Sunflower, Maxmillan

Best grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates a wide range of soils, including poor sandy soils, humusy loams and clays. Tolerates dry soils and drought. Easily grown from seed and may self-seed in the garden. Helianthus maximiliani, commonly called Maximilian sunflower, is native to the Great Plains and former tall grass prairie regions of central North America. In Missouri, it is typically found today in dry open areas such as prairies, bald knobs, bluffs, limestone glades, roadsides and waste areas (Steyermark). Features 2-3” diameter sunflowers with yellow rays and darker yellow center disks from mid-summer into fall. Flowers appear on short stalks in the upper leaf axils in an elongated raceme-like inflorescence atop rigid hairy stems rising to as much as 10’ tall. Stems are clad with rough, narrow, tapered, grayish-green leaves (3-6” long), frequently folded lengthwise.