Savanna Sneezeweed
Helenium vernale
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in wet pine savannas and adjacent ditches. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Louisiana. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 32 inches
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- April to May
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 5 Louisiana parishes.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Louisiana. Shared habitat, not food. 118 animals.
- American GoldfinchCarduelis tristis
- American KestrelFalco sparverius
- Black-bellied Whistling-DuckDendrocygna autumnalis
- Black-crowned Night-heronNycticorax nycticorax
- Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagica
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Cooper's HawkAccipiter cooperii
- Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
- Eurasian Collared-doveStreptopelia decaocto
- European StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- Great EgretArdea alba
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- Henslow's SparrowAmmodramus henslowii
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Red-shouldered HawkButeo lineatus
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- Red-winged BlackbirdAgelaius phoeniceus
- Sharp-shinned HawkAccipiter striatus
- Snowy EgretEgretta thula
- Turkey VultureCathartes aura
- Yellow-breasted ChatIcteria virens
- Yellow-crowned Night-heronNyctanassa violacea
Who uses this plant?
5CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including LA
Genus host records with ranges including LA · 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
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
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Flower color
- Yellow
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “April to May” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 32 inches” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Conservation status
| Louisiana rank | S4 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4? |
| LA 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
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Florida edition
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Louisiana occurrence source
- 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