apices acute, abaxial faces hispidulous or strigose to glabrate, gland-dotted.
(often dark green, drying nearly black) 22–35 (bases appressed, apices ± spreading, sometimes reflexed in fruit), lanceolate, 8.5–15 × 2–4 mm (subequal), (margins ciliate) apices acuminate, abaxial faces hispidulous or puberulent, gland-dotted.
1–9.
3–15.
2.7–3.5 mm, glabrate;
pappi of 2(–3) aristate scales 1.4–2.5 mm.
5–7 mm, glabrous or distally hairy;
pappi of 2 aristate scales 1.9–3 mm plus 0–1 deltate scales 0.5–0.8 mm.
7–7.8 mm, entire or 3-toothed (apices obtuse to acute, hispid-ciliate to glabrate).
8–9 mm, 3-toothed (apices hairy).
= 34.
= 102.
Helianthus laciniatus
Helianthus tuberosus
Helianthus laciniatus reaches the northern extent of its range in New Mexico and Texas; it is relatively common in the Chihuahuan Desert areas of Mexico. It is similar to H. ciliaris; it usually has hairy stems as well as denser leaf indument that includes a greater number of subsessile, glandular hairs.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Helianthus tuberosus is variable, probably in part stemming from hybridization with other polyploids, including H. pauciflorus, H. resinosus, and H. strumosus. Helianthus tuberosus is so widely spread as a weedy species that its original distribution is difficult to discern. It has been used as a food plant for its tubers by native Americans (although not necessarily domesticated or even cultivated); it has been developed as a crop primarily in Europe, where it has become widely naturalized. The common name Jerusalem artichoke is a misnomer, as explained by C. B. Heiser (1976).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites:
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
LA Plants, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
