Shortleaf Sneezeweed
Helenium brevifolium
Found in seepage bogs, river-scoured cobble bars. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 3 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet

Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- May to June
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 19 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food. 79 animals.
- Northern PintailAnas acuta
- Northern ShovelerAnas clypeata
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Painted BuntingPasserina ciris
- Palm WarblerDendroica palmarum
- Purple GallinulePorphyrio martinica
- Red-shouldered HawkButeo lineatus
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- Red-winged BlackbirdAgelaius phoeniceus
- Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
- Semipalmated PloverCharadrius semipalmatus
- Sharp-shinned HawkAccipiter striatus
- Short-eared OwlAsio flammeus
- Snowy EgretEgretta thula
- Song SparrowMelospiza melodia
- SoraPorzana carolina
- Spotted SandpiperActitis macularius
- Stilt SandpiperCalidris himantopus
- Swallow-tailed KiteElanoides forficatus
- Swamp SparrowMelospiza georgiana
- Tree SwallowTachycineta bicolor
- Turkey VultureCathartes aura
- Virginia RailRallus limicola
- White IbisEudocimus albus
Who uses this plant?
6CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Helenium
- Chlorochlamys chloroleucariaBlackberry Looper Moth
- Condica sutorThe Cobbler, Cobbler Groundling
- Condica vidensWhite-Dotted Groundling
- Nathalis ioleDainty Sulphur, Dwarf Yellow
- Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
- Carmenta ithacae
48BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Helenium
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
14Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Helenium
- Andrena beameri
- Calliopsis coloradensis
- Dianthidium curvatum
- Dieunomia bolliana
- Megachile inimica
- Megachile parallela
- Megachile xylocopoides
- Melissodes boltoniae
- Melissodes dentiventris
- Melissodes druriellus
Show all 14
- Melissodes illatus
- Melissodes manipularis
- Melissodes wheeleri
- Paranthidium jugatorium
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Flower color
- Yellow or purple
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to June” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow or purple” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 3 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

























