Index / Search / Helianthus nuttallii

§1 Plant — species · Asteraceae

Helianthus nuttallii Torr. & A. Gray

vernacular Nuttall's sunflower


USDA
HENU
GBIF
3119148
Rank
species
Nuttall's sunflower (Helianthus nuttallii)
Platephotograph · 2004 Brent MillerCC BY-NC-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Asteraceae Bercht. & J. Presl
Genus
Helianthus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Medium
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Medium
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
120 min.
Precipitation
12–20 in/yr
pH range
5.9–7.5
Root depth
14 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
10 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Summer
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
125,000
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 20 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/HENU ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3119148 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z