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the Don't send me any freakin' spam expounded:

Last year I grew sunflowers here and there in my garden. I grew the type
that grow 12 feet tall and have a single huge head 18-24" across. I also
grew the short ornamental type that have multiple 3"-6" flowers on 4'-6'
plants. This year, I have this volunteer sunflower that appears to be a
cross between the two. It's about 12' tall, but instead of the single large
flower that these tall sunflowers have, it has about a dozen long stalks
that grow out of the base of each leaf like the short ornamental ones have.
The bottom sucker grew about 5 feet long and broke off. It reminds me of a
hydra. I've never seen a sunflower like this before, is this something new
and different, or something common that I've just not seen before?

I dunno how rare it is, but you've perfectly described the volunteers
I've got out there this season. Here's the largest.
--
Ann, gardening in Zone 6a
South of Boston, Massachusetts
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