Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Account for Maximilian Sunflower - Helianthus maximilianii   Schrader
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AuthorSchrader
DistributionMostly in the Piedmont and low Mountains; disjunct to Johnston County in the lower Piedmont. First collected in 1942 in Forsyth County. Other specimens from Johnston, Macon, and Randolph counties are misidentified.

Native of the prairies and plains of the U.S. and southern Canada.
AbundanceRare to locally uncommon.
HabitatField, fallow field, fencerow, roadside ditch, woodland border, waste place.
PhenologyFlowering and fruiting September-October.
IdentificationMaximilian Sunflower should not present identification problems. It grows 2-9 feet tall, with long, attenuate, lance-shaped leaves that tend to fold along the midrib (especially when pressed). The leaves also tend to be curved downward along the midrib (falcate) and thus arc downward, and they have poorly developed teeth on the margins. Involucral bracts are narrow and long-attenuate. The inflorescence is typically quite tall yet narrow.
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State RankSE
Global RankG5
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