The sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is an living annual plant in the family Asteraceae, with a large flower head. It is named because its round flower heads in combination with the ligules look like the sun.
A sunflower looks like one large flower, but each head is composed of hundreds of tiny flowers called florets, which ripen to become the seeds.
One sunflower can contain up to 2,000 seeds.
Sunflower seeds contain about 24 to 27% protein, only slightly less than an equal weight of ground beef. Furthermore, sunflower seeds contain about twice the iron and potassium and about four times the phosphorus of beef.
The stem of the flower commonly grow to heights between 1.5 and 3.5 m (5–12 ft.), with a flower head that can be 30 cm (1 ft) wide.
Sunflowers grow best in fertile, wet, well-drained soil with a lot of mulch. In commercial planting, seeds are planted 45 cm (1.5 ft) apart and 2.5 cm (1 in) deep.
Sunflowers can be annual or perennial. The annuals bloom earlier, but the Maximilian start in August and bloom prolifically all through the fall.
The flowering head of the sunflower tracks the sun's movement, turning from east to west during the day, a phenomenon known as heliotropism.
The flower petals within the sunflower's cluster are always in a spiral pattern. Generally, each floret is oriented toward the next by approximately the golden angle, 137.5°, producing a pattern of interconnecting spirals, where the number of left spirals and the number of right spirals are successive Fibonacci numbers. Typically, there are 34 spirals in one direction and 55 in the other.
Sunflowers are native to America. They were cultivated in North America as far back as 3000 BC, when they were developed for dye, food, medicine and oil.
Native Americans grounded the sunflower seeds into flour for cakes or bread or ate them as a snack.
The oil of the seed was used on skin and hair and the stalk was used as a building material.
The sunflower was exported to the rest of the world by Spanish conquistadors in the beginning of the 16th century.
When Tsar Peter the Great first came across the sunflower in the Netherlands he fell in love with the sunny plant and took them back to Russia.
The sunflower grew popular in Russia when people discovered that its seed oil was not banned during Lent, unlike the other oils the Russian Orthodox Church banned its patrons from consuming. By the 19th century, the country was planting two million acres of sunflowers every year.
Sunflowers have tough, deep root systems that make them desirable as a tool to penetrate hard soils.
A sunflower is a symbol of loyalty and longevity because of the flower’s ability to retain its beauty in the face of environmental factors that would leave other plants wilted.
The oil from sunflower seeds has been used as a treatment for warts, snake bites and sunstroke.
Before more modern materials were available, the pith within the sunflower stalk was used in life-jackets to provide buoyancy because of Its extreme lightness.
Sunflowers are used to assist in clean up after a nuclear disaster. They are known as hyperaccumulators because they are capable of absorbing toxic heavy metals from the ground and have been planted at both Chernobyl and Fukushima to aid in soil restoration.
Doves, quail and turkeys rely on sunflower seeds as an important food source.
The sunflower disk provides really nice landing pads for the butterfly. The nectar from sunflowers is especially important in the summer when not as many other flowers are available.
The sunflower is the national flower of Russia and Peru, and the state flower of Kansas. (Kansas is nicknamed the "Sunflower State.")
Per gram per second, more energy runs through a sunflower than through the sun itself.
Vincent Van Gogh first painted his Sunflowers, in Paris in 1887, depicting the flowers lying on the ground. The second set, a still life of 15 sunflowers in a vase painted in radical yellows, was executed a year later in Arles. Van Gogh returned to his subject a further ten times showing sunflowers in all stages of life, from full bloom to withering. Ironically, he wasn't actually that keen on sunflowers, he preferred ivy.
Scientists used sunflowers near Chernobyl after the 1986 nuclear accident, to extract radioactive cesium from contaminated ponds nearby. Then again in 2011 at Fukushima to extract radiation from the nearby communities.
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| Sunflower By Fir0002 - Own work, |
DESCRIPTION
A sunflower looks like one large flower, but each head is composed of hundreds of tiny flowers called florets, which ripen to become the seeds.
One sunflower can contain up to 2,000 seeds.
