Bigelow sneezeweed as dominant flower in a mountain meadow

Helenium bigelovii is a North American perennial plant in the sunflower family, commonly known as Bigelow's sneezeweed.[2] It grows in moist areas such as meadows, marshes, or streamsides. It is found at moderate and higher elevations (3000–10,000 ft) in the foothills and mountains of California and Oregon: Cascades, Coast Ranges, Klamath Mountains, Sierra Nevada, etc.[3][4][5] Cultivars of the species are used in gardening as ornamentals.

Helenium bigelovii is a perennial herb sometimes as much as 130 cm (51 in; 4.5 ft) tall. One plant can produce as many as 20 flower heads, either one per branch or in branching arrays. Each head has 14-20 yellow ray florets (bending backwards and with teeth at the tips) surrounding sometimes as many as 800 disc florets (yellow at first, turning brown as they get older).[2][6][7][8]

The species is named for J.M. Bigelow, a plant collector on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey in the 1850s.

References

  1. ^ The Plant List, Helenium bigelovii A. Gray
  2. ^ a b Sierra Nevada Wildflowers, Karen Wiese, 2nd Ed., 2013, p. 116
  3. ^ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  4. ^ Calflora taxon report, University of California, Helenium bigelovii A. Gray Bigelow's sneezeweed, Sneezeweed
  5. ^ Turner Photographics, Helenium bigelovii - Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest
  6. ^ Flora of North America, Helenium bigelovii Torrey & A. Gray, 1857. Bigelow’s sneezeweed
  7. ^ Laird R. Blackwell, Wildflowers of the Sierra Nevada and the Central Valley, Lone Pine Publishing, 1998.
  8. ^ Norman F. Weeden, A Sierra Nevada Flora, 4th Ed., Wilderness Press, 1996.

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