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Brundage, Stephanie

Helenium drummondii

Helenium drummondii H. Rock

Fringed Sneezeweed

Asteraceae (Aster Family)

Synonym(s): Helenium fimbriatum, Leptopoda fimbriata

USDA Symbol: HEDR2

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

Fringed Sneezeweed grows on slender, unbranched stems, about 2-3 feet tall. Leaves are alternate, thin and long, becoming mere bracts on the upper half of the plant. There is 1 flower head at the end of each stem, with 10-16 yellow ray flowers, 3/4-1 inch long and toothed on the end. The center or disc flowers are yellow and almost spherical. The large blossoms at the end of long, leafless stems attract the attention they deserve. They often grow in patches in damp, open areas.

The genus is thought to have been named by Linnaeus for Helen of Troy. The legend is that the flowers sprung up from the ground where her tears fell.

The species name of this plant is named for Thomas Drummond, (ca. 1790-1835), naturalist, born in Scotland, around 1790. In 1830 he made a trip to America to collect specimens from the western and southern United States. In March, 1833, he arrived at Velasco, Texas to begin his collecting work in that area. He spent twenty-one months working the area between Galveston Island and the Edwards Plateau, especially along the Brazos, Colorado, and Guadalupe rivers. His collections were the first made in Texas that were extensively distributed among the museums and scientific institutions of the world. He collected 750 species of plants and 150 specimens of birds. Drummond had hoped to make a complete botanical survey of Texas, but he died in Havana, Cuba, in 1835, while making a collecting tour of that island.

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