North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Helianthus divaricatus

Helianthus divaricatus L.

woodland sunflower, spreading sunflower

Synonym(s): Helianthus divaricatus var. angustifolius

Helianthus divaricatus (Woodland Sunflower)

Image ID: 29344
Image by: Oglesby, Emily
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: HEDI2
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Helianthus divaricatus
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2019-09-18

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: HELIA3
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Helianthus
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Sunflower
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 50 species, herbs, of North America.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Schilling in FNA (2006c); Heiser et al. (1969); Cronquist (1980)=SE; Schilling et al. (1998). Key adapted from FNA, SE, RAB, and Heiser et al. (1969).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: ASTERA
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Asteraceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Dumortier 1822 or COMPOSITAE Giseke 1792
FAMILY COMMON: Aster Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 1500-1700 genera and 20,000-25,000 species, shrubs, herbs, trees, and vines, cosmopolitan in distribution.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Cronquist (1980)=SE throughout family treatment.

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect, rhizomatous perennial of moist to dry woodlands, forests, and forest edges and clearings.
STEMS: Stems simple or branched at summit, mostly smooth, often with a whitish coating.
LEAVES: Leaves opposite, spreading horizontally, sessile, lance-shaped, 2-6 in. long, with 3 veins diverging from the base, entire or toothed, rough above or on both surfaces and lower surface soft-hairy.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Composite flowers (heads) in terminal clusters, 1 1/2-3 in. wide, consisting of 8-15 yellow ray florets encircling a center disk of darker yellow tubular florets. Overlapping, upwardly curving bracts surround the base of each head.
FRUITS: Fruit a dark brown to blackish, flattened, oval achene.
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 2-7 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Opposite
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Mixed
BLOOM TIME: Jun-Aug

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
				x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Yellow

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
				x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Dry forests, Moist forests, Woods margins
NATIVE RANGE: eastern North America

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: In late summer, Woodland Sunflower produces two-inch flowers borne on upright slender stems. Yellow rays surround a slightly darker yellow central disk. Its handsome green leaves have a sandpaper-like texture. This species is found in open rocky woods and along roadsides. It is quite drought-tolerant, once the plant’s root system has gotten established. Over time, this species spreads with creeping rhizomes to form colonies. The seeds of this handsome native sunflower are a great food source for birds.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 3
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 9
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly, Bird Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
281	HORT	2009-01-01	NCBG staff	View
1825	HORT	2006-10-01	Bryan	View
1857	HORT		Bryan	View
2164	NPMD	2019-08-13	Touloupas	View
2168	NPMD	2019-08-16	Touloupas	View
2173	NPMD	2019-08-19	Touloupas	View
2179	NPMD	2019-08-20	Touloupas	View
2186	NPMD	2019-08-28	Touloupas	View
2197	NPMD	2019-09-04	Touloupas	View
2210	NPMD	2019-09-09	Touloupas	View
2234	NPMD	2019-09-16	Touloupas	View
2541	NPMD	2021-10-13	Pil	View
2542	NPMD	2021-10-13	Boyette	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
276	2011-0132	2011-06-16	281	View
3986	1992-0142			View
5494	1995-0617			View
6124	1995-1255			View
9432	2021-0094	2021-06-30		View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
666	276	21	NCBG staff	2011-04-08	View
6314	3986	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
8008	5494	204	NCBG staff	1993-01-01	View
8779	6124	2	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
12746	9432	96	Briggs	2021-05-25	View
12973	0	198	MacIntyre	0000-00-00	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: HEDI2
USDA Common Name: Woodland Sunflower
Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, VT, WI, WV), CAN (ON, QC)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Helianthus divaricatus
COMMON NAME: Spreading Sunflower
SYNONYMY: [= C, FNA, G, Il, K, Pa, RAB, S, SE, Va, W, WH3, WV; > H. divaricatus var. angustifolius Kuntze - F; > H. divaricatus var. divaricatus - F]
PHENOLOGY: Jun-Aug.
HABITAT: Mesic to dry woodlands and forests, forest edges.
COMMENTS: ME, QC, ON, and IA south to Panhandle FL, LA, and OK.
RANGE MAP: Helianthus divaricatus.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Asteraceae Dumortier 1822 or COMPOSITAE Giseke 1792 (Aster Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 1500-1700 genera and 20,000-25,000 species, shrubs, herbs, trees, and vines, cosmopolitan in distribution.
REFERENCE: Cronquist (1980)=SE throughout family treatment.

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Helianthus L. (Sunflower)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 50 species, herbs, of North America.
REFERENCE: Schilling in FNA (2006c); Heiser et al. (1969); Cronquist (1980)=SE; Schilling et al. (1998). Key adapted from FNA, SE, RAB, and Heiser et al. (1969).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Helianthus divaricatus in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Helianthus divaricatus in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Helianthus divaricatus in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Helianthus divaricatus in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Helianthus divaricatus in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Helianthus divaricatus

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 29344 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 14772 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 29344 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)