Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)

Family: Aster Family (Asteraceae)

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Originating from the Americas, the Common Sunflower can now be found on every continent except Antarctica, both in cultivation (where it is grown for its edible seeds, useful oils and iconic flowers) and in the wild as an invasive species. Typically growing in open habitats with damp, nutrient-rich soil, members of this species are often said to turn to face the sun, although this is not strictly true; young Common Sunflowers do position their developing flowers to face towards the sun throughout the day, but upon reaching maturity their flowers remain fixed in place, almost always facing east - as the sun rises in the east, this means that the dark surface of the mature flower heads are heated up each morning, making them more attractive to ectothermic ("cold-blooded") pollinating insects. What is typically thought of as the flower of a sunflower is actually a large flower-supporting structure called a flower head, and upon closer inspection the "face" of the flower head is covered in a large number of tiny true flowers called florets - while cultivated varieties and the invasive populations descended from them only ever develop a single flowerhead, wild individuals often branch out and develop several, each supporting up to 2,000 florets. Each flower head supports both pollen-producing "male" florets and pollen-receiving "female" florets, and upon being pollinated female flowers develop into small, black, dry fruits commonly referred to as "sunflower seeds", although in reality the pale rounded structures within the "seeds", known as sunflower hearts, are the true seeds, with what is typically thought of as a sunflower seed serving to attract small animals to swallow them and allow the seeds within to be dispersed in the animals' dung. Although they reach considerable sizes (with wild individuals growing to be up to 3 meters/ 10 feet in height, with some cultivated varieties reaching even greater heights,) Common Sunflowers are short-lived, germinating, reproducing and dying in only around 10-18 weeks.

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Image Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/57983-Helianthus-annuus

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Helianthus annuus--Common Sunflower

I've ranted about them enough that they should get their own posts. lol Sunflowers have edible seeds, petals, and sometimes tubers, very young shoots, or young flowerheads. Some of them can be very aggressive.

The common sunflower, Helianthus annuus, is the one whose cultivars we grow for seeds or looks. It relies on its seeds to continue on, as it has a very short life cycle, lasting only the growing season.

All photos mine, unedited.

All but one of these is from my garden, but one of the individuals featured here was not planted by me! She put herself there and flowered rather nicely considering there isn't a ton of sun in that area. Now if only the sunchokes could follow suit. Sadly, neither from that one nor those I've planted myself, I haven't been able to get it to reliably reseed itself, but we'll see what happens this spring from those I planted last year.

🌻 sunflower

☀️Helianthus annuus

Aka. common sunflower, corona, marigold of Peru, queen of annuals, solis,

🌻General info.🌻 Sunflowers are annuals native to North America. Like the flowers in the photos, wild sunflowers have multiple branches. The flowers themselves are made up of florets that bloom in summer and fall. The petals are individual flowers called "ray flowers".

It's believed that sunflowers were domesticated about 5000yrs ago, probably in Mexico. Some native Americans planted them on the north side of their gardens where they grow corn, beans, and squash. Some groups offer seeds to the dead.

They were brought to Europe in the 16th century. There they became important to the Russian Orthodox Church where their oil became a replacement for animal fat during Lent. They're the national flower of Ukraine. Sunflowers are the state flower of Kansas, one of the city flowers of Kitakyushu, Japan. They became the symbol of the aesthetic and spiritualist movements. In the UK sunflowers are used to share that you have a hidden disability. Sunflowers gathered from the crash site of Malaysia flight 17 were planted in memory of the 15 Dutch victims, Australia did the same.

☀️🌻uses.🌻ornamental, oil, flour, feed, snacks, cleaning soil(including of radiation)

Mythology 🌻 there's a myth that the nymph Clytie turned into a sunflower in her longing for Helios. She was actually turned into a heliotropium since Ancient Greeks didn't know sunflowers existed. Seeds eaten by people wanting to conceive.

