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Hairy sunflower

Helianthus hirsutus

Also called Bristly Sunflower, Rough Sunflower, Stiff Haired Sunflower, Whiskered Sunflower, Stiff Hair Sunflower

Hairy sunflower
Photo: Jason Hollinger, CC BY 2.0
Family
Asteraceae (Daisy family)
Grows as
Perennial
Native range
SE. Canada to Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León)

About

Helianthus hirsutus is a North American species of sunflower known by the common name hairy sunflower. It is widespread across south-central Canada, the eastern and central United States, and northeastern Mexico. It ranges from Ontario south to Florida, Coahuila, and Nuevo León, and west as far as Minnesota, Nebraska, and Texas.

Helianthus hirsutus is a perennial sometimes as much as 200 cm (almost 7 feet) tall, spreading by means of underground rhizomes. Leaves and stems are covered with stiff hairs. One plant can produce 1–7 flower heads, each with 10–15 yellow ray florets surrounding 40 or more yellow disc florets. The species grows in sunny locations in open forests or along the edges of forests.

Where it grows

Helianthus hirsutus is insect pollinated and is recorded to have been visited in northern Florida by Augochlorella aurata, Megachile parallela, and Svastra aegis.

Other Helianthus plants

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 hirsutus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

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.

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