45a. Helianthus nuttallii Torrey & A. Gray subsp. nuttallii
Helianthus nuttallii subsp. canadensis R. W. Long
Plants usually 200–300 cm. Leaves mostly alternate; blades narrowly to broadly lanceolate, apices acute to acuminate, abaxial faces hispid to hispidulous. Phyllaries: abaxial faces ± glabrate or sparsely hairy (longer hairs 0.5–1 mm).
Flowering late summer–fall. Moist open places, ditches, roadsides; (300–)1200–2700 m; Alta., B.C., Man., Sask.; Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Kans., Mo., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.Mex., N.Dak., Okla., Oreg., S.Dak., Utah, Wash., Wyo.
Plants in the Dakotas and south-central and eastern Canada are intermediate between subsp. nuttallii and subsp. rydbergii and were placed by R. W. Long (1966) in subsp. canadensis; C. B. Heiser et al. (1969) returned this to subsp. nuttallii with the comment that it was hardly equivalent to other subspecies that they included in their treatment. The name H. ×luxurians may refer to hybrids between subsp. nuttallii and H. giganteus (Heiser et al.).