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Helianthus anomalus
Also called Sand Sunflower, Anomalus Sunflower, Anomalous Sunflower
Western sunflower is a wild species of the daisy family native to sandy dunes in the southwestern United States, where it is a hybrid of two other sunflowers. It is grown mainly for its genetic interest and dune-restoration use rather than as a garden plant, and it needs full sun, sandy well-drained soil and little water.
Helianthus anomalus, the western sunflower, is a species of plants in the family Asteraceae, found in the southwestern United States.
Helianthus anomalus is of particular interest due to its genetics. It was produced via hybridization of two other sunflower species, H. annuus and H. petiolaris, multiple times between approximately 60,000 and 200,000 years ago. From these two parent plants, three hybrids were formed, each with distinct characteristics and habitat preferences.
Helianthus anomalus is found in the United States in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. Both H. anomalus hybrids are subject to stressful ecological conditions. They grow in sand dune habitats, which have limited access to nitrogen and water, and are thus considered stressful environments. Helianthus anomalus is native to these states, not introduced.
Southeastern sunflower · Helianthus ambiguus · Swamp sunflower · Common sunflower · Silverleaf sunflower · Arizona sunflower · Purpledisk sunflower · Serpentine sunflower · Helianthus brevifolius · California sunflower · Lakeside sunflower · Texas blueweed
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Helianthus anomalus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
