July-September, Quebec to Montana, and southward to the Gulf of
Mexico.
TALL or GIANT SUNFLOWER
(Heliainthus giganteus) Thistle family
Flower-heads - Several, on long, rough-hairy peduncles; 1 1/2 to
2 1/4 in. broad; 10 to 20 pale yellow neutral rays around a
yellowish disk whose florets are perfect, fertile. Stem: 3 to 12
ft. tall, bristly-hairy, usually branching above, often reddish
from a perennial, fleshy root. Leaves: Rough, firm, lance-shaped,
saw-toothed, sessile.
Preferred Habitat - Low ground, wet meadows, swamps. Flowering
Season - August-October.
Distribution - Maine to Nebraska and the Northwest Territory,
south to the Gulf of Mexico.
To how many sun-shaped golden disks with outflashing rays might
not the generic name of this clan (helios = the sun, anthos = a
flower) be as fittingly applied: from midsummer till frost the
earth seems given up to floral counterparts of his worshipful
majesty. If, as we are told, one-ninth of all flowering plants in
the world belong to the composite order, of which over sixteen
hundred species are found in North America north of Mexico,
surely over half this number are made up after the daisy pattern
(q.
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