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(updated May 17, 2021)
Ashy Sunflower, Downy Sunflower
Helianthus mollis Lam.
Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)
▲▼ mature, flowering plants
▲▼ head inflorescences
▲▼head inflorescences showing green, triangular bracts below head
▲▼hairy leaves and stems; leaves clasp part-way around stems
Helianthus mollis
Lam., Ashy Sunflower, Downy Sunflower:
(Bayer Code:
none; US Code: none)
·
U.S. native creeping perennial, rhizome-producing wildflower that grows
1.5-3 feet tall, with usually unbranched, gray-green stems; stems and leaves
covered with soft gray to white hairs
·
Leaves are opposite, lanceolate to elongated triangular, with no
petioles; leaf bases sometimes clasp around stems; leaves usually spaced evenly
on upright stems
·
Head inflorescences are 2-4 inches in diameter, produced at stem tips,
with 17-22 yellow ray florets (“petals”) that are puckered where they join the
head, and 75 or more yellow disk florets
·
Bracts below the head are in overlapping rows, lanceolate, with
tapering, pointed tips; bract tips stand out from base of head
·
Flowering from summer to early autumn
·
Prefers full-sun, drier locations, such as rocky glades, prairies,
pastures, right-of-ways
·
The gray-pubescent stems and leaves and clasping leaves provide an easy
way to identify this plant
PERENNIAL SUNFLOWERS:
·
Include
Ashy Sunflower,
Texas Blueweed,
Maximilian Sunflower,
Sawtooth Sunflower,
Western Sunflower,
Willowleaf Sunflower,
Jerusalem Artichoke,
and other species
·
All are creeping perennial weeds that form rhizomes and/or creeping
roots that allow them to spread to form colonies with maturity
·
Most are palatable to livestock, except in fertile soils, where high
nitrate accumulation may cause poisoning, but may be seen as weedy in reduced
tillage crops
·
Once established, these species can be hard to
control, but
most
(not all) are not considered to be weedy
·
Most produce relatively tall (4-8 feet tall or more), unbranched, leafy
stems with linear, lanceolate to ovate/triangular, rough-textured leaves; upper
stem portions are usually branched with the onset of flowering, so that each
branch stem tip has a flower head
·
Flowers for most perennial sunflowers quite similar (with some
exceptions); they are in terminal clusters, flowering usually sometime from
mid-summer to late autumn, with yellow ray flowers and yellow to brown disk
flowers; total flower diameter is usually 2-4 inches
o
Perennial sunflower “flowers” are usually smaller
than annual sunflower “flowers,” such as with
Annual Sunflower (Helianthus
annuus) or
Prairie Sunflower
(Helianthus
petiolaris)
·
Usually, it is more of the stem and leaf characteristics that are used
to identify the different perennial sunflower species
·
Click on
links
of above individual plant names to see more information on each one
·
Most perennial sunflowers
are native plants that usually do not cause harm in grazing or haying situations
(maybe with the exception of Texas blueweed).
Perennial sunflowers
provide food and nectar for native insects (including bees and butterflies),
birds and other animals, and generally should not be killed indiscriminately.
Maintaining proper grazing
levels can often reduce their unwanted increase in pastures and rangeland.