By Randi Lynn Mrvos
Illustrated by Soheila Soheily
What is the state flower of Kansas?
What is the world’s second most important oil crop, after soybeans?
What is the flower van Gogh used as a subject for his paintings?
If “sunflower” is your answer to all questions, then you are correct!
Botanists, scientists who study plants, call sunflowers Helianthus (hee-lee-AN- thus). Helianthus comes from two Greek words: Helios and Anthos. Helios means sun, and anthos, flower. Sunflowers got their name because their flower heads look like the sun, and they face the sun as they grow.
Sunflowers are members of the Compositae (kum-PAH-zi-tee) family, one of the largest plant families. Plants of the Compositae family have a flower head that looks like a single flower, but is really composed of many tiny flowers, called florets, growing closely together. The Composite (also known as the daisy or sunflower family) contains approximately 20,000 plants, including those you see very often in your neighborhood and local florists, such as daisies, marigolds, dandelions, and chrysanthemums. Some plants in this family are used for powerful insecticides and industrial chemicals. Several species are grown as medicinal and culinary herbs.
Like many plants in this family, the head of a sunflower is made up of two different kinds of florets—disk florets and ray florets. Disk florets are the hundred’s of small flowers that grow in the center of the head. They produce nectar and pollen. Ray florets have showy petals that grow around the outside of the disk flowers. Their bright color attracts insects to pollinate the disk florets.
Sunflowers originally came from South America, Central America, and North America. When the Spanish explorers returned home in the early 1500’s, they brought sunflowers back with them. Soon, sunflowers spread throughout Europe and Russia. Two kinds of sunflowers are grown in the United States. The gray-striped seeds (confectionary type) are grown for snacking and baking. The smaller black seeds, called oilseeds, are processed into oil and meal. Sunflower oil is used to make margarine, salad dressing, and sometimes diesel fuel. In the US, sunflower is an important agricultural crop. In 2000 alone, the US exported $241.4 million of sunflowers seeds and oil. North Dakota, South Dakota, and Kansas are the three major sunflower producing states.
Native Americans used almost every part of the sunflower plant. They ground seeds into a coarse flour, mixed it with buffalo fat, and baked it into small cakes. Seeds were also ground to make black and purple dye for baskets and clothing. The roots were eaten raw or cooked and used in making teas and ointments. Stalks and leaves were used to make yellow dye. Sometimes the stalks were carved to make flutes!
Sunflowers are also an important crop in Europe, where the seeds are eaten as a snack and used in making oil. Russia has the largest amount of land in use for growing sunflowers in the world. Sunflower seeds are made into cooking oil and strong rubbing oil for medical purposes. The left over seed parts from making oil are fed to their livestock. In Asia, the oil is used for canning fish and for burning in lamps. The plant fibers are used to make paper.
When you think of sunflowers, do you imagine flowers as yellow as sunshine? Though yellow is their most common color, sunflowers can come in red, orange, bronze, and even white! Over 150 different kinds of sunflowers have been identified. They come in different size and color, and many have unusual names, such as Big Smile, Happy Face, Valentine, and Sundance Kid. Would you like to grow sunflowers as yellow as sunshine or plant red, bronze or white sunflowers? Growing them is fun and easy.
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