The HELIANTHUS tuberous pictured here is a flower rife w/ contradictions. The botanical name 'HELIANTHUS' suggests it is part of the Sunflower family. It is not....it is much more closely related to the Daisy Family. It's most often used common name 'Jerusalem Artichoke' is another misnomer as this flower has no relationship to either Jerusalem or the artichoke.

One of the tallest flowers in my gardens (8-12' tall) I grow it in several spots where my gardens back up against the woods as it easily keeps little shrubs that grow among the trees from infringing upon my garden beds. An Autumnal bloomer, w/ almost shockingly bright yellow flowers that grow on single strong stalks dividing at the top.....w/ as many as 6-8 blossoms per stalk as seen in this image.

The 'tuber' part of the name is in reference to the way this flower grows. Rather than a typical root system flowers grow from tubers. While they are similar in appearance to ginger root they instead have the consistency and texture of raw potatoes and Native Americans cultivated them as a food source- eating them in both raw and cooked states. While I have never actually cooked the tubers I was curious and tried thinly slicing one and added it to a salad.....just once...lol I definitely prefer the pretty yellow flowers.