Kingdom Plantae Tribe Heliantheae Rank Genus | Order Asterales Higher classification Daisy family | |
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Phoebanthus, called the false sunflower, is a genus of North American plants in the sunflower tribe within the daisy family.
Phoebanthus includes two species of herbaceous perennials that are both native to the southeastern United States The genus is a close relative of Helianthus, the genus of the common sunflower, and the plants have the general appearance of a sunflower.
Taxonomy
Phoebanthus is characterized by having a pappus of short scales that are usually persistent (don't fall off) compared to the pappus of two deciduous awns (and sometimes a few scales) in Helianthus, and Phoebanthus is also characterized by a distinctive type of slender, horizontal tuber that forms the perennating organ.
The relationship between the two species has never been closely analyzed, but it does not appear that P. grandiflorus is simply an autotetraploid of P. tenuifolius.