Tag: sunflowers

vandaliatraveler:

Appalachian Summer, 2018, Volume Thirty-Four: Sunflower. Growing in full sun to part shade in a variety of habitats – in open woodlands, floodplain forests, and thickets and along forest margins and roadsides – sunflowers (Helianthus) add a lovely yellow pop of color to the dull greens of Appalachia’s summer foliage. Over a dozen sunflower species inhabit Appalachia’s woods, and where their ranges overlap, interspecific hybridization complicates identification. A good basic guide to identification can be found here. But all species of this clumping, perennial herb share certain basic characteristics in common, including composite flowerheads consisting of yellow ray florets surrounding a gold to reddish-brown central crown of tubular disk flowers. Although the common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is most valued and familiar as a commercial crop, many species of sunflowers have long been used for medicinal and culinary purposes. In fact, widespread use of sunflowers for medicine and food by Native American tribes has made it difficult to determine the original ranges of some species and has contributed to their naturalization in areas outside of their native ranges. The sunflower species most often found in North-Central West Virginia include: woodland sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus); thinleaf sunflower (Helianthus decapetalus); hairy sunflower (Helianthus hirsutus); pale-leaved sunflower (Helianthus strumosus); giant sunflower (Helianthus giganteus); and Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus).