''Helianthus eggertii'', known as Eggert's sunflower, is a North American species of flowering plants in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

. It is native to

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, and

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. It is best known as one of the few plants to have been delisted under the

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA or "The Act"; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of ec ...

because of the species' recovery. It was described by

John Kunkel Small John Kunkel Small (January 31, 1869 – January 20, 1938) was an American botanist. Born on January 31, 1869, in Harrisburg Pennsylvania, Kunkel studied botany at Franklin & Marshall College and Columbia University. He was the first Curator of ...

in 1903.

Description

''Helianthus eggertii'' may grow to over tall, with erect, hairless stems. The leaves are borne on the stem, mostly in opposite pairs. These leaves are

lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

ovate Ovate may refer to: *Ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, tepals, or other botanical parts *Ovate, a type of prehistoric stone hand axe *Ovates, one of three ranks of membership in the Welsh Gorsedd *Vates In modern English, the nouns vates () and ovat ...

, long by wide, narrowing towards the base. Each stem carries 1–5

flower head A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

s, each on a peduncle long. Each flower head is in diameter, with 30–38 lanceolate

phyllaries In botanical terminology, a phyllary, also known an involucral bract or tegule, is a single bract of the involucre of a composite flower. The involucre is the grouping of bracts together. Phyllaries are reduced leaf-like structures that form one or ...

around the base. The flower head is hemispherical, and contains 10–18 yellow

ray floret The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

s surrounding over 70

disc floret The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

s. ''Helianthus eggertii'' is very similar to the related species '' H. strumosus'' and '' H. laevigatus''. It differs from those species in that its stems are distinctively blue-colored, and its leaves have only one vein, rather than three veins, as is typical for the genus.

Distribution and ecology

''Helianthus eggertii'' is only found in the Interior Low Plateaus area of

, and

, where it lives in barren forest openings.

Conservation

''Helianthus eggertii'' was originally listed as an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

by the US federal government in 1997 under the

. A number of conservation measures were therefore instituted to protect the species. The mowing of roadside verges that contain ''H. eggertii'' is delayed until after November 15 each year to allow the plant to set seed before it is mown. Utility companies manage the woody brush under their power lines by mechanical pruning, rather than using

herbicide Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...

s, and this is also carried out late in the season. In 2005, ''H eggertii'' was delisted after research showed that although there were few populations of ''H. eggertii'', they were increasing in size. , ''H. eggertii'' is one of only four plant species to have been delisted under the Endangered Species Act as a result of the species' recovery; the others are '' Potentilla robbinsiana'' (Robbins' cinquefoil), '' Erigeron maguirei'' (Maguire daisy), and ''

Echinacea tennesseensis ''Echinacea tennesseensis'', also known as the Tennessee coneflower or Tennessee purple coneflower, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, endemic to the cedar glades of the central portion of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Description '' ...

'' (Tennessee purple coneflower).

Taxonomy

''Helianthus eggertii'' was first described by

in 1903 in his ''Flora of the Southeastern United States''. The type locality was given as "On rocky hills, Dickson County, Tennessee", and the

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

commemorated Henry Eggert, who had collected the plant in 1897.

References

External links

United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile for ''Helianthus eggertii''
including detailed distribution map
Photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in Tennessee in 1897, isotype of ''Helianthus eggertii''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q19848865 eggertii Endemic flora of the United States Flora of Alabama Flora of Kentucky Flora of South Carolina Flora of Tennessee Plants described in 1903 Taxa named by John Kunkel Small