About Helenium elegans DC.
Helenium elegans DC., commonly called pretty sneezeweed, is a species in the sunflower family native to the south-central United States and northeastern Mexico. It is an annual herb that can grow up to 120 cm (4 feet) tall. Its stems are winged, with flaps of tissue running along their sides. A single plant can produce 200 or more small flower heads arranged in branching clusters. Each flower head is nearly spherical, and is almost entirely covered by up to 700 disc florets; each disc floret is yellow near its base and brown toward its tip. The flower heads also have between 1 and 17 ray florets, which can be either yellow or brown. This species grows along streambanks and in ditches. Two varieties are recognized: Helenium elegans var. amphibolum (A.Gray) Bierner, found in Texas, Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, and Tamaulipas; and Helenium elegans var. elegans, found in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
