The Heliantheae (sometimes called the sunflower tribe) are the third-largest

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conf ...

in the

sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus '' Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as ...

family (

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae ...

). With some 190 genera and nearly 2500 recognized species, only the tribes

Senecioneae Senecioneae is the largest tribe of the Asteraceae, or the sunflower family, comprising over 150 genera and over 3,500 species. Almost one-third of the species in this tribe are placed in the genus '' Senecio''. Its members exhibit probably the ...

and Astereae are larger. The name is derived from the genus '' Helianthus'', which is

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

for sun flower. Most genera and species are found in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the C ...

(particularly in

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Gua ...

) and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. A few genera are pantropical. Most Heliantheae are herbs or

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from tree ...

s, but some grow to the size of small trees. Leaves are usually hairy and arranged in opposite pairs. The

anther The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are usually blackened. The above statements about the size and distribution of the tribe apply to a broad definition of Heliantheae, which was followed throughout the 20th century. Some recent authors break the tribe up into a dozen or so smaller tribes.

Uses

Commercially important plants in the Heliantheae include

and

Jerusalem artichoke The Jerusalem artichoke (''Helianthus tuberosus''), also called sunroot, sunchoke, wild sunflower, topinambur, or earth apple, is a species of sunflower native to central North America. It is cultivated widely across the temperate zone for its ...

. Many garden flowers are also in this group, such as '' Coreopsis'', ''

Cosmos The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied i ...

'', ''

Echinacea ''Echinacea'' is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the daisy family. It has ten species, which are commonly called coneflowers. They are found only in eastern and central North America, where they grow in moist to dry prairies and ope ...

'', '' Rudbeckia'', and '' Zinnia''. Some authors place ''Coreopsis'' and ''Cosmos'' in the Coreopsideae tribe. In addition to the benefits brought by the group, some are also problematic

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

s. Species of ''Ambrosia'' ( ragweed) produce large quantities of

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametoph ...

. Each plant is reputed to be able to produce about a billion grains of pollen over a season, and the plant is wind- pollinated.

Taxonomy

The traditional circumscription of the Heliantheae arises from Cassini's 19th-century classification of the Asteraceae. This broad group been divided by some authors into smaller tribes: Bahieae, Chaenactideae, Coreopsideae, Helenieae, Heliantheae ''

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particul ...

'',

Madieae Madieae is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It is sometimes considered a subtribe of Heliantheae. Notable species include the tarweeds of the Western United States as well as the silverswords of Hawaii. Subtribes and ge ...

, Millerieae,

Perityleae Perityleae is a tribe of flowering plants in the subfamily Asteroideae. The species of its genera are native exclusively to the New World. This tribe is closely related to the Eupatorieae Eupatorieae is a tribe of over 2000D.J.N.Hind & H. ...

, Polymnieae, and Tageteae. Because the

Eupatorieae Eupatorieae is a tribe of over 2000D.J.N.Hind & H.E.Robinson. 2007. Tribe Eupatorieae In: ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' vol.VIII. (Joachim W.Kadereit & Charles Jeffrey, volume editors. Klaus Kubitzky, general editor). Springer-Ve ...

originated from within the Heliantheae (broadly defined), to maintain

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic grou ...

taxa it is necessary to either make Eupatorieae a subtribe within Heliantheae or to split the Heliantheae into smaller tribes. Such classifications may define a supertribe Helianthodae including these smaller tribes, the Eupatorieae, and a few other tribes such as Inuleae.Helianthodae H. Rob.
''Tree of Life Web Project''

Subtribes and genera

Heliantheae subtribes and genera recognized by the Global Compositae Database as of May 2022: *Subtribe Ambrosiinae **''

Ambrosia In the ancient Greek myths, ''ambrosia'' (, grc, ἀμβροσία 'immortality'), the food or drink of the Greek gods, is often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It was brought to the gods in Olympus b ...

'' **'' Dicoria'' **''

Euphrosyne Euphrosyne (; grc, Εὐφροσύνη), in ancient Greek religion and mythology, was one of the Charites, known in ancient Rome as the ''Gratiae'' (Graces). She was sometimes called Euthymia (Εὐθυμία) or Eutychia (Εὐτυχία). F ...

'' **'' Hedosyne'' **'' Iva'' **'' Parthenice'' **''

Parthenium ''Parthenium'' is a genus of North American shrubs in the tribe Heliantheae within the family Asteraceae and subfamily Asteroideae. The name ''Parthenium'' is an evolution of the Ancient Greek name παρθένιον (''parthenion''), which re ...