Sunflower seeds contain about 24 to 27% protein, only slightly less than an equal weight of ground beef. Furthermore, sunflower seeds contain about twice the iron and potassium and about four times the phosphorus of beef.
The stem of the flower commonly grow to heights between 1.5 and 3.5 m (5–12 ft.), with a flower head that can be 30 cm (1 ft) wide.
Sunflowers grow best in fertile, wet, well-drained soil with a lot of mulch. In commercial planting, seeds are planted 45 cm (1.5 ft) apart and 2.5 cm (1 in) deep.
 |
| Pixiebay |
Sunflowers can be annual or perennial. The annuals bloom earlier, but the Maximilian start in August and bloom prolifically all through the fall.
The flowering head of the sunflower tracks the sun's movement, turning from east to west during the day, a phenomenon known as heliotropism.
The flower petals within the sunflower's cluster are always in a spiral pattern. Generally, each floret is oriented toward the next by approximately the golden angle, 137.5°, producing a pattern of interconnecting spirals, where the number of left spirals and the number of right spirals are successive Fibonacci numbers. Typically, there are 34 spirals in one direction and 55 in the other.
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| Head displaying florets in spirals of 34 and 55 around the outside. By L. Shyamal |
USAGE
Sunflowers are native to America. They were cultivated in North America as far back as 3000 BC, when they were developed for dye, food, medicine and oil.
Native Americans grounded the sunflower seeds into flour for cakes or bread or ate them as a snack.
The oil of the seed was used on skin and hair and the stalk was used as a building material.
When Tsar Peter the Great first came across the sunflower in the Netherlands he fell in love with the sunny plant and took them back to Russia.
The sunflower grew popular in Russia when people discovered that its seed oil was not banned during Lent, unlike the other oils the Russian Orthodox Church banned its patrons from consuming. By the 19th century, the country was planting two million acres of sunflowers every year.
Sunflowers have tough, deep root systems that make them desirable as a tool to penetrate hard soils.
A sunflower is a symbol of loyalty and longevity because of the flower’s ability to retain its beauty in the face of environmental factors that would leave other plants wilted.
The oil from sunflower seeds has been used as a treatment for warts, snake bites and sunstroke.
 |
| Sunflower seed |
Before more modern materials were available, the pith within the sunflower stalk was used in life-jackets to provide buoyancy because of Its extreme lightness.
Sunflowers are used to assist in clean up after a nuclear disaster. They are known as hyperaccumulators because they are capable of absorbing toxic heavy metals from the ground and have been planted at both Chernobyl and Fukushima to aid in soil restoration.
Doves, quail and turkeys rely on sunflower seeds as an important food source.
The sunflower disk provides really nice landing pads for the butterfly. The nectar from sunflowers is especially important in the summer when not as many other flowers are available.
FUN SUNFLOWER FACTS
The sunflower is the national flower of Russia and Peru, and the state flower of Kansas. (Kansas is nicknamed the "Sunflower State.")
Per gram per second, more energy runs through a sunflower than through the sun itself.
Vincent Van Gogh first painted his Sunflowers, in Paris in 1887, depicting the flowers lying on the ground. The second set, a still life of 15 sunflowers in a vase painted in radical yellows, was executed a year later in Arles. Van Gogh returned to his subject a further ten times showing sunflowers in all stages of life, from full bloom to withering. Ironically, he wasn't actually that keen on sunflowers, he preferred ivy.
Scientists used sunflowers near Chernobyl after the 1986 nuclear accident, to extract radioactive cesium from contaminated ponds nearby. Then again in 2011 at Fukushima to extract radiation from the nearby communities.
The tallest sunflowers are grown in areas with long, hot summers and plenty of sunlight. They need well-drained soil and regular watering. Schiffer also uses a special fertilizer that helps to promote tall growth.
Sources Daily Mail, Reporternews, Aggie-horticulture, Mental Floss
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ReplyDeleteThe blossoming top of the sunflower tracks the sun's development, abandoning east to west during the day, a wonder known as heliotrope.
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