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Helenium microcephalum
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<p><i>Helenium microcephalum</i> is a North American <a href="/facts/Perennial_plant/MQ3NvAUW">perennial plant</a> in the family <a href="/facts/Asteraceae/bouc6v8C">Asteraceae</a>, commonly known as smallhead sneezeweed. It is found in the southwestern and south-central United States and northern Mexico. </p><p><i>Helenium microcephalum</i> is an annual herb up to 120 cm (3.9 ft) tall, with wings running down the sides of the stems. Leaves are narrow and <a href="/facts/Leaf_shape/GfSyEn7C">elliptical</a>. One plant can have 300 or more small spherical or egg-shaped <a href="/facts/Flower_heads/ANBv3Iym">flower heads</a>, generally no more than 12 mm (half an inch) in diameter. Each head can have 400 or more minuscule <a href="/facts/Disc_flowers/bouc6v8C">disc flowers</a> 1.2–2.4 mm (0.047–0.094 in) across, each yellow or yellow-green toward the bottom but brown or red toward the tip. There are also 7-13 red or yellow <a href="/facts/Ray_flowers/bouc6v8C">ray flowers</a>. </p> Varieties<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> <ul><li><i>Helenium microcephalum</i> var. <i>microcephalum</i> - <a href="/facts/Arizona/6ayM3swJ">Arizona</a>, <a href="/facts/New_Mexico/wosJCGaW">New Mexico</a>, <a href="/facts/Oklahoma/fK28L1a4">Oklahoma</a>, <a href="/facts/Colorado/IgIHrJI5">Colorado</a>, <a href="/facts/Texas/B987WHF0">Texas</a>, <a href="/facts/Coahuila/8VsFdVGR">Coahuila</a>, <a href="/facts/Nuevo_Le%25C3%25B3n/Hx950xAz">Nuevo León</a>, Tamaulipas</li> <li><i>Helenium microcephalum</i> var. <i>ooclinium</i> (A. Gray) Bierner - <a href="/facts/Texas/B987WHF0">Texas</a>, <a href="/facts/Coahuila/8VsFdVGR">Coahuila</a>, <a href="/facts/Chihuahua_(state)/FCeDVWL0">Chihuahua</a>, <a href="/facts/Nuevo_Le%25C3%25B3n/Hx950xAz">Nuevo León</a>, <a href="/facts/Durango/tpByalcA">Durango</a>, <a href="/facts/San_Luis_Potos%25C3%25AD/x3j0nGCx">San Luis Potosí</a></li></ul>