Heliopsis

Garden sun eye ( Heliopsis helianthoides )

The sun eyes ( Heliopsis ) are a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily of herbaceous within the sunflower family ( Asteraceae). The botanical genus name is derived from the Greek hélios for sun and opsis for similar. In the genus Heliopsis there are about 14 to 18 species.

Description

Sun eye species grow very seldom than two years, only four Mexican species as annuals, mostly herbaceous perennial plants than usually reach heights of growth of about 30 to 150 cm depending on the type. The upright to arching stems are branched distributed from the base or the stem. The constantly against distributed to the stems arranged leaves are usually stalked. The leaf blade is easy with three veins right from the Spreitenbasis. The leaf margin is serrated to cut. The leaf surfaces are smooth or hairy.

The little head -shaped buds are often terminally individually or with a few also axillary on the stems. The flowers baskets of natural forms have diameters of 8 to 14 millimeters in breeding, they can be larger. In two or three rows are twelve to twenty bracts; they are more or less the same in shape and size. The inflorescence floors are convex to conical. There are chaff leaves present. The flowers contain baskets, rarely none, usually five to twenty florets (for breeding, especially with " Filled " it may be more) and 30 to 150 florets. The female, fertile florets ( = ray florets ) are yellow to orange; the tongue ends tridentate. The hermaphrodite, fertile florets ( = disc florets ) are usually yellow or brown to purple with five corolla lobes.

The resulting from ray florets after fertilization triangular and quadrangular tubular flowers from achenes are brown to black - brown. The pappus is crown or tooth-shaped with one to three teeth-like scales or missing.

Use

In the temperate zones of the world species of the genus found mainly as a perennial ornamental plants spread. Especially popular are the garden - sun eye - Varieties ( Heliopsis helianthoides (L.) Sweet) of the two varieties: Heliopsis helianthoides (L.) Sweet var helianthoides and Heliopsis helianthoides var scabra ( Dunal ) Fernald.

Some species are used in traditional medicine.

Systematics and distribution

The center of biodiversity is Mexico. To the north, the overall distribution of the genus Heliopsis extends into the southern United States and south through Central America to Bolivia and northern Peru.

The first publication of the genus Heliopsis took place in 1807 by Christian Hendrik Persoon in Synopsis plantarum, 2, 473 published.

The genus belongs to the subtribe Heliopsis Zinniinae from the tribe Heliantheae in the subfamily of herbaceous within the sunflower family ( Asteraceae).

• Heliopsis annua Hemsl. Native Mexico.
• Heliopsis anomala ( MEJones ) BLTurner: native Mexico.
• Heliopsis brachactis Standlschmaus. ex Fisher: This type described in 1957 is known only from the type locality in Mexico: Michoacan: Region Tancitaro, 4 miles west of Apatzingan in a semi-desert area.
• Heliopsis bupthalmoides ( Jacq. ) Dunal: The home ranges from Mexico to Bolivia.
• Heliopsis decumbens Blake: This species is only known from the type locality: Cajamarca in Peru.
• Heliopsis filifolia S.Wats. Endemic in Cuatro Ciénegas, Carneros and Puerto Colorado in the state of Coahuila.
• Heliopsis gracilis Nuttall: It occurs at altitudes between 0 and 100 meters in the southern United States before.
• Garden sun eye ( Heliopsis helianthoides (L.) Sweet): With two in eastern North America -based varieties, of which there are varieties of each that are used as ornamental plants: Heliopsis helianthoides (L.) Sweet var helianthoides
• Heliopsis helianthoides var scabra ( Dunal ) Fernald ( Syn: Heliopsis scabra Dunal is often under that name in culture)

Swell

• Alan R. Smith: Heliopsis in the Flora of North America, Volume 21, page 67: - Online.
• Enrique Ramírez Chávez, Jorge Molina Torres & Abraham García Chávez: El género Heliopsis ( Heliantheae; Asteraceae) en México y las alcamidas presentes en sus raíces. in Acta Botanica Mexicana, 69, 2004, pp. 115-131: Online.
• T. Richard Fisher: Taxonomy of the genus Heliopsis (Compositae ) in The Ohio Journal of Science, Volume 57, No. 3, 1957, pp. 171-191: Online PDF; 1.74 MB