North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Helianthus giganteus

Helianthus giganteus L.

giant sunflower, tuberous sunflower

Synonym(s): Helianthus alienus, Helianthus borealis, Helianthus giganteus ssp. alienus, Helianthus giganteus var. subtuberosus, Helianthus nuttallii var. subtuberosus, Helianthus subtuberosus, Helianthus validus
Cultivar(s): Shelia's Sunshine

Image ID: 20988
Image by: Cressler, Alan M.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: HEGI
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Helianthus giganteus
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2017-12-13

CULTIVAR INDEX

Cult_id	Cultivar_name	Action
1675	Shelia's Sunshine	View

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 bog edges, moist thickets and ditches.
STEMS: Stems branching in upper 1/3, green or reddish-purple, rough-hairy.
LEAVES: Leaves mostly alternate, petiolate, lance-shaped, 2-8 in. long, pinnately veined, with toothed or nearly smooth margins, rough-hairy above and soft-hairy beneath.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Composite flowers (heads) several in loose clusters; heads 2-3 in. wide, consisting of 10-20 yellow ray florets encircling a center disk of darker yellow tubular florets. Spreading and overlapping hairy, long, narrow bracts surround the base of each head.
FRUITS: Fruit a blackish or mottled-brown, flattened, oblong achene.
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 2-10 ft. (occasionally up to 13 ft.)

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Mixed
BLOOM TIME: Late Jul-Oct

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: Bogs/pocosins, Disturbed
NATIVE RANGE:

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average, Moist/Wet
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
122	2012-0096	2012-11-15	123	View

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
123	HORT		Liloia	View
2092	NPMD	2020-10-23	Adams	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
226	122	31	Mixon	2012-10-01	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: HEGI
USDA Common Name: Giant Sunflower
Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, VA, VT, WI, WV), CAN (AB, MB, NB, NF, NS, ON, QC)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FACW				FACW	FAC		FACW	FACW

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Helianthus giganteus
COMMON NAME: Tuberous Sunflower, Swamp Sunflower
SYNONYMY: [= C, F, FNA, G, GW, Il, K, Pa, RAB, S, SE, Va, W, WV; > H. giganteus - S; > H. alienus E.E. Watson - S; > H. validus E.E. Watson - S]
PHENOLOGY: Late Jul-Oct.
HABITAT: Bog edges, moist thickets, ditches.
COMMENTS: NB and ME west to MN, south to n. SC, n. GA, e. and c. TN, c. KY, n. IN, n. IL, and WI.
RANGE MAP: Helianthus giganteus.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 giganteus in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Helianthus giganteus in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

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

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 20988 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 20988 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 20988 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)