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Helianthus mollis
Also called Soft Sunflower
Ashy sunflower is a perennial native sunflower from eastern North America, growing up to about 1.5 m tall and spreading by underground rhizomes. It thrives in full sun and well-drained soil and is easy to establish from seed or division.
Helianthus mollis is a species of sunflower known by the common names ashy sunflower or downy sunflower. It is widespread across much of the United States and Canada, primarily the Great Lakes region from Ontario south to Texas and Alabama. However, it is considered to be locally endangered within the state of Ohio. Additional populations are found in the states of the Atlantic Coast from Maine to Georgia, but these appear to be introduced.
Helianthus mollis grows on prairies, roadsides, dry open woods, rocky glades, fields, and thickets. It is a perennial herbaceous plant up to 1.5 m (4.9 ft) tall, spreading by means of underground rhizomes. The leaves are mostly along the stem rather than crowded near the base, each egg-shaped with teeth along the edges. One plant produces 1-15 flower heads containing 17-22 yellow ray florets surrounding 75 or more yellow disc florets.
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 mollis 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.
