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Showy sunflower

Helianthus niveus

Also called Snowy Sunflower

Showy sunflower
Photo: Matt Berger, CC BY 4.0

Helianthus niveus is a sunflower from the Southwest US and northern Mexico, grown for its white, hairy foliage and bright yellow flowers. It is a taprooted annual or short-lived perennial that needs full sun and well-drained soil.

Family
Asteraceae (Daisy family)
Grows as
Annual, Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Water deeply, then let the top few centimetres of soil dry out before watering again.
Soil
Well-drained, sandy or loamy soil; tolerates poor soil.
Temperature
15–30 °C; protect from frost below 0 °C.
How easy
Easy
Native range
N. Mexico

About

Helianthus niveus is a species of sunflower known by the common names showy sunflower and snowy sunflower. It is native to northern Mexico (Sonora, Baja California, Baja California Sur) and the Southwestern United States (Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas).

Helianthus niveus is a taprooted annual or perennial sunflower growing to a maximum height over 1 m (40 in). The leaves are oval or lance-shaped, often with irregular lobes or teeth, and are covered in soft, white hairs. The flower heads are fringed with 13-21 bright yellow ray florets up to 2.5 cm (1 in) long surrounding a center of yellow to purple-red disc florets.

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 niveus 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.

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