Sunflower - Helianthus annuus
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Species Description
Widespread and fairly frequent casual throughout the UK but mostly in the South. Habitat includes: gardens, parks, allotments, fields, tips, wasteland, sewerage works etc. Growing habit: Annual. Height: Up to 3 m. Flowers: June to November. Introduced to Britain by 1596 and was first recorded in the wild in 1902.
Stace 4:
Helianthus annuus L. - Sunflower.
Annual; stems erect, to 3m, usually unbranched; capitula usually 1, with receptacle 2-30cm across; (2n=34). Neophyte-casual; grown as ornamental or on field-scale as oilseed or for gamebirds, common casual on tips and in waste places, also as birdseed-alien; throughout most of British Isles; North America.
Key:
- Plant annual, without rhizomes
- Phyllaries ovate, abruptly contracted to acuminate tip ; central receptacular scales inconspicuously pubescent