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Helianthus gracilentus
Slender sunflower is a perennial wildflower native to dry chaparral and woodland in California and Baja California, growing from a thick taproot. It needs full sun, good drainage and dry summers, and is better suited to native or wildlife gardens than to ornamental beds.
Helianthus gracilentus is a species of sunflower known by the common name slender sunflower. It is native to central and southern California (from Napa County to San Diego County) and Baja California, where it is a member of the dry wildfire-prone chaparral ecosystem, as well as woodland ecosystems.
Helianthus gracilentus is a perennial herb growing from a thick taproot to heights anywhere between one half and two meters (20-60 inches). The lance-shaped, pointed leaves are smooth-edged or slightly toothed and up to about 11 centimeters (4.4 inches) long. The long, slender stems and foliage are covered in rough hairs. The inflorescence bears flower heads with an array of short, hairy phyllaries behind a thick center of yellow to red-brown disc florets. The golden ray florets around the edge are one to three centimeters (0.4-1.2 inches) long.
Southeastern sunflower · Helianthus ambiguus · Swamp sunflower · Common sunflower · Western sunflower · Silverleaf sunflower · Arizona sunflower · Purpledisk sunflower · Serpentine sunflower · Helianthus brevifolius · California sunflower · Lakeside sunflower
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Helianthus gracilentus 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.
