Tall and stately, the sunflower brings to mind the simple joys of a summer day in the country. The celebrated inspiration for countless painters and authors, this flower is just purely charming. Sunflowers are a New World native. They have been found in archeological digs which date them to over three thousand years ago. In the Americas they were used by the Incas as a symbol of their sun god. Not only are they an intense golden color, but fields of sunflowers actually track the sun across the sky on sunny days. Large flower buds follow the sun all day, only to return to face eastward again before the dawn. When they begin to bloom, the flowers usually stop tracking and stay facing eastward. Sunflowers were introduced to Europe by Spanish explorers who returned with seeds and plants. Although there are many varieties which look different, the sunflower is best known for its varieties with towering thick stems, broad leaves and wide faced flowers, rimmed with golden petals and full of seeds in their brown centers.
Certainly the most recognizable feature of the sunflower is its height. World records have been set for the plants around twenty five feet tall! Each stalk of these famous varieties produces one flower head. These flower heads are also highly recognizable. They too are usually large, some as big around as dinner plates, and can take a week to open fully. There are smaller varieties as well, ones with shorter stalks, smaller heads, and even ones with multiple faces. Sunflower blooms are considered to be flower heads because they contain smaller flowers, or florets, across the interior of what most people perceive to be the whole flower. Because of this and other attributes, sunflowers are actually members of the Asteraceae family, the same family as daisies and asters. The centers, full of spiraling, tiny florets eventually mature to contain seeds. The common name 'sunflower' comes from the translation of the scientific name Helianthus, as helios is Greek for sun and anthos for flower.
In the modern world, sunflowers play a special part in society. They are grown for their beauty, adding sunshine to gardens and cut arrangements. They are also used as a food source for birds and humans. Each sunflower in some species can produce over 2,000 seeds. Some produce black seeds used to make oil, while others produce striped seeds, eaten as snack and bird food. Sunflowers are also extremely useful, as leftovers from processing seeds can be made into livestock food, and latex and biodiesel (a diesel fuel alternative) can also be produced from the plant. The fibrous stalks of the plant were once used as filler for life preservers, before modern synthetics replaced them.
Sunflowers, as their name would suggest, love sunny open spaces with moist, well drained soil. They are grown worldwide by home gardeners and huge farming industries as well. They are a big hit with children because of their rapid growth and unusual mature size. New varieties are being created every day to help with disease resistance, to improve some qualities for better farming, and to introduce new colors. There are new types which sport burgundy, reds, mauves and even striped petals and different colored centers as well. These lovely rustic flowers will always bring cheer and warmth in whatever way they are used, in bouquets or in fields chasing after the sun.