'' **'' Xanthium'' *Subtribe Chromolepidinae **'' Chromolepis'' *Subtribe Dugesiinae **'' Dugesia'' *Subtribe Ecliptinae **''

Aspilia ''Aspilia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Some authors have merged this genus with '' Wedelia'', but others maintain that more study is required. ''Aspilia'' is native to Africa, Madagascar, and Latin America. Medicin ...

'' **'' Baltimora'' **'' Blainvillea'' **'' Calyptocarpus'' **'' Clibadium'' **'' Damnxanthodium'' **'' Delilia'' **'' Dimerostemma'' **'' Eclipta'' **'' Elaphandra'' **'' Eleutheranthera'' **'' Exomiocarpon'' **'' Fenixia'' **'' Hoffmanniella'' **'' Idiopappus'' **'' Iogeton'' **'' Jefea'' **'' Kingianthus'' **'' Lantanopsis'' **'' Lasianthaea'' **'' Leptocarpha'' **'' Lipochaeta'' **'' Lundellianthus'' **'' Melanthera'' **'' Monactis'' **'' Oblivia'' **'' Otopappus'' **'' Oyedaea'' **'' Pascalia'' **'' Pentalepis'' **'' Perymeniopsis'' **'' Perymenium'' **'' Plagiolophus'' **'' Podanthus'' **'' Rensonia'' **'' Riencourtia'' **'' Schizoptera'' **'' Sphagneticola'' **'' Steiractinia'' **'' Synedrella'' **'' Synedrellopsis'' **'' Tilesia'' **'' Trigonopterum'' **'' Tuberculocarpus'' **'' Tuxtla'' **'' Wamalchitamia'' **'' Wedelia'' **'' Wollastonia'' **'' Zexmenia'' **'' Zyzyxia'' *Subtribe Enceliinae **'' Encelia'' **'' Enceliopsis'' **'' Flourensia'' **'' Geraea'' **'' Helianthella'' *Subtribe Engelmanniinae **'' Agnorhiza'' **'' Berlandiera'' **'' Borrichia'' **'' Chrysogonum'' **'' Engelmannia'' **'' Lindheimera'' **'' Silphium'' **'' Vigethia'' **'' Wyethia'' *Subtribe Helianthinae **'' Aldama'' **'' Alvordia'' **'' Bahiopsis'' **'' Calanticaria'' **'' Davilanthus'' **'' Helianthus'' **'' Heliomeris'' **'' Hymenostephium'' **'' Iostephane'' **'' Lagascea'' **'' Pappobolus'' **'' Phoebanthus'' **'' Rhysolepis'' **'' Scalesia'' **'' Sclerocarpus'' **'' Simsia'' **'' Stuessya'' **'' Syncretocarpus'' **'' Tithonia'' **'' Viguiera'' *Subtribe Montanoinae **'' Montanoa'' *Subtribe Rojasianthinae **'' Rojasianthe'' *Subtribe Rudbeckiinae **'' Ratibida'' **'' Rudbeckia'' *Subtribe Spilanthinae **''

Acmella ''Acmella'' is a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae, described as a genus in 1807. It is native to the Americas and has been introduced to Asia, Africa, the Pacific islands, and Australia. One familiar species is '' Acmella oleracea'', ...

'' **'' Oxycarpha'' **'' Salmea'' **'' Spilanthes'' **'' Tetranthus'' *Subtribe Verbesininae **'' Podachaenium'' **'' Squamopappus'' **'' Tetrachyron'' **'' Verbesina'' *Subtribe Zaluzaniinae **'' Hybridella'' **'' Zaluzania'' *Subtribe Zinniinae **''

'' **'' Heliopsis'' **'' Philactis'' **'' Sanvitalia'' **'' Tehuana'' **'' Trichocoryne'' **'' Zinnia''

References

Bibliography

* * * * Bremer, Kåre. (1994). ''Asteraceae: Cladistics & Classification''. Portland, OR: Timber Press. . * Robinson, Harold Ernest. (1981). ''A Revision of the Tribal and Subtribal Limits of the Heliantheae (Asteraceae)''. ''Smithsonian Contributions to Botany'': 51. * Strother, John L. (1991). ''Taxonomy of Complaya, Elaphandra, Iogeton, Jefea, Wamalchitamia, Wedelia, Zexmenia, and Zyzyxia (Compositae - Heliantheae - Ecliptinae)''. ''Systematic Botany Monographs'': 33.

External links

* * * * {{taxonbar, from=Q666616 Asteraceae tribes