A co-worker found this growing in a local cemetery here in town (Davis, CA, zone 9a) and wanted to find out what the name of the flower is. It grows with minimal care.

here is a closeup of the blooms.

It looks like a Helianthus to me, and if I had to guess I'd say Helianthus salicifolius.

I took pictures of the same plant today in a Utah garden. I knew it was a sunflower but not which one. Almost like magic here it is.

Helianthus angustifolius

http://www.wildflower.org/plan...

That was quick ! Thanks Dave and Jay.

It looks like either of the above - H. salicifolius or H. augustifolius. As a former botany major, I should know what the prefix in front of the folius means, but I don't.

I'm starting to recognize some of the latin terms
augusti = narrow

salici from salix = willow like

soilsandup said:That was quick ! Thanks Dave and Jay.

It looks like either of the above - H. salicifolius or H. augustifolius. As a former botany major, I should know what the prefix in front of the folius means, but I don't.

I'm incline to say H. angustifolius.
I have never seen H. salicifolius in person and can't find a good description for it. But looking around at pics on the internet H. salicifolius seems to have a uniformly drooping and maybe soft leaf. H. angustifolius has stiff course leaf like sandpaper. If you notice in your pic the leaves stick more straight out from the plant sometimes curling or twisting this is how the H. angustifolius does in my garden.

Thanks, Jay. The leaves do look stiff. Is it invasive in your garden? I asked my co-worker to collect some seeds for me so I can start a couple of plants in my yard in Sacramento. I notice we are in the same planting zone - 9a. I love the mild winters and I am always on the lookout for flowering plants for the fall and winter seasons. But I certainly do not need anything else invasive in my yard.

Thanks for the Latin lesson. For some reason, I read the name as augustifolius instead of angustifolius. I now have two new words in memory - hopefully it doesn't knock out two other words that I will need in the future.

My first thought was Helianthus angustifolius too and it can be a nuisance in some situations:

http://www.floridata.com/ref/h...

This is the first year I grow it. It grows wild a couple of hundred yards from my house. I have been fighting to keep it going, because it needs consistent moisture as the common name "swamp sunflower" might tell you.
Here are some of the wild ones growing near me.