SAWTOOTH SUNFLOWER
File Size: 92 KB
 
Helianthus grosseserratus  Martens
Riley County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 3-12 feet
Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family
Flowering Period:   August, September
Stems: Erect, simple or branching above, often purplish, glabrous and waxy below, appressed-hairy in inflorescence.
Leaves: Mostly alternate, simple, stalked, lanceolate, 4 to 12 inches long, 1 to 4 inches wide, rough above, soft-hairy below; margins sharply toothed to occasionally nearly entire; tips pointed.
Inflorescences: Heads, numerous, in loose, panicle-like clusters; heads 3 to 4 inches wide; bracts linear-lanceolate, slightly longer than disk, overlapping, loose and spreading.
Flowers: Ray florets 10-20, about 1.5 inch long, yellow; disk florets numerous, golden-yellow.
Fruits: Achenes, short, flattened, dark brown to black, tipped with 2 awns, enclosing small seed.
Habitat: Stream and wetland edges, open bottomlands, damp prairies, roadsides, and waste places.
Distribution: East 2/5 of Kansas.
Forage Value: Livestock will consume sawtooth sunflower.
Uses: Native Americans treated burns with a poultice made from the flowers.
Comments: Named for the conspicuous teeth along the leaf edges.

Sawtooth sunflower leaves
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Riley County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower inflorescences
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Riley County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower
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Riley County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower leaves
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Riley County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower
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Riley County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower leaves
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Riley County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower bracts
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Riley County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower
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Linn County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower
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Linn County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower leaf
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Linn County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower
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Leavenworth County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower inflorescence
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Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower inflorescence
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Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower inflorescences
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Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower habit
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Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower florets
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Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower habit
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Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower leaf
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Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower leaf
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Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower winter habit
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Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas
Sawtooth sunflower winter habit
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Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas