If the name Helianthus isn't familiar then the common name of sunflower will be much more familiar. From the Greek, helios, 'sun' and anthos, 'flower'. They hail from across North America and down into Mexico, from dry prairies and meadows, with some in moister woodland locations. The perennial species, tend to be smaller than the typical annual sunflower (H. annuus), but still produce yellow to orange/red, open-facing sunflowers, in profusion and in a reasonable soil. H. tuberosus, the edible Jerusalem artichoke, produces the typical flowers, but only after a long hot summer.
As with all 'daisy-like' flowers, the disc-flowers in the centre of the flowerhead produce nectar and pollen that are highly attractive to insects, such as bees, hoverflies and butterflies. Many forms produce seeds that are favoured by birds such as goldfinches and greenfinches, while the leaves are very palatable to a number of moth larvae in particular. Several species and forms now appear regularly in the British countryside, either from their inclusion in bird seed or derived from large-scale cultivation for seeds and oil.