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Common Sneezeweed, Helenium autumnale Family: Aster (Asteraceae) Common names: bitterweed, common sneezeweed, false sunflower |
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Native Americans used sneezeweed as an infusion of roots given to prevent menstruation after childbirth, and an infusion of stems as a wash for fever. A winged stem bearing yellow, daisy-like flower heads with fan-shaped, drooping rays; disk flowers forming a conspicuous, greenish-yellow, ball-like structure at center of head. Flowers are 1-2" across; rays 3-lobed. Leaves: To 6" long, alternate, lanceolate, toothed, with bases forming winged extensions down stem. Height: 2 - 5 feet. Sneezeweed is native to, and widespread across North America. The common name comes from the former use of its dried leaves in making snuff, inhaled through the nostrils to cause sneezing. Habitat: wet meadows, thickets, swamps. Flowering time: August to November. The most common visitors to the flowers are long-tongued bees, including honeybees, bumblebees, Miner bees, and large Leaf-Cutting bees. Other visitors include wasps, butterflies, bee flies, and beetles. These insects seek nectar or collect pollen, although some beetles eat the pollen. The caterpillars of Papaipema rigida (Rigid Sunflower Borer Moth) bore through the stems and eat the pith. Mammalian herbivores usually don't feed on this plant because the foliage is toxic and bitter. There have been reports of severe poisoning for livestock that have consumed this plant, which produces such symptoms as congestion of the kidneys and liver, formation of necrotic areas in the lungs, and irritation of the digestive tract.
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