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§1 Plant

Helianthus annuus L.

vernacular common sunflower — species · Asteraceae

USDA
HEAN3
GBIF
9206251
Rank
species
common sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
Platephotograph · Emily SchererCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Annual
Group
Dicot
Family
Asteraceae Bercht. & J. Presl
Genus
Helianthus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Introduced
  • CAN Canada Introduced
  • HI Hawaii Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
  • PR Puerto Rico Introduced
  • SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Introduced
§2b

County-level range

· 1,148 counties across 48 states/territories
Legend Native · 1145 Introduced · 3 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
None
Salinity
Medium
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
52 °F minimum
Frost-free days
80 min.
Precipitation
12–60 in/yr
pH range
5.5–7.8
Root depth
8 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Crown
Growth rate
Rapid
Mature height
9 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Moderate
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Blue
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Summer
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
46,919
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
Medium
Palatable, human
Yes
Protein potential
Medium
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1,148 counties across 48 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Alaska view state ↗ 2 I ▾
Arizona view state ↗ 15 N ▾
Arkansas view state ↗ 27 N ▾
California view state ↗ 40 N ▾
Colorado view state ↗ 31 N ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 1 N ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Florida view state ↗ 16 N ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Hawaii view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Idaho view state ↗ 28 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 74 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 22 N ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 20 N ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 105 N ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 21 N ▾
Louisiana view state ↗ 30 N ▾
Maine view state ↗ 8 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 34 N ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 23 N ▾
Mississippi view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 46 N ▾
Montana view state ↗ 35 N ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 41 N ▾
Nevada view state ↗ 13 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 5 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 10 N ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 28 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 14 N ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 12 N ▾
North Dakota view state ↗ 37 N ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 28 N ▾
Oklahoma view state ↗ 30 N ▾
Oregon view state ↗ 19 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 20 N ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 3 N ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 13 N ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 38 N ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 20 N ▾
Texas view state ↗ 130 N ▾
Utah view state ↗ 29 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Washington view state ↗ 17 N ▾
West Virginia view state ↗ 8 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 6 N ▾
Wyoming view state ↗ 19 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/HEAN3 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/9206251 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z