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Name That Plant!

Helianthus? Heliopsis?

crumblegreen Zone 6b MA

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Growing on a lakeshore in eastern Massachusetts (but it was probably planted rather than being a natural part of the habitat). Getting on for 5 ft tall. I'm dithering between Helianthus tuberosus and Heliopsis helianthoides, though it could certainly be something else entirely. Help appreciated, thanks!

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Comments (5)

macranthos
8 years ago
Aren't Heliopsis opposite and Helianthus alternate? I can't quite tell from your picture but it looks opposite to me...
crumblegreen Zone 6b MA
Original Author
8 years ago
The leaves are opposite (sorry I didn't manage to get that in the pic). However, from what I've read, both Helianthus and Heliopsis can have opposite leaves.
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I have all 3 of these and they are not at all similar. Helianthus 'lemon queen' gets huge, blooms for a month or 2, and has pretty light yellow flowers. Also spreads like crazy by rhizomes. Helenium mardi gras has a marble of color, but predominantly orange in the blooms, and has the prominent helenium cone in the middle. These are both beautiful plants, but this year they aborted most of their blooms in the drought (we had watering restrictions, and my gardens are just too large to water everything well). Heliopsis summer sun is blooming machine! Very long bloom season and cheery medium yellow semi-double blooms. Although it did get a bit more water than the other two because of where it's growing, Heliopsis helianthoides is much more drought tolerant than Helenium autumnale, which is more of a wetland species.
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ghoghunter
8 years ago
My Heliopsis have opposite leaves and more petals than the flower you are holding. Mine have at least 14-16 petals. Not sure if varieties would vary in petal number or not. The stems of mine also have a sort of reddish tinge to them.
jekeesl (south-central Arkansas)
8 years ago
Heliopsis are typically 30-60 inches tall, sometimes shorter. They are supposed to have 10-18 ray florets, but I've seen them with as few as 5. What I can see of the phyllaries and leaves looks more like Heliopsis than Helianthus. Also, Heliopsis ray flowers have a style and stigma, while Helianthus rays lack both. I'm pretty sure that your flower is a Heliopsis.
crumblegreen Zone 6b MA
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Thanks everyone, especially jekeesl for that info about specific differences to look for. I'm going to check the ray flowers on Tuesday, and that should confirm the ID.

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