// SPECIES PROFILE · CROP · NON-INVASIVE / CULTIVATED

Mexican Sunflower

Tithonia rotundifolia

Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) is one of the most spectacular annual pollinator plants you can grow — fuzzy felted leaves and clouds of brilliant orange-red 3-inch daisies from July through frost, swarming with monarchs and hummingbirds even in 100°F heat.

// QUICK FACTS

Family: Asteraceae
Group: crop
Native range: Native to Mexico and Central America (well-behaved in OK)
USDA hardiness: Annual
Mature size: 5–8 ft
Sun: Full sun
Water: Drought-extremely-hardy
Wildlife value: Among the very best plants for monarch and queen butterfly nectar
Ecological role: non-invasive annual · monarch + hummingbird magnet · heat-loving

Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia) — *Tithonia rotundifolia*. Photo via Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons.

Field Notes

[ growing · ecology · siting · care ]

Direct-sow after frost. Tall — plant at the back of the border or as a temporary screen. Despite tropical origin, it does NOT self-sow aggressively in Oklahoma and is not on any invasive plant list — a rare guilt-free non-native.

Why it's on this list: non-invasive annual · monarch + hummingbird magnet · heat-loving. Part of Rooted Revival's NE Oklahoma plant catalog — natives, ecologically positive non-invasive cultivars, and food crops worth growing in the Tulsa region.

Companion Planting

[ guild · polyculture · cross-layer pairings ]

In a kitchen-garden polyculture, mexican sunflower pairs naturally with: american persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), american beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), maypop / passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), comfrey (Symphytum officinale), cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus), and black cherry (Prunus serotina).

In a polyculture bed, mexican sunflower pairs with the partners above for pest deterrence, pollination, and soil-building.

Photo Reference

// Tithonia rotundifolia — natural habitat
Photo: drew_rosie (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC)

// Tithonia rotundifolia — flower & foliage
Photo: arturosolismagallanes (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC)

// Tithonia rotundifolia — habit
Photo: sweetcheese (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC)

// Tithonia rotundifolia — field view
Photo: milkweed-man (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC)