Annual Sunflower vs Black Maple

Helianthus annuus compared with Acer nigrum

Key Differences

• Annual Sunflower is Not Evaluated while Black Maple is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Annual Sunflower	Black Maple
Kingdom same	Plantae (Plants)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum same	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class same	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Asterales (Daisies & Sunflowers)	Sapindales (Sapindales)
Family	Asteraceae (Daisy Family)	Sapindaceae
Genus	Helianthus (Sunflowers)	Acer
Species	Helianthus annuus	Acer nigrum

Evolutionary Relationship

Annual Sunflower and Black Maple share a common ancestor at the Class level: Magnoliopsida. (Dicots)

Conservation Status

Annual Sunflower

NE — Not Evaluated

Trend: Stable →

Black Maple

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Annual Sunflower	Black Maple
Diet	Autotroph	—
Average Lifespan	1 years	—
Average Length	3.0 m	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Annual Sunflower

Habitat

Inhabits montane grasslands and shrublands and Mediterranean forests and woodlands within the Palearctic biogeographic realm.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (12 countries), Asia (7 countries), Europe (30 countries), North America (Canada, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia, Marshall Islands), and South America (4 countries).

Black Maple

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Distributed across Canada and United States.

Annual Sunflower

One of the world's most cultivated flowering plants and an economically critical oilseed crop, sunflowers are native to North America and can reach 3 meters in height with flower heads up to 30 cm across. Their distinctive behavior of tracking the sun — solar heliotropism in young plants — gave them their name. A single sunflower head consists of up to 2,000 tiny individual florets. Global production exceeds 50 million tonnes annually, valued for oil, seeds, and birdfeed.

Black Maple

The Black Maple (Acer nigrum) is a species in the genus Acer. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 2 countries:

🇨🇦 Canada 🇺🇸 United States