and stressful environment due to divergence in parental gene dominance. Common garden experiments of the parental and hybrid flowers show distinct preference to their different habitats. Applications in biotechnology Helianthus anomalus has been considered a potential source of alternate fuel. The need for alternate fuel sources has been a pressing issue over the past ten years, and sunflower oil is one of the possible candidates. Among the 51 species of the genus Helianthus, H. anomalus shows promise because of its high oil concentration, linoleic fatty acid concentration and its large achenes. References anomalus Interspecific plant hybrids Flora of the Southwestern United States Plants described in 1931