# Maximilian sunflower

*Helianthus maximiliani*

This species is named after Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied, a German explorer who documented it during his scientific expedition across the American West in the 1830s.

- **Taxonomy:** Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Asterales › Asteraceae › Helianthus
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** grassland
- **Habitat:** Tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies, limestone glades, pastures, and roadsides.
- **Diet:** Autotrophic (photosynthesis, drawing water and minerals from soil).
- **Range:** Great Plains of North America, United States, Southern Canada, Northern Mexico
- **Size:** 3 to 10 feet (1 to 3 meters) tall.
- **Lifespan:** Perennial (individual root systems can live for decades, regenerating annually).
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Habitat loss due to intensive agriculture, urbanization, and widespread herbicide application.
- **Safe to approach?:** This plant is entirely harmless and safe to approach. You can freely touch its rough, sandpaper-textured leaves and admire the bright yellow blooms. If foraging for its edible tubers, ensure the area has not been treated with chemical herbicides.

## About

Helianthus maximiliani is a North American species of sunflower known by the common name Maximilian sunflower .

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/5ef2871b-f0a3-45ca-aeb5-a405349f023b
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/130192
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helianthus maximiliani
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/438526985/medium.jpeg (Tom Norton, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.