Ten-petalled Sunflower (Helianthus decapetalous). 
This is a slender stemmed, graceful, showy-flowered Sun¬ 
flower, common in damp woods and on the borders of 
thickets, from Me., Quebec and Minn, southwards. The 
branching stem grows from 2 to 5 feet tall; it is slightly 
hairy-rough on the upper portions but smooth below. 
The leaves are thin, rather rough-broad lance-shaped, 
short-stemmed and grow oppositely on the stem; they 
are all sharply saw-toothed. The showy flowers, grow¬ 
ing on slender peduncles from the ends of the branches, 
are 2 to 3 inches across. Though often with ten rays, 
they just as frequently have any number from 8 to 15. 
Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is the com¬ 
mon garden sunflower that often has such enormous 
heads. The normal, wild plant is common from Minn, 
to Texas and westward. The flower heads range from 
three to six inches in diameter; it is only the cultivated 
variety, produced from this, that has the mammoth 
heads we often see. 
In its wild state the plant grows from three to six 
feet tall. Their period of bloom is from July until Sept, 
l'J4 
