Interesting Facts About Sunflower

Friday, July 3, 2009



  • The scientific name of sunflowers is Helianthus, Helia for sun and Anthus for flower.

  • Sunflowers are a great choice for planting to attract birds to your yard.

  • Sunflowers are one of the fastest growing plants. They can grow 8 to 12 feet tall in rich soil within six months.

  • Do you know what country grew the tallest sunflower? The Netherlands (25' 5.5" tall) grown in 1986 by M. Heijmf.

  • It require only 90 to 100 days from planting to maturity.

  • The former Soviet Union grows the most sunflowers. The sunflower is the national flower of Russia.

  • The sunflower is native to North America and was used by the Indians for food and oil. Some farmers use it to feed their livestock.

  • We use sunflower seeds to make oil, bird seed and for snacking. They have lots of calcium and 11 other important minerals. They do have 50% fat, BUT it is mostly polyunsaturated linoleic acid.

  • Wild sunflower is highly branched with small heads and small seeds, in contrast to the single-stem and large seed head of domesticated sunflower.

  • Sunflower heads consist of 1,000 to 2,000 individual flowers joined together by a receptacle base. The large petals around the edge of a sunflower head are individual ray flowers which do not develop into seed.

  • A well-known sunflower characteristic is that the flowering heads track the sun's movement, a phenomenon known as heliotropism.

  • The daily orientation of the flower to the sun is a direct result of differential growth of the stem. A plant-growth regulator, or auxin, accumulates on the shaded side of a plant when conditions of unequal light prevail. Because of this accumulation, the darker side grows faster than the sunlit side. Thus, the stem bends toward the sun.

  • Sunflower seeds are rich in oil, which they store as a source of energy and food. Sunflower seeds are crushed to give us oil. We can use sunflower oil for cooking.

  • Sunflower plants can be from 3 to 18 feet tall.

  • One sunflower can have up to 2000 seeds.

  • There are more than sixty different kinds of sunflowers in the U.S.

  • Sunflowers originally came from the U.S.

  • There are two kinds of sunflower seeds- black and stripe

  • Oil is made from black seeds.

  • Snacks are made from striped seeds

  • Sunflower seeds are also used to feed birds.

  • Sunflowers are the state flower for Kansas.

  • There is only one flower on each sunflower stem.

  • Sunflowers are very beautiful flowers and are used for decoration.Sunflower plants can be from 3 to 18 feet tall. One sunflower can have up to 2000 seeds.

  • Sunflowers are also an important crop. There are more than sixty different kinds of sunflowers growing in the United States, Europe, Japan and Russia. Sunflowers originally came from the United States.

  • There are two kinds of sunflower seeds. Oil is made from black seeds and snacks are made from striped seeds. Sunflower seeds are also used to feed birds.

20 comments:

Send Flowers to Indonesia said...

Beautiful picture and a really lovely post... very interesting indeed... keep up the good show.

Anonymous said...

VERY INTERESTING FACTS! I BELEIVE THAT THE TALLEST SUNFLOWER IN THE WORLD (ACCORDING TO THE GUINESS WORLD RECORD) IS IN GERMANY, WITH A HEIGHT OF 8.03M (26FT 4 IN), OWNED BY HANS-PETER SCHIFFER!

Anonymous said...

I think that was before they found the one in Germany! Any way there are really cool and interesting facts. Awesome site if you want to do research on Sunflowers.

Anonymous said...

there is another kind of seed and that is the whits seed

Anonymous said...

Awesome information! Helped a lot did you know that sunflowers always face north?

Anonymous said...

Awesome facts! Helped heaps. Did you know that sunflowers always face north?

Anonymous said...

Awesome information! Helped heaps. Did you know that sunflowers always face north?

Anonymous said...

cool NOOOOOOT

Anonymous said...

thanks for the great facts!

Anonymous said...

Sunflowers don't always face north. I have a row of sunflowers that are very tall, about 11' tall. The flowers are very large and do follow the sun which is neat to watch but the flowers always face south.

Anonymous said...

Actually, Sunflowers "track" the sun in their infant stages when buds are young. In their adult stage they will permanently face east. Did you know that?

Aleena Razee said...

Wonderful facts. Have a glance at this blog Interesting Facts and say your opinion.

Anonymous said...

nice information, I think it was rightly said that sunflower in thier adult stage permanantly face east.

Anonymous said...

Nice facts, It is rightly said that sunflower in their adult stage thay will permanently face east.

Banana said...

why can't you give more info on how they look c'mon u can do better than this

Anonymous said...

Good facts helped with me a lot on my research paper did you also know that the new tallest flower is in Russia now? it is about 30 meters tall. Thanks for the info. still.

Unknown said...

On my homework fair, it was very hard to think of my own facts... but with these interesting facts, i can think of anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT'S AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

On my homework fair, it was very hard to think of my own facts... but with these interesting facts, i can think of anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT'S AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Ukraine's national flower is sunflower. Russia's national flower is chamomile.