North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Helenium flexuosum

Helenium flexuosum Raf.

purplehead sneezeweed, southern sneezweed

Synonym(s): Helenium floridanum, Helenium godfreyi, Helenium nudiflorum
Cultivar(s): Tiny Dancer

Helenium flexuosum (Purplehead Sneezeweed)

Image ID: 9123
Image by: Ware, Richard & Teresa
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: HEFL
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Helenium flexuosum
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-02-06

CULTIVAR INDEX

Cult_id	Cultivar_name	Action
228	Tiny Dancer	View

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: HELEN
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Helenium
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Sneezeweed
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 32-40 species, herbs, of America.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Bierner (1989)=Y; Bierner (1972)=Z; Rock (1957); Knox (1987); Rydberg (1915); Cronquist (1980)=SE.

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: ASTERA
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Asteraceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Dumortier 1822 or COMPOSITAE Giseke 1792
FAMILY COMMON: Aster Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 1500-1700 genera and 20,000-25,000 species, shrubs, herbs, trees, and vines, cosmopolitan in distribution.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Cronquist (1980)=SE throughout family treatment.

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect perennial of moist forests, moist pastures and river banks.
STEMS: Stems wing-angled, with stiffly ascending, leafy branches above; rough-hairy.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate, sessile (basal leaves petiolate), narrowly lance-shaped to oval, to 6 in. long (reduced upward), wavy-margined, smooth or velvety-furry.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Composite flowers (heads) at ends of branches; 1 1/2-2 in. wide; consisting of 8-15 yellow, drooping, narrowly wedge-shaped and 3-toothed ray florets encircling a maroon-brown, ball-shaped central disk (about 1/2 in. tall) composed of many tubular florets.
FRUITS:
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 1-3 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Mixed
BLOOM TIME: May-Aug

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
			x	x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Yellow

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
				x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bottomlands, Disturbed, Moist forests
NATIVE RANGE: eastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: This handsome SE native produces multibranched stems of bright yellow flowers, each with a prominent dark purplish center. While this plant does not cause hay fever symptoms, it is also known as sneezeweed because it blooms at the same time as ragweed. Often found growing around the edges of ponds and on streambanks, it also does well in average soil conditions. This perennial is deer resistant and makes a wonderful cut flower. This species is being studied for its anticancer properties.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average, Moist/Wet
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 5
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 9
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
4408	1992-0564			View
7528	2000-0288	2000-09-20		View
9032	1998-0342	2007-03-27	1223	View

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
1223	HORT	1998-08-28	Bryan	View
1765	HORT	2005-10-05	Liloia	View
2040	NPMD	2020-08-01	Kunz	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
6736	4408	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
9938	9032	142	Liloia	2007-03-20	View
10579	7528	115	NCBG staff	1967-01-01	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: HEFL
USDA Common Name: Purplehead Sneezeweed
Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (I)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI, WV), CAN (NS, ON, QC)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FACW				FAC	FACW		FAC	FAC

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Helenium flexuosum
COMMON NAME: Southern Sneezweed
SYNONYMY: [= C, FNA, G, GW, K, Pa, RAB, SE, Va, W, WH3, WV, Z; > H. nudiflorum Nuttall - F, S; > H. polyphyllum Small - S]
PHENOLOGY: May-Aug.
HABITAT: Moist pastures, moist forests, riverbanks.
COMMENTS: S. ME west to MN, south to c. peninsular FL and TX.
RANGE MAP: Helenium flexuosum.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Asteraceae Dumortier 1822 or COMPOSITAE Giseke 1792 (Aster Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 1500-1700 genera and 20,000-25,000 species, shrubs, herbs, trees, and vines, cosmopolitan in distribution.
REFERENCE: Cronquist (1980)=SE throughout family treatment.

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Helenium L. (Sneezeweed)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 32-40 species, herbs, of America.
REFERENCE: Bierner (1989)=Y; Bierner (1972)=Z; Rock (1957); Knox (1987); Rydberg (1915); Cronquist (1980)=SE.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Helenium flexuosum in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Helenium flexuosum in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Helenium flexuosum in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Helenium flexuosum in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Helenium flexuosum in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Helenium flexuosum

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 9123 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 9127 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 9123 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)