Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Helenium amarum
FAMILY
Asteraceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Bitterweed at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
The plant has a very bitter taste and is generally avoided by grazing animals, a point noted by Rafinesque in his original description (in 1817): "the whole plant is odoriferous and intensely bitter, it gives an abominable taste to the milk of the cows that feed on it in summer". Read more by downloading Weakley's Flora.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Helenium amarum var. amarum
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Helenium amarum var. amarum
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-75-006:
Helenium amarum FAMILY Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Helenium tenuifolium
COMMON NAME:
Bitterweed, Yellow Sneezeweed, Bitter Sneezeweed
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_hete14_001_lvd
)
USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970 swus_page_417
)
JK Marlow jkm140617_097
June Greenville County SC
Stem leaves linear, 2-7cm long, 1-4mm wide, base not decurrent on stem, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm210624_1496
June SpartanburgCounty SC
Low much-branched plant with numerous linear, even threadlike, leaves, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm210624_1501
June SpartanburgCounty SC
Ray flowers 5-10, reflexed, wedge-shaped, with 3 lobes at the tip, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm210624_1504
June SpartanburgCounty SC
The single stout stem is much-branched above, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm210624_1509
June SpartanburgCounty SC
Involucre one series of linear bracts, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
involucral bracts of DYCs
)
JK Marlow jkm210624_1511
June SpartanburgCounty SC
)
JK Marlow jkm140803_287
August Greenville County SC
Furman University
You'd almost think this was a little pine with flowers glued on...
)
Gill Newberry gn09_helenium_amarum
September
)
JK Marlow jkm0309o_16
September Horry County SC
Myrtle Beach State Park
"Gives an abominable taste to the milk of cows," said Rafinesque in 1817.
)
JK Marlow jkm060928_049
September York County SC
Utility right-of-way
)
JK Marlow jkm181110_5711
November Horry County SC
Myrtle Beach State Park
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Helenium amarum
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Helenium amarum var. amarum
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Helenium amarum var. amarum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-75-006:
Helenium amarum
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Helenium tenuifolium
640
Forb
Annual
Habitat: Roadsides, overgrazed pastures, urban areas; in much of our area an introduction from farther west, per Weakley's Flora
Native: west of the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare in Mountains)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate (basal & lower stem leaves usually absent or withered at flowering)
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Rays: Yellow
Disc: Yellow
Disc flowers five-lobed; ray flowers three-lobed
Inferior ovary
Disc flowers bisexual/ Ray flowers pistillate?
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Brown
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p168
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p092
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p386
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p539
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p269
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p279
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p209
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p128
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p084
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p299
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p348
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p190
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p323
- Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses (Murphy et al., 1992) p102
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