Helenium is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of about 40 herbaceous flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s in the daisy family Asteraceae

Asteraceae

The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

, native to North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 and Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

. They bear yellow or orange daisy-like flowers. A number of these species (particularly Helenium autumnale

Helenium autumnale

Helenium autumnale is a flowering plant native to North America. Common names include common sneezeweed and large-flowered sneezeweed.-Natural habitat and distribution:...

) are commonly known as sneezeweed based on the former use of its dried leaves in making snuff

Snuff

Snuff is a product made from ground or pulverised tobacco leaves. It is an example of smokeless tobacco. It originated in the Americas and was in common use in Europe by the 17th century...

, inhaled to cause sneezing that would supposedly rid the body of evil spirits.

Helenium species are used as food plants by the larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e of some Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

 species including Phymatopus behrensii

Phymatopus

Phymatopus is a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae. There are six described species scattered across the Northern Hemisphere, placed in two groups.-Species:Phymatopus Wallengren, 1869*Phymatopus hecta Gold Swift - Europe...

.

Helenium Hybrid (height: 3ft; space: 2'ft; zones: 4-9; bloom season: summer) brilliant yellow petals surround spherical brown cones covered with golden pollen. Flowers appear for six weeks from mid to late summer and attract butterflies and in droves. Providing a splash of color when many other perennials are starting to fade, it makes a wonderful companion for ornamental grasses, Phlox and Liatris. Great cut flower!

Care: grow in full sun average to moist soil with good drainage. Water well on planting and regularly until extablished. Drought tolerant.

Species

Helenium species include:

• Helenium amarum
  Helenium amarum
  Helenium amarum is a species of annual herb in the daisy family known by the common names yellowdicks, yellow sneezeweed, and bitter sneezeweed. It is native to much of the southeastern United States and northern Mexico, and it is present elsewhere in North America as an introduced species...
  
  (Raf.) H. Rock
• Helenium atacamense Cabrera
• Helenium autumnale
  Helenium autumnale
  Helenium autumnale is a flowering plant native to North America. Common names include common sneezeweed and large-flowered sneezeweed.-Natural habitat and distribution:...
  
  L.
• Helenium bigelovii
  Helenium bigelovii
  The daisylike plant Helenium bigelovii is known as Bigelow's sneezeweed. It is a 1 to 3ft-high plant of the "composite" family that bears ray flowers that are usually bright yellow in color and disc flowers that are yellow in bloom and then turn dark brown...
  
  A. Gray
• Helenium bolanderi
  Helenium bolanderi
  Helenium bolanderi is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name coastal sneezeweed. It is native to the coastline of Oregon and northern California. This is a daisylike perennial herb varying in size from 20 centimeters to well over a meter in height. It has a...
  
  A. Gray
• Helenium flexuosum
  Helenium flexuosum
  Helenium flexuosum is a species of annual herb in the daisy family known by the common name purple sneezeweed. It is native to the eastern half of North America.-External links:*...
  
  Raf.
• Helenium glaucum (Cav.) Stuntz
• Helenium hoopesii (see Hymenoxys hoopesii)
• Helenium microcephalum DC.
• Helenium puberulum
  Helenium puberulum
  Helenium puberulum is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name rosilla. It is native to California and Baja California, where it can be found in moist habitats such as riverbanks and meadows. This is an annual or perennial herb varying in size and shape from a low...
  
  DC.
• Helenium urmenetae (Phil.) Cabrera
• Helenium virginicum
  Helenium virginicum
  Helenium virginicum is a rare species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name Virginia sneezeweed. It occurs in the United States, where it has a disjunct distribution; it is known only from Virginia and Missouri. It is limited to a specific type of habitat and it is...
  
  S. F. Blake