Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Helenium autumnale
FAMILY
Asteraceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Common Sneezeweed at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
The taxa included here as synonyms (see synonymy) need additional study; Helenium autumnale as currently circumscribed may well include several taxa warranting taxonomic recognition, per Weakley's Flora (2023).
Like H. amarum, H. autumnale is bitter and unpalatable to grazing animals, becoming more abundant in pastures. Read more in Weakley's Flora (2023).
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Helenium autumnale var. autumnale
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Helenium autumnale
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Helenium autumnale
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Helenium autumnale var. autumnale
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Helenium autumnale var. parviflorum
INCLUDED WITHIN Aquatic & Wetland Plants of Southeastern US (Godfrey & Wooten, 1979 & 1981)
Helenium autumnale
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-75-001:
Helenium autumnale FAMILY Asteraceae
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Helenium latifolium
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Helenium parviflorum
COMMON NAME:
Common Sneezeweed
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm120804_321
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Ray flowers (what looks like petals) have 3 lobes and widen at their ends, per All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999).
)
JK Marlow jkm120804_329
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm120804_333
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Leaves narrowly ovate, mostly toothed, bases decurrent on the stem, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm120804_335
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm070917_089
September Haywood County NC
Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District
Disc flowers yellow, in a dome. Ray flowers 12-20, 3-lobed at their tips, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm070917_091
September Haywood County NC
Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District
Like H. amarum, bitter and unpalatable to grazing animals, becoming more abundant in pastures, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
)
JK Marlow jkm070917_096
September Haywood County NC
Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District
Involucre of one series of linear bracts, 5-10mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
involucral bracts of DYCs with ray and disc flowers
)
JK Marlow jkm070917_099
September Haywood County NC
Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm150912_100
September Clay County NC
Nantahala National Forest: Tusquitee Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm150912_102
September Clay County NC
Nantahala National Forest: Tusquitee Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm150912_119
September Clay County NC
Nantahala National Forest: Tusquitee Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm150912_147
September Clay County NC
Nantahala National Forest: Tusquitee Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm150912_152
September Clay County NC
Nantahala National Forest: Tusquitee Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm150912_153
September Clay County NC
Nantahala National Forest: Tusquitee Ranger District
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_helenium_autumnale_2
October
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_helenium_autumnale_4
October
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Helenium autumnale
FAMILY
Asteraceae
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Helenium autumnale var. autumnale
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Helenium autumnale
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Helenium autumnale
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Helenium autumnale var. autumnale
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Helenium autumnale var. parviflorum
INCLUDED WITHIN
Aquatic & Wetland Plants of Southeastern US (Godfrey & Wooten, 1979 & 1981)
Helenium autumnale
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-75-001:
Helenium autumnale
FAMILY
Asteraceae
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Helenium latifolium
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Helenium parviflorum
641
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Moist pastures, forests, woodlands, forest edges, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate & basal
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Rays: Yellow
Disc: Yellow
Disc flowers five-lobed; ray flowers three-lobed
Inferior ovary
Disc flowers bisexual/ Ray flowers pistillate and fertile
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Brown/Gray
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p167
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p092
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p133
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p119
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p376
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p284
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p129
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p276
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p085
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p300
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p349
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p190
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