Red sunflower | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
(unranked): | Angiosperms |
(unranked): | Eudicots |
(unranked): | Asterids |
Order: | Asterales |
Family: | Asteraceae |
Genus: | Tithonia |
Species: | T. rotundifolia |
Binomial name | |
Tithonia rotundifolia (Mill.) S.F. Blake |
The red sunflower or Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia (Mill.) S.F. Blake) is a plant in the Asteraceae family, which is native to the warmer and moister parts of North America.
It occurs in Florida, Louisiana, Mexico, Central America and the West Indies. Outside its native region it is sometimes grown as an ornamental and has become naturalized in some of these locales. In Africa it has been recorded up to an altitude of 1,580 m above sea level.
It is an annual up to 4 m tall with orange or red flowers. Leaves, despite the epithet, are deltoid to lanceolate, occasionally lobed.