Hairy sunflower

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Hairy sunflower leaves

Hairy sunflower florets

Hairy sunflower

Hairy sunflower stem

Hairy sunflower

Hairy sunflower inflorescence

Hairy sunflower leaf

Hairy sunflower

Hairy sunflower

Hairy sunflower bracts

Hairy sunflower leaf

Hairy sunflower leaves

Hairy sunflower phyllaries

Hairy sunflower habit

Hairy sunflower leaves

Morphology

Stem

Erect, usually solitary, simple or few-branched upward, stiff-hairy, sometimes nearly glabrous near base.

Leaves

Mostly opposite or uppermost sometimes alternate, short-stalked, divergent or ascending, thick, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 2.8 to 7.2 inches long, .6 to 2.4 inches wide, not folded longitudinally; surfaces stiff-hairy, upper surface rough; veins 3, 2 lateral veins branching upward from central vein near base of blade; margins toothed to rarely entire; tip tapering to sharp point; base rounded or contracted.

Inflorescence

Heads, to 3 inches across, 1 to several, terminal or appearing as open cluster; stalks short, stout; bracts in 3 or 4 nearly equal, overlapping series, narrowly linear-lanceolate to lanceolate; tips ascending to spreading or recurved, tapering to slender, sharp points; margins fringed with short hairs.

Flower

Ray florets 10-15, .6 to 1.2 inch long, yellow, outer surface minutely pubescent; disk florets yellow, 1/5 to 1/4 inch long; chaffy bracts shallowly 3-toothed, pubescent at tips.

Fruit

Achene, wedge-shaped to egg-shaped, 1.6 inch long, somewhat flattened, brown, glabrous, tipped with 2 lanceolate to narrowly triangular scales that taper to awn-like tips, enclosing small seed.

Ecology

Habitat

Rocky or dry open woods, thickets, roadsides, sand prairies, banks of streams, disturbed areas.

Distribution

Principally east 2/5 of Kansas.

Practical Information

Uses

White-tailed deer eat the heads.

Additional Notes