Helianthella quinquenervis
Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands, streamsides. Summer.
Kilpacker Trail, July 8, 2004.

Helianthella quinquenervis, sometimes growing to an eye-catching four feet tall, is common, but scattered, in woodlands from the Aspen belt to the subalpine. Its bright yellow flowers are up to four inches in diameter, and its leaves are long and strap like.  Basal leaves are numerous; stem leaves are few.

"Helios" is Greek for "sun" and "anthos" for "flower" (see Helianthus annuus). "Helianthella" is the diminutive of Helianthus and thus means "Little Sunflower" (even though quinquenervis is quite tall and its flower very large). The species name is Latin for five-nerved (referring to the leaf veins).

Nathaniel Wyeth collected the first specimen of this genus in the Rocky Mountains, probably in 1832 on his return from the Pacific.  He gave the specimen to his friend and noted botanist, Thomas Nuttall, who named the genus Helianthus (The plant was not the Four Corners species; it was Helianthus uniflorus).  In 1841 Nuttall realized that the plant genus name, Helianthus, was incorrect and he renamed the plant Leighia uniflora. But this genus name was rejected (I cannot determine why) by Torrey and Gray and they renamed it Helianthella.

Our species, Helianthella quinquenervis, went through similar naming pains: the specimen was first collected in 1843-1844 near the North Fork of the Platte in Wyoming by Charles Geyer. William Jackson Hooker, apparently following Nuttall's lead, named the plant Helianthus quinquenervis. Asa Gray renamed it Helianthella quinquenervis in1883.

Helianthella quinquenervis
Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands, streamsides. Summer.
Kilpacker Trail, July 8, 2004.

Helianthella quinquenervis
Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands, streamsides. Summer.
Pass Creek Trail, July 27, 2009.

Helianthella quinquenervis
Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands, streamsides. Summer.
Kilpacker Trail, July 8, 2004.

Helianthella quinquenervis
Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands, streamsides. Summer.
Below American Basin, July 27, 2007.

Yellow ray flowers are fading, a few disk flowers are still fresh in the center of the flower head, and seeds are beginning to mature.

Helianthella quinquenervis
Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands, streamsides. Summer.
Navajo Lake Trail, September 9, 2004.

Even before fall colors have fully engulfed all leaves one can see that all the seed heads have been eaten from the end of each flower stalk  --  the work of Bear, Deer, and Elk.