Helenium autumnale is a North American species of poisonous[3] flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Common names include common sneezeweed and large-flowered sneezeweed.[4][5][6]
Description
Close-up of flower
Common sneezeweed is a perennial herb up to 130 cm (51+1⁄3 in; 4+1⁄3 ft) tall. In late summer and fall, one plant can produce as many as 100 yellow flower heads in a branching array. Each head has yellow 11–21 ray florets surrounding sometimes as many as 800 yellow disc florets.[7][8] Leaves are dark green, alternate, and lance-shaped. The Latin specific epithet autumnale is in reference to the plant's autumn flowering.[9]
The flowers attract various pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and wasps. Because the plant is pollinated by insects, not wind pollinated, it does not cause seasonal allergies or sneezing, despite its common name.[8]
Cultivation
Common sneezeweed is cultivated as a garden perennial. There are multiple named varieties varying in color and height. 'Pumilum Magnificum' is a yellow variety about two feet tall. 'Bruno', a reddish-brown cultivar, 'Kupfersprudel', which is yellow/orange, and 'Butterpat', which is golden, all grow 3 to 3.5 feet (91 to 107 centimetres) tall. 'Chippersfield Orange' is up to 0.91 metres (3 ft) tall and is orange streaked with gold.[15]
Uses
Health
Only in small amounts, the plant has some health benefits. The dried nearly mature flower heads are used in a powdered form as a snuff to treat colds and headaches. When made into a tea they are used in the treatment of intestinal worms. The powdered leaves are sternutatory. An infusion of the leaves is laxative and alterative. An infusion of the stems has been used as a wash in the treatment of fevers. The plant contains helenalin, a compound that has shown significant anti-tumour activity.[1]
Folk remedies
The plant owes its name to the use of its dried leaves in snuff, the inhaling of which causes sneezing—supposedly casting out evil spirits.[16][17]
^Wilkinson, Kathleen (1999), Wildflowers of Alberta A Guide to Common Wildflowers and Other Herbaceous Plants, Edmonton, Alberta: Lone Pine Publishing and University of Alberta, p. 112, ISBN0-88864-298-9
^Vance, F R; J.R. Rowsey, J.S. Maclean and F.A. Switzer (1999), Wildflowers across the prairies: With a new section on Grasses, sedges and rushes, Vancouver, British Columbia: Western Producer Prairie Books, p. 299, ISBN1-55054-703-8
^Niering, William A.; Olmstead, Nancy C. (1985) [1979]. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region. Knopf. p. 383. ISBN0-394-50432-1.
^Trull, Sue. "Plant of the Week: Common sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale L. var. autumnale)". US Forestry Service. Retrieved 10 June 2024. The common name is based on historic use of the crushed dried leaves and heads to make a form of snuff that caused sneezing. In certain cultures and times, sneezing was regarded as a desirable way to rid the body of evil spirits or a way to loosen up a head cold, so that a sneeze-producing remedy was desirable.
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