Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Tall Sunflower at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
2737
Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Helianthus giganteus
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Helianthus giganteus
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-65-021:
Helianthus giganteus
FAMILY
Asteraceae
COMMON NAME:
Tall Sunflower, Swamp Sunflower, Tuberous Sunflower, Giant Sunflower
To see a detailed map, click here
Look for it on bog edges, moist thickets, ditches, per Weakley's Flora
Forb
Perennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in
GA
NC
SC
Common (uncommon in Mtns south of NC, rare in Coastal Plain south of VA)
LEAVES:
Simple
Mostly alternate, lowermost opposite
Petioles .3-1.5cm long
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Rays: Pale yellow
Disc: Yellow
Disc flowers bisexual & fertile/ Ray flowers pistillate but sterile
Inferior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Blackish/Brown
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
Helianthus giganteus FAMILY Asteraceae
Tall Sunflower, Swamp Sunflower, Tuberous Sunflower, Giant Sunflower
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Tall Sunflower at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Click the thumbnails to see larger pictures.
JK Marlow jkm140917_832
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Phyllaries not conspicuously graduated & imbricate, usually loose or spreading, per Weakley's Flora.
COMPARE
involucral bracts of Sunflowers
JK Marlow jkm140917_833
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Stem hairy, reddish; leaves narrowly lanceolate, tapering to a short petiole, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
JK Marlow jkm140917_836
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Leaves triplinerved (with a prominent lateral pair of veins near the base), per Weakley's Flora (2012).
JK Marlow jkm140917_843
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
May grow to 10', but flowers are proportionately small, often < 2" diameter, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_h_giganteus_7
October
Ray florets 12-20, oft pale yellow. Disc florets' lobes yellow; anthers dark, per Flora of North America.