Heliantheae

Heliantheae is the most well known tribe of the sunflower family (Asteraceae). The name comes from the Greek word for sun flower. The Heliantheae is the third largest tribe in the sunflower family, which has 190 genera and about 2500 species. Only the tribes Senecioneae and Astereae are larger. Most Heliantheae come from North America and South America, and Mexico.  A few genera come from tropical areas.

Most Heliantheae are herbs or shrubs, but there are some that grow to the size of small trees.  Leaves are usually hairy and arranged in opposite pairs.  The anthers are usually black.

 Uses 
Heliantheae can be grown on farms. These include sunflowers and jerusalem artichokes. Many garden flowers are also in this group, such as Coreopsis, Cosmos, Echinacea, Rudbeckia, and Zinnia.

There are also some weeds in the family. Species of Ambrosia (ragweed) produce lots of pollen. Each plant can produce about a billion grains of pollen over a season, and the plant is wind-pollinated. It is one of the main causes of  hay fever.

 Subtribes 
In 1981 Harold Ernest Robinson came up with a new way to describe the tribe. He divided Heliantheae into 35 subtribes:

 Ambrosiinae (includes: ragweed)
 Baeriinae
 Chaenactidinae
 Clappiinae
 Clibadiinae
 Coreopsidinae (includes: Coreopsis, Cosmos)
 Coulterellinae
 Desmanthodiinae
 Dimeresiinae
 Ecliptinae
 Engelmanniinae (includes: rosinweed)
 Enhydrinae
 Espeletiinae
 Fitchiinae
 Flaveriinae
 Gaillardiinae
 Galinsoginae (includes: Hidalgoa)
 Guardiolinae
 Helianthinae (includes: sunflowers)
 Heptanthinae
 Hymenopappinae
 Jaumeinae
 Lycapsinae
 Madiinae (includes: tarweeds, Hawaiian silverswords)
 Marshalliinae
 Melampodiinae
 Milleriinae
 Montanoinae
 Neurolaeninae
 Pectidinae
 Peritylinae
 Pinillosinae
 Polymniinae
 Rudbeckiinae (includes: Echinacea, Rudbeckia)
 Varillinae
 Zaluzaniinae
 Zinniinae (includes: Zinnia)

 References 

 Bremer, Kåre. (1994). Asteraceae: Cladistics & Classification. Portland, OR: Timber Press. .

 Robinson, Harold Ernest. (1981). A Revision of the Tribal and Subtribal Limits of the Heliantheae (Asteraceae). Smithsonian Contributions to Botany: 51.
 Strother, John L. (1991). Taxonomy of Complaya, Elaphandra, Iogeton, Jefea, Wamalchitamia, Wedelia, Zexmenia, and Zyzyxia (Compositae - Heliantheae - Ecliptinae). Systematic Botany Monographs: 33. .

 Other websites 

Category:Asteraceae