LucasLand

The Wildflowers

Sneezeweed

Helenium autumnale

From North Creek Nurseries

Description
Our local native with bronze and mahogany single daisy-like flowers on stout branched stems in late summer. Petals have distinct tooth-like indentations; hence the common name, Dog-toothed Daisy. All sneezeweeds have three lobed petals which distiguish them from Rudbeckia and other yellow coneflowers. Brown, rust colored fruit appear in fall. Great for cut flowers and the avid butterfly

Habitat
H. autumnale can be found in moist fields, along river banks and in alluvial thickets. gardener. Quebec to Florida, BC to Arizona.

Culture
Easily grown in rich moist soils in the full sun. Soil needs to be kept watered. Propagate by seed or division every 2-3 years. Fertilize sparingly to reduce risk of weak stems. Plants may benefit from being cut back in early spring to encourage more branching and floriferous growth. Foliage should be cut back after flowering. May need staking. H. autumnale is best used in borders, meadows and wild gardens.
Container Cultivation
Grow in a mix with good drainage in full sun or light shade. Keep evenly moist, but not wet. Cut back in early June to promote branching and increase flower count. Fertilize sparingly to reduce risk of weak stems.

Additional Information
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Tonic, diaphoretic, and errhine. Reputed valuable in chills and fever and other febrile diseases. The whole plant possesses errhine properties, but the flowers, particularly the florets of the disk, are the most active, and may be used, in powder, as a snuff, in headache, incipient coryza, catarrh, deafness, and other affections where errhines are desired.

More from King's American Dispensatory

Botanical Source.—This plant, likewise called Swamp, or False sunflower, is an indigenous, perennial herb, having a fibrous root, and several erect, branching, angular stems, 2 or 3 feet high, and strongly winged by the decurrent leaves. The leaves are alternate, smooth, or slightly pubescent, elliptic-lanceolate, more or less deeply serrate, and often sprinkled with bitter and aromatic resinous globules. The flowers are large, numerous, bright yellow, terminal in loose, showy corymbs, with flat, drooping, wedge-shaped rays, each ending in 3 obtuse teeth, longer than the large, globose disk.

History and Chemical Composition.—Sneezewort is a plant common to the United States, growing in low, damp fields and meadows, and on alluvial river banks, flowering from August to October. It is nearly inodorous, with a rather acrimonious, amarous taste.

Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Tonic, diaphoretic, and errhine. Reputed valuable in chills and fever and other febrile diseases. The whole plant possesses errhine properties, but the flowers, particularly the florets of the disk, are the most active, and may be used, in powder, as a snuff, in headache, incipient coryza, catarrh, deafness, and other affections where errhines are desired.