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Serpentine Sunflower
Helianthus exilis
  
About Serpentine Sunflower (Helianthus exilis) 1 Nurseries Carry This Plant Helianthus exilis is a species of sunflower known by the common name serpentine sunflower. It is native to northern California (from Siskiyou County south to Napa County and Nevada County), where it grows mainly in mountainous areas, often in serpentine soils. Helianthus exilis is an erect annual reaching heights over a meter (40 inches)). It has a hairy, rough stem with leaves lance- or oval-shaped, usually pointed, sometimes serrated along the edges, and 3 to 15 centimeters (1. 2-6. 0 inches) long. The inflorescence holds one or more flower heads, and each plant may have many inflorescences growing along the full length of the stem. The flower head has a cup of long, pointed phyllaries holding an array of bright yellow ray florets each one to two centimeters (0. 4-0. 8 inches) long around a center of yellow to dark purple or reddish disc florets. The achene is 3 to 5 millimeters (0. 12-0. 20 inches) long.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Annual Herb

Size
Size
3.3 ft tall

Flower Color
Flower Color
Yellow

Wildlife Supported
 


 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 15 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun

Nurseries
Nurseries

Common uses
Common uses
Bird Gardens, Bee Gardens

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Moist places,

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 24.9" - 79.4", Summer Precipitation: 0.40" - 1.92", Coldest Month: 31.9" - 47.5", Hottest Month: 60.5" - 73.0", Humidity: 0.38" - 23.36", Elevation: 751" - 5016"


Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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