Helianthus winteri

Winter's sunflower

Family: Asteraceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Winter's sunflower is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native shrub found in southern Sierra Nevada Foothills on steep, south-facing grassy slopes and rock outcrops at elevations of 180 to 460 meters. Flowering all year, this plant produces yellow ray flowers up to 20 millimeters long surrounded by purple-edged, bristly green involucral bracts. Growing up to 4 meters tall with a thick woody taproot, it has a trunk up to 8 centimeters in diameter and young stems with a distinctive purplish-maroon color. Its alternating leaves are large and lanceolate to widely ovate, measuring 12 to 14 centimeters long with serrated margins and a base that is slightly truncate or heart-shaped. The fruit is approximately 3.5 millimeters long with dense, ascending hairs.

Habitat: Steep, south-facing grassy slopes, rock outcrops, road-cuts

Bloom period: All year

Elevation: 180-460 m

Bioregions: s SNF.

California counties: Fresno

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.