| Helenium autumnale | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Genus: | Helenium |
| Species: | H. autumnale |
| Binomial name | |
| Helenium autumnale L. 1753 | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
| |
Helenium autumnale is a North American species of poisonous [3] flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Common names include common sneezeweed and large-flowered sneezeweed. [4] [5] [6]
Common sneezeweed is a perennial herb up to 130 cm (51+1⁄3 in; 4+1⁄3 ft) tall. In late summer and fall, one plant can produce as many as 100 yellow flower heads in a branching array. Each head has yellow 11–21 ray florets surrounding sometimes as many as 800 yellow disc florets. [7] [8] Leaves are dark green, alternate, and lance-shaped. The Latin specific epithet autumnale is in reference to the plant's autumn flowering. [9]
This plant is widespread across much of the United States and Canada, from Northwest Territories as far south as far northern California, Arizona, Louisiana, and Florida. It has not been found in southern or central California, or the 4 Atlantic Provinces of Canada. [10] [11] [12] [13] It grows in moist, open areas along streams and ponds as well as wet meadows. [14]
The flowers attract various pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and wasps. Because the plant is pollinated by insects, not wind pollinated, it does not cause seasonal allergies or sneezing, despite its common name. [8]
Common sneezeweed is cultivated as a garden perennial. There are multiple named varieties varying in color and height. 'Pumilum Magnificum' is a yellow variety about two feet tall. 'Bruno', a reddish-brown cultivar, 'Kupfersprudel', which is yellow/orange, and 'Butterpat', which is golden, all grow 3 to 3.5 feet (91 to 107 centimetres) tall. 'Chippersfield Orange' is up to 0.91 metres (3 ft) tall and is orange streaked with gold. [15]
Only in small amounts, the plant has some health benefits. The dried nearly mature flower heads are used in a powdered form as a snuff to treat colds and headaches. When made into a tea they are used in the treatment of intestinal worms. The powdered leaves are sternutatory. An infusion of the leaves is laxative and alterative. An infusion of the stems has been used as a wash in the treatment of fevers. The plant contains helenalin, a compound that has shown significant anti-tumour activity.
The plant owes its name to the use of its dried leaves in snuff, the inhaling of which causes sneezing—supposedly casting out evil spirits. [16] [17]
Helenium is a genus of annuals and herbaceous perennial plants in the family Asteraceae, native to the Americas.
Arnoglossum atriplicifolium, the pale Indian plantain, is a perennial herbaceous wildflower in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). native to the central and eastern United States. It can reach heights of up to 3 metres (10 ft), with dramatic clusters of white flowers at the top of a central, unbranching stalk.
Helianthus pauciflorus, called the stiff sunflower, is a North American plant species in the family Asteraceae. It is widespread across the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the Great Lakes region, and naturalized in scattered locations in the eastern United States and in much of southern Canada.
Helenium bigelovii is a North American perennial plant in the sunflower family, commonly known as Bigelow's sneezeweed. It grows in moist areas such as meadows, marshes, or streamsides. It is found at moderate and higher elevations (3000–10,000 ft) in the foothills and mountains of California and Oregon: Cascades, Coast Ranges, Klamath Mountains, Sierra Nevada, etc. Cultivars of the species are used in gardening as ornamentals.
Helenium amarum is a species of annual herb in the daisy family known by the common names yellowdicks, yellow sneezeweed, fiveleaf sneezeweed, and bitter sneezeweed. It is native to much of the south-central United States and northern Mexico, and it is present elsewhere in North America, Australia, and the West Indies as an introduced species.
Helenium bolanderi is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name coastal sneezeweed. It is native to southern Oregon and northern California as far south as Mendocino County, primarily along the seacoast.
Helenium puberulum is a North American species of flowering plants in the daisy family known by the common name rosilla. It is native to California and Baja California, where it can be found in moist habitats such as riverbanks and meadows. It has also been found in Oregon, although these might possibly be naturalized populations.
Agoseris aurantiaca is a species of plant in the family Asteraceae, commonly called orange agoseris or mountain dandelion. It is widespread in western North America.
Arnica mollis is a North American species of arnica in the sunflower family, known by the common name soft arnica, or hairy arnica. It is native to Canada and the United States (Alaska and the western mountains as far south as San Bernardino County, California and Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. There are also isolated populations in the White Mountains of Coos County, New Hampshire. The species grows in subalpine mountain habitat such as meadows and streambanks.
Helenium virginicum is a rare species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name Virginia sneezeweed. It occurs in the United States, where it has a disjunct distribution; it is known only from Virginia and Missouri. It is limited to a specific type of habitat and it is threatened by modification of this habitat. It was federally listed as a threatened species of the United States in 1998.
Helenium flexuosum is a North American plant species in the daisy family known by the common name purple sneezeweed. It is widespread across much of eastern and central United States and Canada, from Nova Scotia west to Ontario, Minnesota, and Kansas, south to Florida, Louisiana, and eastern Texas.
Helenium arizonicum is a North American perennial plant in the Sunflower Family, commonly known as Arizona sneezeweed. It is native only to Arizona in the southwestern United States, having been found only in four counties in that state: Apache, Navajo, Gila, and Coconino.
Helenium brevifolium is a North American perennial plant in the sunflower family, commonly known as shortleaf sneezeweed. It is native to the southeastern United States, from Virginia to eastern Louisiana and inland as far as Tennessee.
Helenium campestre is a North American perennial plant in the sunflower family, commonly known as oldfield sneezeweed. It is native to the southeastern United States, in Arkansas and northwestern Louisiana.
Helenium drummondii is a species of perennial plant in the Sunflower Family, commonly known as fringed sneezeweed. It is native to the south- central United States, in eastern Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
Helenium elegans is a North American perennial plant in the sunflower family, commonly known as pretty sneezeweed. It is native to the south-central United States and to northeastern Mexico.
Helenium linifolium is a North American perennial plant in the sunflower family, commonly known as slimleaf sneezeweed. It is found only in southern Texas.
Helenium microcephalum is a North American perennial plant in the family Asteraceae, commonly known as smallhead sneezeweed. It is found in the southwestern and south-central United States and northern Mexico.
Helenium pinnatifidum is a North American perennial plant in the sunflower family, commonly known as southeastern sneezeweed. It is found in the southeaster United States.
Helenium vernale is a North American species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name Savanna sneezeweed or spring sneezeweed. It is native to the southeastern United States, from Louisiana to the Carolinas.
The common name is based on historic use of the crushed dried leaves and heads to make a form of snuff that caused sneezing. In certain cultures and times, sneezing was regarded as a desirable way to rid the body of evil spirits or a way to loosen up a head cold, so that a sneeze-producing remedy was desirable.
