Sunflowers
Sunflowers are usually grown to produce sunflower oil, but the flowers are also planted as ornamental flowers in gardens. Smaller sunflowers can be used as cut flowers. Sunflower seeds are eaten raw or roasted as a snack.
Names
Scientific
Helianthus annuus
English
Sunflower
Dutch
Zonnebloem
Spanish
Girasol
Mirasol
French
Grand soleil
Tournesol
German
Sonnenblume
Italian
Girasole
Taxonomy
Genus
Helianthus
Family
Asteraceae
Order
Asterales
Basic information and facts
Origin:
Sunflower originates from America.
Distribution:
Nowadays, sunflower has almost worldwide distribution mainly temperate and subtropical regions. Highest production is in Ukraine, Russia, Argentina, China, France, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Hungary, USA, and Tanzania.
Annual, biennial, or perennial:
Sunflower is an annual plant.
Flowers:
Wild sunflowers are branched plants with many smaller flower heads, but the cultivated sunflower has only one large flower head at the end of an unbranched stem. The big yellow flower head looks like the sun.
Climate and weather:
Sunflowers grow in a wide range of climates including temperate, subtropical and semi arid climates.
Pollination:
By insects.
Height:
Sunflowers are generally 2 to 3 meters tall.
Spacing:
About 45 cm.
Propagation:
By seed.
Uses:
Most sunflowers are cultivated to produce sunflower oil which is extracted from the seeds. it is used as a cooking oil, to produce margarine, or as a bio-fuel. The cake which is left over after extracting the oil is used as a feed for animals. Sunflower seeds are eaten as a snack and are used as bird feed.
Sunflowers are often grown as ornamental flowers in gardens. Smaller varieties can be sold as cut flowers.
Did you know that?
- Sunflowers appear in several painting of the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh.
Crop categories
Edible seeds
Vegetable oils
Cut flowers
Ornamental plants
Subtropical crops
Temperate crops
Pictures
Sunflowers
Sunflower
Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh
Sunflowers