Helianthus debilis Nutt.
Vernacular name: Beach Sunflower, Dune Sunflower
Species Name: Helianthus debilis Nutt.
Family: Asteraceae
Habit: Annual or short-lived perennial herb; often prostrate to spreading.
Stem: Branched, decumbent to ascending, succulent to slightly pubescent, rooting at lower nodes.
Leaf: Alternate (lower sometimes opposite), ovate to deltoid, 2–8 × 1–6 cm, petiolate, margins entire to serrate, surface sparsely hairy.
Flowering: Throughout warm seasons; chiefly spring–autumn.
Flowers: Capitula solitary on long peduncles; ray florets 8–20, yellow to orange-yellow, pistillate; disc florets numerous, reddish-brown to purplish, bisexual; involucre of several series of phyllaries; ovary inferior.
Fruit: Cypsela (achene), compressed, 3–5 mm long, usually lacking a conspicuous pappus.
Uses
- Skin protection, wound healing and pain reliever. It is also used to treat chest pain, rheumatism, pulmonary and kidney problems.
- It is a drought tolerant and salt-resistant plant used for restoration of dunes.
- It is also used as an ornamental flower.
- Flower provides nector to pollinators while seed is used as food by birds.
- Seeds are used to extract oil used in cooking, paint, soaps, candles and cosmetic industry.
