Asteraceae: Sunflower Family – Heliantheae (Sunflower) Tribe: miscellaneous

The Sunflower family is a very large family with over 25,000 members.  Botanists subdivide the family into a number of tribes, of which 14 are present in Monterey County.  One of these, the Heliantheae or Sunflower tribe, is further broken down into subtribes, of which 9 are present.  This page covers three of the smaller sub-tribes.

Beach Bur-sage / Beach Bur – Ambrosia chamissonis

Blooms:

Mar–Oct

Plant Height:

15–30 cm

Flower Size:

Small cluster

Origin:

Native

Habitat:

Coastal dunes

Notes:

This common plant has bluish-green leaves that are covered in fine gray hairs, quite variable in shape, and often deeply-lobed or finely divided.  It is monoecious: the small, yellow male flowers are in pendulous clusters on the upper part of the stem, while the female flowers are on the lower part of the stem, maturing into the sharp-spined burs which give the plant its common name.  For an easy ID, look for the two flower types on the spike.  Photos #1-2 by CJH.

Bur-sage, Beach
Bur-sage, Beach

Western / Common Ragweed – Ambrosia psilostachya

Blooms:

June–Nov

Plant Height:

0.3–2 m

Flower Size:

Medium cluster

Origin:

Native

Habitat:

Low, moist disturbed areas

Notes:

Unlike some other Ambrosias, this has fruits with no or few spines.  Leaves are coarsely toothed or pinnately lobed and covered in short stiff hairs.  The plant is monoecious; the small, yellow male flowers borne in compact, erect clusters on the upper part of the stem; the female flowers appearing  below.

Sneezeweed – Helenium puberulum

Blooms:

June–Aug

Plant Height:

50–160 cm

Flower Size:

Medium

Origin:

 

Native

Habitat:

By streams & seeps

Notes:

Fairly common, and immediately recognizable by its spherical head of disk flowers with a subtending fringe of ray flowers.  The ray flowers are folded back along the stem.  Disk flowers are yellow at the base, with tips ranging in color from yellow to purple.  Stems are long and strongly winged.  Leaves are oblong-elliptic to lanceolate, entire.  Photo #3 by CJH.

Sneezeweed
Sneezeweed

Fleshy Jaumea – Jaumea carnosa

Blooms:

May–Oct

Plant Height:

Trailing

Flower Size:

Small

Origin:

Native

Habitat:

Dunes & coastal marshes

Notes:

Found mainly by the coast, this has fleshy, linear to oblong or oblanceolate leaves.  Its small flower heads have narrow, well-separated ray flowers.  This plant is  “halophytic”, i.e. it tolerates salty water.  Photos #2-3 by CJH.

Jaumea, Fleshy
Jaumea, Fleshy

Cocklebur – Xanthium strumarium

Blooms:

July–Oct

Plant Height:

10–80 cm

Flower Size:

Small clusters

Origin:

Native

Habitat:

Seasonally wet places

Notes:

Variable in appearance, more easily recognized by its fruits than its flowers. The plant is monoecious; the male flowers appearing above the females, which mature into large (10–30+ mm) burs with many hooked spines. The leaves are broad, roundish to deltate.  Photo #2 by CJH.

Cocklebur-2