Helianthus is a genus comprising about 70 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae. Except for three South American species, the species of Helianthus are native to North America and Central America. The common names "sunflower" and "common sunflower" typically refer to the popular annual species Helianthus annuus, whose round flower heads in combination with the ligules look like the sun. This and other species, notably Jerusalem artichoke, are cultivated in temperate regions and some tropical regions as food crops for humans, cattle, and poultry, and as ornamental plants. The species H. annuus typically grows during the summer and into early fall, with the peak growth season being mid-summer.
Eriophyllum multicaule is a North American flowering plant in the daisy family, known by the common name manystem woolly sunflower. It is native to California and Arizona in the southwestern United States.
Helianthus bolanderi is a species of sunflower known by the common names Bolander's sunflower and serpentine sunflower. It is native to California and Oregon, where it grows mainly in mountainous areas, often in serpentine soils. It has been found from southwestern Oregon as well as in northern and central California as far south as Santa Cruz County, with reports of a few isolated populations in southern California.
Helianthus exilis is a species of sunflower known by the common name serpentine sunflower. It is endemic to northern California, where it grows mainly in mountainous areas, often in serpentine soils.
Helianthus ciliaris is a species of sunflower known by the common names Texas blueweed and yerba parda.
Helianthus cusickii is a species of sunflower known by the common names Cusick's sunflower and turniproot sunflower. It is native to the western United States from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, northern California, and northwestern Nevada.
Helianthus gracilentus is a species of sunflower known by the common name slender sunflower. It is native to central and southern California and Baja California, where it is a member of the dry wildfire-prone chaparral ecosystem.
Helianthus maximiliani is a North American species of sunflower known by the common name Maximilian sunflower.
Helianthus niveus is a species of sunflower known by the common names showy sunflower and snowy sunflower. It is native to northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States.
Eriophyllum ambiguum is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name beautiful woolly sunflower. It is native to the deserts and adjacent hills of southern and eastern California, northwestern Arizona, and southern Nevada.
Eriophyllum pringlei is a North American species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name Pringle's woolly sunflower. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in several types of desert, canyon, and hillside habitat, such as chaparral and sagebrush.
Helianthus occidentalis, the fewleaf sunflower or western sunflower, is a species of sunflower native to the Eastern and Central United States. It grows mostly in the Great Lakes Region and in the Ozarks, with additional populations scattered as far as Massachusetts, Texas, and the Florida Panhandle.
Helianthus petiolaris is a North American plant species in the sunflower family, commonly known as the prairie sunflower or lesser sunflower. Naturalist and botanist Thomas Nuttall was the first to describe the prairie sunflower in 1821. The word petiolaris in Latin means, “having a petiole”. The species originated in Western United States, but has since expanded east. The prairie sunflower is sometimes considered a weed.
Helianthus debilis is a species of sunflower known by the common names cucumberleaf sunflower, beach sunflower, weak sunflower, and East Coast dune sunflower. It is native to the United States, where it can be found along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. It is known elsewhere as an introduced species, such as South Africa, Australia, Taiwan, Slovakia, and Cuba.
Helianthus atrorubens is a North American species of sunflower known by the common name purpledisc sunflower. It is native to the southeastern United States. It is found in all the coastal states from Louisiana to Virginia, plus the inland states of Kentucky and Tennessee.
Helianthus carnosus is a rare North American species of sunflower known by the common name lakeside sunflower. It is found only in the northeastern part of the state of Florida in the United States.
Helianthus laciniatus is a North American species of sunflower known by the common name alkali sunflower. It is found in the southwestern United States and north-central Mexico. It is fairly common in the Chihuahuan Desert.
Helianthus mollis is a species of sunflower known by the common name ashy sunflower. It is widespread across much of the United States and Canada, primarily the Great Lakes region from Ontario south to Texas and Alabama. Additional populations are found in the states of the Atlantic Coast from Maine to Georgia, but these appear to be introduced.
Helianthus pumilus is a North American species of sunflower known by the common name little sunflower or bush sunflower. It is found in the western United States, primarily the Rocky Mountain region of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, with a few isolated populations in Utah and Idaho.
Helianthus salicifolius is a North American species of sunflower known by the common name willowleaf sunflower. It is native to the central United States, primarily in the Great Plains and Ozark Plateau. There are a few reports of scattered populations in the Northeast and Midwest parts of the country, but these appear to be escapes from cultivation.
