Helenium amarum is a species of annual herb in the daisy family known by the common names yellowdicks, yellow sneezeweed, fiveleaf sneezeweed, and bitter sneezeweed. It is native to much of the south-central United States (Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico)[4] and northern Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila),[5] and it is present elsewhere in North America, Australia, and the West Indies as an introduced species.[4][6][7][8]
| Helenium amarum | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Genus: | Helenium |
| Species: | H. amarum
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| Binomial name | |
| Helenium amarum | |
| Synonyms[2][3] | |
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Helenium amarum is a multibranched bushy erect plant reaching 20 to 70 centimeters (8-28 inches) in height and thickly foliated in narrow to threadlike leaves. The tops of stem branches hold inflorescences of many daisy-like flower heads. Each head has a rounded center of sometimes as many as 250 golden yellow disc florets and a fringe of 8-10 usually lighter yellow ray florets which are reflexed away from the center. The fruit is a tiny achene about a millimeter long. This herb is weedy in some areas.[5]
The plant is somewhat toxic to mammals[9] and insects[10] due to the presence of the lactone tenulin.
References
edit- ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org.
- ^ a b "Helenium amarum". The Plant List. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
- ^ "Gaillardia amara". Tropicos. Missouri Botanical Garden.
- ^ a b "Helenium amarum". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
- ^ a b c Bierner, Mark W. (2006). "Helenium amarum". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 21. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
- ^ Turner, B. L. 2013. The comps of Mexico. A systematic account of the family Asteraceae (chapter 11: tribe Helenieae). Phytologia Memoirs 16: 1–100.
- ^ Tropicos, specimen listing for Helenium amarum (Raf.) H. Rock
- ^ Queensland Government, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Bitter weed (Helenium amarum)
- ^ Ivie, G. W., et al. (1975). Toxicity and milk bittering properties of tenulin, the major sesquiterpene lactone constituent of Helenium amarum (bitter sneezeweed). J Agric Food Chem 23:5 845-9.
- ^ Arnason, J. T., et al. (1987). Mode of action of the sesquiterpene lactone, tenulin, from Helenium amarum against herbivorous insects. J Nat Prod 50:4 690-5.
External links
edit- Jepson Manual Treatment
- United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile
- Calphotos Photo gallery, University of California
- Photo of herbaruim specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in Mississippi in 2007
- Illinois Wildflowers
- Go Botany, New England Wildflower Society
- Discover Life
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