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• Helenium autumnale

Helenium autumnale — fall sneezeweed

Facts

Heavily-winged stems and solid yellow flower heads make this native perennial easy to identify in the field. Fall sneezeweed pollen does not cause allergic reactions, as the name might suggest. Rather, a dried powder of the plant was used as a snuff by the Cherokee and other Native Americans to induce sneezing to relieve congestion or headaches.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields, shores of rivers or lakes

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bract cycle number

  • there are three or more cycles of bracts
  • there are two main cycles of bracts
  • there is one main cycle of bracts

  Bract inner side hairs

  • the bracts are hairy on their inner surfaces
  • the bracts are not hairy on their inner surfaces

  Bract outer side hair type

  the bracts are hairy, with simple hairs on their outer surface

  Bract outer side hairs

  the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract separation

  • at least some flower heads have bracts connected to one another at or near their bases
  • the bracts appear completely unconnected to one another on all flower heads

  Bract spines

  the bracts have no spines

  Bract texture

  the bracts have a similar texture to a leaf

  Bract tip orientation

  the tips of the bracts curve outwards and downwards from the plant

  Bracts

  the bracts in separate cycles are similar or gradually changing from the outer to inner cycles

  Disk flower color

  • green to brown
  • yellow

  Disk flower number

  more than 50

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  the disk flower has both pollen- and seed-producing parts

  Disk width

  8–20 mm

  Flower head number

  • each flowering stem has four or more flower heads on it
  • each flowering stem has only one to three flower heads on it

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, each flower has a single enlarged lobe or strap

  Flower head platform

  the base has no bristles or papery scales

  Flower head profile

  • the disk is conical across the top
  • the disk is rounded across the top

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has tubular disk flowers in the center and ray flowers, these often strap-shaped, around the periphery

  Height of flower head base

  8–20 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  the inflorescence is not flat-topped but appears rounded, with some flower heads distinctly higher than others

  Ovary cross-section

  • the ovary has five or more corners in cross-section
  • the ovary is roughly square or with four corners

  Ovary hair type

  the ovary has hairs on it, but the hairs have no glands

  Ovary hairs

  the ovary has hairs on it

  Ovary lines or ribs

  there are four to six lines or ribs visible on the ovary

  Peduncle length

  20–60 mm

  Ray flower color

  yellow

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  the ray flowers have carpels or stamens, but not both

  Ray flowers

  • 11-15
  • 16-25

  Ray length

  15–25 mm

  Reproductive system

  some of the flowers on the plant have only carpels or stamens, while others have both carpels and stamens

  Smaller bracts at base of bracts

  there is a cycle of much smaller bracts outside the cycle of larger and longer bracts

  Style branch number

  the style has two branches

  Style branches

  the style branch is wider at the tip and has a flattened end, or the style branches are wider at the tips and have flattened ends

• Fruits or seeds

  Number of pappus parts

  • 10
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  1–2 mm

  Seed hair tuft details

  NA

  Seed hair tuft length

  Up to 1 mm

  Seed hair tuft tips

  NA

  Seed hairs uniform

  NA

  Seed tuft scale number

  5–10

  Seed tuft type

  • the pappus is made of flat scales that are not split or frayed at the tips
  • the pappus is made of stiff, tapering bristles

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  there is no plume, or the plume is made up of scales, awns, a crown, or a rim

• Glands or sap

  Bract resin

  the bracts have resin or resin glands

  Leaf blade glands

  the leaf blades have glandular (translucent) dots or scales

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  the plant is perennial, it shows evidence of previous year's leaves, stems or stem bases

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  there are only slender roots on the plant

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  • the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Leaf blade base

  the leaf has no petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow

  Leaf blade edges

  the edge of the leaf blade has teeth

  Leaf blade hairs

  the leaf blade has simple hairs with no glands, and not tangled or wooly

  Leaf blade length

  40–150 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)
  • the leaf blade is oblanceolate (lance-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)
  • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)

  Leaf blade tip

  the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)

  Leaf blade width

  5–40 mm

  Leaf disposition

  the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem

  Leaf spines

  there are no spines on the leaf edges

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have no leaf stalks, but attach directly to the stem

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

• Place

  Habitat

  • terrestrial
  • wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields
  • shores of rivers or lakes

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem internode hair direction

  the hairs point mostly upwards to outwards

  Stem internode hair type

  the hairs on the stem are plain, without glands or branches, and not tangled

  Stem internode hairs

  the stem has hairs between the nodes

  Stem wings

  the stem has wings on it that run down the stem from the leaf nodes

Wetland status

Usually occurs in wetlands, but occasionally in non-wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACW)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae