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Plant profile · Austin & Hill Country

Smallhead Sneezeweed

Helenium microcephalum
native · Hill Country

Smallhead Sneezeweed is an annual wildflower native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 1–2 ft tall and 4 ft wide. It wants full sun and low water, and handles clay soil. Blooms yellow in spring, summer and fall. Good for bees, butterflies and nectar insects.

Wet ground only. Usually found in wetlands and creek bottoms. It wants reliably moist ground and struggles in a dry upland bed.

Will it grow in your yard?

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The facts

4 sources
Type
Annual wildflower
Sun
Full sun (6–8 hrs of direct sun)
Water
Low
Height
1–2 ft
Spread
4 ft
Bloom
Spring, Summer, Fall · yellow
Foliage
Deciduous or dies back in winter
Soil
Takes clay · recorded on clay, loam, moist, rich, sand, well drained
Wildlife
Supports bees, butterflies and nectar insects

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsLlano UpliftEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low TerracesLimestone Cut PlainSan Antonio Prairie

80 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.