Symbolism🌻 they're sacred to solar deities. Sunflowers symbolize ambition, constancy, fall, summer, devotion, false witches, flexibility, good luck, healing, cleansing, homage, nourishment, loyalty, opportunity. Pride, vitality, unhappy love, fertility, happiness 😊, strength, sustenance, wisdom, wishes, spiritual attainment, 💛 masculine, 🌞, 🔥,

Sources. 📚

Hidden disabilities

Wikipedia Common Sunflower

Dietz, S. Theresa, The Complete Language of Flowers

Diaz, Juliet, Plant Witchery

Cunningham, Scott, Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs

Bombus on Helianthus anuus / Bumblebee on Common Sunflower

Scientific Name: Helianthus annuus Common Name(s): Common sunflower Family: Asteraceae (aster) Life Cycle: Annual Leaf Retention: N/A Habit: Forb USDA L48 Native Status: Native Location: Plano, Texas Season(s): Summer

Detail of the disk flowers.

A selection of late summer wildflowers growing in the riparian zone along the Monongahela River at the Friendship Hill National Historic Site.

From top: Paleleaf woodland sunflower (Helianthus strumosus), also known as pale-leaved sunflower, distinguished by long leaf petioles and a pale leaf underside; common sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale), a water-loving aster whose dried leaves were once used to make snuff; cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), whose scarlet, five-lobed flowers draw hummingbirds as pollinators; the closely-related great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), which early settlers once used as a treatment for syphilis (wishful thinking); and blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum), or wild ageratum, a native aster that has become popular as a garden plant.

As a note, about a dozen sunflowers call NC-WV - SW PA home and they readily hybridize, often complicating identification. Pale-leaved sunflower has a tall, branching structure up to 7 feet in height and dense clusters of large flowers. In addition to long petioles and a pale leaf underside, this sunflower has a smooth stem with a whitish bloom to it. It's a very beautiful mid-to-late summer aster and one of my favorite wildflowers of Central Appalachia.

holding my breath come on guys let's work this out hmm??? right guys??

the thing about himawari is that she's supposed to look human too and that's supposed to be SCARY. like you don't know if she's actually human and they're pretending she's a robot or she's still human but with fucked up machine internals or she's a robot with human internals or completely a robot. no one knows

Heyyy there Hufflepuffs! 💛🌻☀️

Sunflower by Mark Freeth on Flickr.

This work is licensed under CC BY 2.0. 

the literal translation of the french term for "kite" is "flying deer" so i was wondering where our own word "kite" comes from and the internet told me this:

go fly a screech owl. go play with your flying deer. i honestly can't decide which is better.

Wham Bam Alakazam, out of a.... Pink colored sky..?

tagged by the beloveds @leviiackrman & @risingsh0t to make some of my ocs in these three picrews – thank you both so much, this was so fun and i live for symbolism and motifs! ♡

🐍 diana wesker (resident evil) / 🌻 mehlia tabris (dragon age) 🚁 dani haines (resident evil) / 🐺 ithrenil (the elder scrolls) 👑 reina (saints row) / 🪦 tereza ionescu (resident evil)

tagging: @aartyom @aceghosts @aelyosos @brujah @calenhads @cultistbase @denerims @druidgroves @faarkas @florbelles @girlbosselrond @indorilnerevarine @jendoe @leopardmuffinxo @lightwardens @liurnia @malefiicarum @morvaris @nadineross @nocticulas @nuclearstorms @phillipsgraves @shadowsofrose @solasan @swordcoasts @steelport@veisshaupt @voerman @wrymbloods & you! apologies for so many tags... as always, no pressure and let me know if you'd prefer to not be tagged in these things! ♡

Helianthus nuttallii--Nuttall's Sunflower/Common Tall Sunflower

I've ranted about them enough that they should get their own posts. lol Sunflowers have edible seeds, petals, and sometimes tubers, very young shoots, or young flowerheads. Some of them can be very aggressive.

Helianthus nuttallii is the most aggressive species I'm familiar with. Pulling up rhizomes to keep them from taking over is a constant battle from spring to late summer.

All photos mine. All unedited.

But they are very pretty and the bumblebees can't get enough of them. Sometimes they even sleep in them. :) Quite an accomplishment for an individual that was planted in late September while on its last legs.