Both of the flowers in question started blooming in the past week and are found "wild" in our back yard. Picture one: Single stem plant. Most plants have a single flower head, but a few (like in the picture) have multiple flower heads. Most are 4 feet tall, but a few are over 5 feet. Pictures 2 and 3: Large leaves about 2-1/2 feet tall clumped around base. Numerous flower stalks extend 6-7 feet tall. Thanks for any help in ID'ing them!
The first one looks like a Helianthus, or a sunflower relative. A few wild species in your area, so I'd need more detail to verify. If you squish a leaf or the flower head, you should get that sunflower-oil smell on your fingers. For the second, a photo that is "head-on" of the flowering head would be handy.
Thank you for the reply. We have some sunflowers also so I did the smell test. They don't seem to be alike. The leaves have a faint aromatic smell, nothing like the sunflower (to me anyways). I'm not sure if it is a perennial. It has grown in one area for a number of years but is beginning to spread to seperate areas. Here are some more pictures - the first one is of two seperate plants.
The first one is certainly a Helianthus; they're not always easy to differentiate, but judging by what appear to be smooth stems to go along with the lanceolate leaves, I'd suggest Helianthus strumosus (native). If the stem isn't smooth, it may be Helianthus tuberosus, Jerusalem artichoke (introduced). The second one looks like Silphium terebinthinaceum, prairie dock (another native), judging by the large basal leaves.
