Tithonia rotundifolia

The red sunflower or Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia (Mill.) S.F. Blake) is a plant in the family Asteraceae, which is native to the warmer and moister parts of North America. It occurs in Florida, Louisiana, Mexico, Central America and the West Indies. Outside its native region it is sometimes grown as an ornamental and has become naturalized in some of these locales. In Africa it has been recorded up to an altitude of 1,580 m above sea level. Plants are perennial in the native habitat, up to 4 m tall with orange or red flowers. In USDA zones cooler than Zone 10 it is an annual. Leaves, despite the epithet, are deltoid to lanceolate, occasionally lobed.