Smooth Oxeye (Heliopsis helianthoides): yellow Minnesota wildflowers

Smooth Oxeye

Plant Info
Also known as:	Common Ox-eye, False Sunflower, Sunflower Heliopsis
Scientific name:	Heliopsis helianthoides
Family:	Aster (Asteraceae)
Life cycle:	perennial
Origin:	native
Habitat:	sun to part shade; prairies, along roads, railroads, edges of woods, thickets
Bloom season:	late spring through summer
Plant height:	2 to 6 feet
USDA PLANTS database:	Minnesota county distribution map
Spotted in Ramsey County at:	Long Lake Regional Park Rice Creek Trail Corridor Vadnais/Snail Lake Regional Park

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Detailed Information

Flower:: Sunflower type flowers 1½ to 3½ inches across, with pale yellow to orange-yellow petals (ray flowers) and a golden yellow to brownish cone-shaped center disk. The number of petals can vary greatly from flower to flower. Each flower is at the end of a naked stem that branches off the top of the plant.
There are 2 rows of bracts behind the flower, though it may appear to be a single row. The bracts alternate with the inner row short and the outer row longer. The bracts on the inner row usually have pointed tips; those on the outer row are broader and often have rounded tips but may be pointed.
Leaves and stem:: Leaves are up to 4½ inches long and 3 inches wide, somewhat egg-shaped, tapering to a pointed tip, with coarsely toothed to serrated edges and a leaf stem to about 1 inch long. The color ranges from bright green to dark green. The texture is very rough and the edges can be wavy. The main stem is also very rough.
Notes:: The easiest way to identify this plant is by the bracts. Look for the alternating long and short bracts. In most field guides and other web sites that describe this plant say it grows up to 5 feet tall. The plants growing around Sucker Lake are closer to 6 feet tall, but that seems uncommon. Smooth Oxeye is not a true sunflower. The disk flowers of true sunflowers are sterile, but are fertile in this plant. This plant has one of the longest blooming periods, with the first blooms appearing by mid-June and the last dying out around the end of September. It does better in moist soils than dry.