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Helenium flexuosum
Purplehead Sneezeweed
Florida native
In Florida this is an occasional wildflower of wet flatwoods and floodplain forests mostly across the northern counties and down the west side of the peninsula into Hillsborough and Polk plus Miami-Dade County. The range extends throughout the eastern United States as far west as Texas & Minnesota. It is an introduced species to Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
Growing up to a meter (~ 3 ft.) tall with basal leaves that are absent when in flower. These basal leaves are eilliptic or oblanceolate and may be entire or toothed. The alternate stem leaves are linear or oblanceolate and decurrent down the stem, giving the stem a winged appearance. The disk florets are fertile, reddish brown to purplish often with the bifurcate yellow styles showing. The ray florets are sterile, yellow and usually 8-13 in number and drooping.
Helenium flexuosum is a member of the Asteraceae - Aster family.
Other species of the Helenium genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Helenium amarum - BITTERWEED
Helenium pinnatifidum - SOUTHEASTERN SNEEZEWEED
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Jul 29, 2017
