Dig into Plants: False Sunflower

False Sunflower Other Common Names: Smooth Oxeye, Oxeye Sunflower, Eastern Oxeye, Eastern Sunflower Everlasting, Early Sunflower, Smooth Sunflower, Oxeye Daisy Scientific Name: Heliopsis helianthoides Native to Alabama: Yes
	Click on image to enlarge it

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Basic Plant Information
Click on image to enlarge it	I am a vascular plant with no woody stems above ground, so I am herbaceous. I do not keep leaves year-round, so I am deciduous. I die back in winter but regrow in spring for many seasons, so I am perennial. I can grow 3 - 6 feet high and up to 4 feet wide.

Ecological Benefits

Maintenance Notes
Dormant in winter. Flowers can be cut for an indoor vase. Plant stems may be cut back by 1/3 to 1/2 in late May to reduce overall plant height. Taller plants may need staking or other support. Leave standing dead flowers into the winter as natural bird feeders. Some susceptibility to aphids.
May spread widely and has the tendency to become weedy in landscape settings. When watering, hold hose to base of plant for a count of 5 seconds. Water should reach all roots. Avoid sprinkling water on the leaves. Requires average amount of water.
Average watering: water two times per week during the summer and once per week during the rest of the year.

Habitat Requirements

This plant prefers:
Full Sun (6+ hours of sun per day) Part Sun/ Shade (2-6 hours of sun per day)	Prefers average watering	Well-drained, Sandy, Loamy, Clay, or Moist Soil

Leaf, Flower & Seed Identification

LEAF DESCRIPTION				Click on image to enlarge it
Leaf Characteristics Chart (PDF)

Shape: Linear	Margin: Entire/Smooth	Arrangement: Opposite	Form: Simple


Description:
Light to dark green; pointed; up to 4.5 inches long and 3 inches wide; sandpaper-like surface; hairy stem


FLOWER DESCRIPTION			Click on image to enlarge it
Flower Shapes Chart (JPG)

Color: Yellow/ Gold/ Copper/ Orange	Shape: Radiate/Ligulate	Bloom Months: May-Oct

Description:
Resembles daisy; yellow flower heads are 2-3 inches wide and are made of 7-20 yellow-orange ray florets (narrow, petal-like, infertile florets that surround the disk) and yellow disc florets (tubular, fertile florets that forms disk) that form a spiny central cone; unlike true sunflowers, rays of the false sunflower persist on the flower heads while the rays of true sunflowers wither and fall away


SEED DESCRIPTION			Click on image to enlarge it

Type: Fruit - Dry Seed Pod	Description: Fruit is often incorrectly referred to as an achene, but it is a cypsela; seed is small and dark, less than 1cm long	Months in Seed: Aug-Nov

Plant spreads by:
Seeds Clump-forming; will self-seed if not deadheaded before dispersal

Plant Life Cycle
Plant Life Cycle: All plants start life as a seed. The seed turns into a sprout when it grows roots. The sprout becomes a seedling as grows a stem and leaves above the ground. After the seedling becomes an adult plant it will grow flowers. After the flowers finish blooming, each flower turns into a seed. When the seeds fall down to the ground, the plant life cycle starts again. Each seed can become a plant if it has the food, water and space that it needs to grow.
	General Plant Life Cycle - Dreamstime Click on image to enlarge it

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS

Quick Fact Sheet
(Condensed Species Info)

Plant ID Sign:
Ready as-is PDF

Plant ID Sign:
Editable Word Doc

QR Code
(Links to this Webpage)

INFORMATION SOURCES FOR THIS PLANT

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's Plant Database		USDA Plants Database
Alabama Plant Atlas		Missouri Botanical Gardens
North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox		Minnesota Wildlflowers

Alabama Outdoor Classroom Conservation Education Programs