| Author | L. | |
| Distribution | Mountains, Piedmont, Sandhills (local), and several places in the Coastal Plain with Piedmont-like affinities (Cape Fear River, Island Creek in Craven County). The Dare County collection came from a roadside on Roanoke Island.
Que. to Ont. and IA, south to northern FL, LA, and OK. | |
| Abundance | Fairly common to locally common in the Mountains and Piedmont; can be locally abundant. Rare to locally uncommon in the western Coastal Plain and Sandhills, and very rare in the eastern portions. Usually forms patches via long horizontal rhizomes. | |
| Habitat | Dry to mesic soils of a variety of open woodlands and forests, such as oak-hickory-dogwood, especially openings and clearings; bean dips in Longleaf Pine-Wiregrass uplands (Sandhills); roadbanks, borders, and powerline clearings. | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting late June-August. | |
| Identification | The neatly-arranged pairs of long-triangular, rough-surfaced leaves (almost like sandpaper on the upper surface), coupled with the relatively small heads should clinch the identification. Plants mostly grow 1.5-3.5 feet tall and usually occur in dense patches or colonies. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
| |
| Other Common Name(s) | Rough Sunflower. Woodland Sunflower is a poor name, as it is no more a woodland species than a number of other sunflowers, because it mostly grows along forest borders like others. However, this is the most often used common name. | |
| State Rank | S5 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
