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Helenium autumnale - (image 1 of 4)

Taxonomy

Family: Asteraceae

Habitat

Moist meadows, calcareous fens.

Associates

In fens with Aster novae-angliae, Eupatorium maculatum, Glyceria striata, Juncus dudleyi, Lathyrus palustris, Lycopus americanus, Lysimachia qudriflora, Lythrum alatum, Pedicularis lanceolata, Salix candida, Solidago graminifolia nuttallii.

Distribution

All 48 contiguous states except VT and ME.

Morphology

Tall herbaceous perennial. Basal leaves absent; cauline leaves well-developed, alternate, firm, serrate, lower surfaces pale and densely pubescent. Stems glabrous, often glaucous, sometimes sparsely hirtellous within or just below the inflorescence. Floral heads with both ray and disk flowers; disk corollas yellow, receptacle convex.

Notes

Flowers late July to early November

Wetland indicator: Facultative Wetland +

The last photographs is of a cultivar that was labeled as H. autumnale on the tag but it is more likely Helenium ×polyphyllum, which is a hybrid between H. autumnale and H. flexuosum Raf. The natural range of the latter is more limited to the eastern states. It has been introduced to the Chicago region, though Swink indicates that it tends to have fairly conservative associates.

References

Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.

USDA, NRCS. 2002.
The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

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