Ox-Eye Sunflower

Ox Eye Sunflower

Common name:  Ox-eye sunflower, false sunflower

Scientific name:  Heliopsis helianthoides

Family:  Aster, Daisy, or Composite, Asteraceae

Bloom period:  June through October

What to look for:  Bright, golden-yellow, daisy-like flowers, on stems that grow to three to five feet tall. 

Where to see it:  In the Building 1 garden.

Benefit to pollinators:  Their pollen and nectar attract bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and songbirds.  Ox eye sunflower seeds feed birds and their stems provide winter cover for beneficial insects.

More info:  They are an undemanding plant, thriving in many different environments, which may be why they are native to almost the whole of North America east of the Rocky Mountains.  Ox eye’s scientific name comes from the Greek words for “sun”—helios—and “like sunflowers”—Helianthoides.  Helianthus are true sunflowers.  Ox eyes are related to sunflowers, but aren’t true sunflowers, which is why another name for them is false sunflower.  If ox eye flowers look similar to other flowers in our gardens, it’s because they are in the same plant family, the aster family (Asteraceae).  Other Butterfly Garden flowers in this family include purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea), black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia fulgida), yellow threadleaf tickseeds (Coreopsis verticillata), and purple asters (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae).