COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 481 
Means of control 
Prevent seed production by pulling or hoe-cutting when in first 
flower. In cultivatéd ground the weed is destroyed by the tillage 
of the crop. 
SNEEZEWEED 
Helénium autumndle, L. 
Other English names: Sneezewort, Staggerweed, Swamp Sunflower, 
False Sunflower, Yellow Star. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seed. 
Time of bloom: August to October. 
Seed-time: September to November. 
Range: Quebec to Manitoba and the Northwest Territory, south- 
ward to Florida, Texas, and Arizona. 
Habitat: Wet meadows, swamps, and along streams and ditches. 
The pollen from this plant, when inhaled, causes violent sneezing 
and the powdered flower-heads are used in medicine for that pur- 
pose. The weed is poisonous, acrid, and pungently bitter, the 
flowers especially so. Horses, cattle, 
and sheep are sometimes killed by it; 
with milch cows a few mouthfuls are 
sufficient to taint the dairy products. 
Animals usually avoid the plant, but 
it is said that if a little is eaten an ab- 
normal appetite is quickly formed, and 
then a sufficient quantity is taken to 
cause convulsions and death. 
Stems two to five feet tall, slender, 
very pale green, angled and winged, 
branching at the top. Leaves alternate, 
firm, oblong to elliptic, rather coarsely 
toothed, pointed at both ends, sessile 
and decurrent on the stems, forming 
narrow wings. Heads numerous, often 
nearly two inches broad, borne at the 
ends of many short branches at the 
top of the stem; rays drooping, wedge- yg, 334, — Sneezeweed 
shaped, three-toothed at’the tip, bright (Helenium autumnale). x }. 
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