Helianthus is a genus comprising about 70 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae commonly known as sunflowers. Except for three South American species, the species of Helianthus are native to North America and Central America. The best-known species is the common sunflower. 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.
Helianthus nuttallii, or Nuttall's sunflower, is a species of sunflower native to northern, central, and western North America, from Newfoundland west to British Columbia, south to Missouri, New Mexico, and California.
Eriophyllum multicaule is a North American flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, known by the common name manystem woolly sunflower. It is native to California and Arizona in the southwestern United States.
Helianthella californica is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name California helianthella. This wildflower is native to the mountains of California, northwestern Nevada, and southwestern Oregon.
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 californicus is a North American species of sunflower known by the common name California sunflower. It is native to California in the United States and Baja California in Mexico, where it grows in many types of habitats.
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.
Hulsea californica is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names San Diego alpinegold and San Diego sunflower. It is endemic to southern California, where it grows only in the Peninsular Ranges.
Helianthus grosseserratus, commonly known as sawtooth sunflower or thick-tooth sunflower, is a perennial sunflower in the family Asteraceae, with a large flowering head (inflorescence).
Balsamorhiza deltoidea is a species of flowering plant in the sunflower tribe of the plant family Asteraceae known by the common name deltoid balsamroot. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California, where it grows in many types of generally mountainous habitat.
Calycadenia pauciflora is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name smallflower western rosinweed. It is endemic to northern California, where it grows in the Coast Ranges north of the San Francisco Bay Area from Napa County to Tehama County, often on serpentine soils.
Crepis pleurocarpa is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name nakedstem hawksbeard. It is native to the western United States (Washington, Oregon, northern California and western Nevada.
Eriophyllum ambiguum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae 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 congdonii, known by the common name Congdon's woolly sunflower, is a rare California species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae.
Eriophyllum nubigenum, the Yosemite woolly sunflower, is an uncommon flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from the Sierra Nevada in and around Yosemite National Park.
Solidago guiradonis is an uncommon species of goldenrod known by the common name Guirado goldenrod. It is native to the Central California Coast Ranges of central California, in southern San Benito and western Fresno Counties.
Agnorhiza bolanderi is a species of flowering plant known by the common name Bolander's mule's ears. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from a narrow section of the Sierra Nevada foothills about 275 kilometers long from Shasta County to Mariposa County. It grows in chaparral and grassland habitat, usually on serpentine soils.
Erigeron maniopotamicus is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Mad River fleabane. It is endemic to northwestern California, where it is known from only four locations in Humboldt and Trinity Counties.
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.
