Description

Sneezeweed thrives in or near moist areas throughout much of the state. It becomes more restricted to the coast and coastal mountains in the southern half of the state. Its range includes Catalina Island and northern Baja, Mexico. Sneezeweed has certainly become less common as our vernal wetlands have been drained for farming and housing. Sneezeweed grows robustly in a sunny moist site, with long leafy stems tipped with nodding nearly spherical flowers. At the base of each flower a tiny ring of yellow petals reminds us that sneezeweed is in the sunflower family. The plant can spread readily by seed and runner, so plant with care. It will generally grow only where adequate water is available, so the patch can be bounded by limiting the irrigation. Despite the peculiar common name, sneezeweed neither causes sneezes nor is a weed.