Helenium autumnale

File:Bloemknop van een Helenium autumnale. 20-08-2023. (d.j.b).jpg

Common sneezeweed is a perennial herb up to {{convert|130|cm|in ft|frac=3|abbr=on}} tall. In late summer and fall, one plant can produce as many as 100 yellow flower heads in a branching array. Each head has yellow 11–21 ray florets surrounding sometimes as many as 800 yellow disc florets.{{eFloras|1|220006159|Helenium autumnale |tribe=Heliantheae |first=Mark W. |last=Bierner |mode=cs2}}{{cite web |title=Common Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) |url=https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/wetland/plants/sneezeweed.htm |website=www.illinoiswildflowers.info}} Leaves are dark green, alternate, and lance-shaped. The Latin specific epithet autumnale is in reference to the plant's autumn flowering.{{Cite web|title=Helenium autumnale - Plant Finder|url=https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=c930|access-date=2022-01-14|website=www.missouribotanicalgarden.org}}

This plant is widespread across much of the United States and Canada, from Northwest Territories as far south as far northern California, Arizona, Louisiana, and Florida. It has not been found in southern or central California, or the 4 Atlantic Provinces of Canada.{{PLANTS |taxon=Helenium autumnale |symbol=HEAU |accessdate=2007-05-08 |mode=cs2}}{{BONAP|ref |genus=Helenium |species=autumnale |mode=cs2}}[http://bonap.net/MapGallery/State/Helenium%20autumnale.png Biota of North America Program 2014 state-level distribution map][http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=4026 Calflora taxon report, University of California, Helenium autumnale L., common sneezeweed ] It grows in moist, open areas along streams and ponds as well as wet meadows.{{Cite web|title=Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin|url=https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=heau|access-date=2022-01-14|website=www.wildflower.org}}

The flowers attract various pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and wasps. Because the plant is pollinated by insects, not wind pollinated, it does not cause seasonal allergies or sneezing, despite its common name.

Common sneezeweed is cultivated as a garden perennial. There are multiple named varieties varying in color and height. 'Pumilum Magnificum' is a yellow variety about two feet tall. 'Bruno', a reddish-brown cultivar, 'Kupfersprudel', which is yellow/orange, and 'Butterpat', which is golden, all grow {{convert|3|to|3.5|ft|cm|abbr=off}} tall. 'Chippersfield Orange' is up to {{convert|3|ft|disp=flip}} tall and is orange streaked with gold.{{citation|last=Crockett|first=James U.|authorlink=James Underwood Crockett|title=Perennials|place=New York|publisher=Time-Life Books|year=1972|edition=2}}

Only in small amounts, the plant has some health benefits. The dried nearly mature flower heads are used in a powdered form as a snuff to treat colds and headaches. When made into a tea they are used in the treatment of intestinal worms. The powdered leaves are sternutatory. An infusion of the leaves is laxative and alterative. An infusion of the stems has been used as a wash in the treatment of fevers. The plant contains helenalin, a compound that has shown significant anti-tumour activity.[https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Helenium+autumnale#:~:text=Medicinal%20Uses&text=The%20dried%20nearly%20mature%20flower,laxative%20and%20alterative%5B207%5D.]

The plant owes its name to the use of its dried leaves in snuff, the inhaling of which causes sneezing—supposedly casting out evil spirits.{{cite book |last1=Niering |first1=William A. |authorlink1=William Niering| last2=Olmstead |first2=Nancy C. |title=The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region |year=1985 |orig-year=1979|publisher=Knopf |isbn=0-394-50432-1 |page=383}}{{cite web |last1=Trull |first1=Sue |title=Plant of the Week: Common sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale L. var. autumnale) |url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/helenium_autumnale_autumnale.shtml |website=US Forestry Service |access-date=10 June 2024 |quote=The common name is based on historic use of the crushed dried leaves and heads to make a form of snuff that caused sneezing. In certain cultures and times, sneezing was regarded as a desirable way to rid the body of evil spirits or a way to loosen up a head cold, so that a sneeze-producing remedy was desirable.}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?609,1294,1296 Jepson Manual Treatment]
• [http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=C930 Kemper Center for Home Gardening] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100810054946/http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=C930 |date=2010-08-10 }}
• {{CalPhotos|Helenium|autumnale}}
• [http://www.tropicos.org/ImageFullView.aspx?imageid=89232 photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in Missouri in 2002]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1520938}}

autumnale

Category:Flora of Northern America

Category:Plants described in 1753

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus