Information & 90 Facts About Sunflowers

Information & 90 Facts About Sunflowers

• There are about 70 species of sunflowers.
• The sunflower was brought to Russia by royalty.
• The sunflower was domesticated around 5,000 years ago.
• Sunflowers were introduced to Europe in the 16th century.
• Sunflowers are considered a phytoremediator. They can remove contaminants from the soil.
• Sunflowers have been proven to have the ability to remove notable quantities of arsenic from soil.
• When these flowers have wilted outdoors and the heads have gone brown, they can be harvested for seeds.
• It's not just birds who like to eat sunflower seeds. We can also eat them. You can buy them ready to eat or harvest your own for snacking on.
• Sunflowers are one of the fastest-growing plants which is why they tend to make a great first gardening project for children.
• Tall varieties of this plant can easily grow between 8 to 12 feet tall within five or six months.
• The sunflower became the official state flower of Kansas in 1903. Kansas is also referred to as the Sunflower State for this reason.
• Ukraine is the largest sunflower seed producer, followed by Russia.
• South Dakota is the largest producer of sunflowers in the United States, followed by North Dakota and Texas.
• There are two main types of sunflower seeds. Black seeds, also known as Black Oil, are 45% richer in Sunflower oil and are mainly used in manufacturing. Grey seeds, also known as White seeds, are mostly used for snacks and animal food, such as birdseed.
• The United States produces oil-type sunflowers and non-oil sunflower seeds.
• The growing season for sunflowers in the United States is from June to September.
• Oil-type seeds contain between 38% to 50% oil. So, for every 100 pounds of seeds, about 40 pounds of oil is produced.
• Spanish conquistadors exported the flowers to the rest of the world by around 1500.
• Tsar Peter the Great took some of the flowers back to Russia with him from the Netherlands where they became popular when it was discovered sunflower seed oil was not banned during Lent, unlike other oils the Russian Orthodox Church banned patrons from consuming. By the 19th century, about two million acres of sunflowers were planted in the country every year.
• Sunflower production in America exploded a few times in history. In the 19th century when Russian immigrants brought back seeds that grew bigger blooms. Again in 1946 when Missouri farmers began producing sunflower oil after Canada developed a seed-crushing machine. In the 1970s consumers took to sunflower seed oil as a low-cholesterol alternative to animal fats.
• Sunflowers need a lot of suns. The flowers grow best with about 6 to 8 hours of sun a day, but more is better.
• Sunflower buds and young blossoms will face east in the morning and follow the sun throughout the day. However, as they get heavier during seed production, the stems will stiffen, and the mature flower heads will usually remain facing east.
• Each sunflower’s head is made of smaller flowers.
• The petals around the outside are called ray florets, which cannot reproduce. On the other hand, the disc florets in the middle, where the seeds develop, have both male and female organs, and each produces a seed. They can self-pollinate or take pollen transported by insects or blown by the wind.
• Sunflower is a flowering plant that produces flowers that have a similar appearance to the sun.
• Sunflower is also known as the common sunflower.
• The sunflower is a member of the Helianthus genus in the Asteraceae family.
• The flower of a sunflower plant is heliotropic, which means it can move in response to the sun’s current direction. Only the buds and young flowers move with the sun. As the flower matures and starts to produce seeds it will have a fixed direction, which is typically east.
• The disk of a single sunflower contains up to 2,000 tiny flowers. All those tiny brown and yellow fuzzies in the middle of a sunflower disk are tiny flowers, which can make thousands of seeds.
• Sunflowers reproduce through pollination, with the support of pollinators, like bees. However, if a sunflower can’t access pollinators it can pollinate itself.
• Sunflowers are popular for their beauty and the seeds they produce.
• Sunflower seeds have become an important and valuable agricultural crop.
• Sunflower seeds are the fruit of a sunflower, which can be eaten or turned into an oil.
• Sunflower oil is used as a cooking oil and in cosmetic products as a moisturize and protectant.
• According to FAOSTAT, the world produced over 57 million tons of sunflower seeds in 2018.
• According to FAOSTAT, the world’s largest producer of sunflower seeds in 2018 was Ukraine.
• According to data from FAOSTAT, Ukraine produced over 15 million tons of sunflower seeds in 2018.
• Sunflowers are native to America. The flowers were cultivated in North America as early as 3000 BC, to be developed for food, medicine, dye, and oil.
• The flowers originated in the area known as the prairie states of the United States. They are also the state flower of Kansas.
• On average, they can grow as tall as 16 feet. The stem can grow as tall as 12 ft, while the head can reach over 12 inches in diameter. However, many varieties have been developed to flourish at different heights.
• If the flowers are planted too close together, they will compete and not blossom to their full potential.
• Typically sunflowers have between 1,000 to 1,400 florets and potential seeds.
• Once the flower heads are empty of seeds, they can be converting into disposable scrubbing pads for jobs too tough for your cleaning tool.
• Non-oil seeds have a lower oil percentage and are divided into 3 categories. Food-grade, ingredients, and others. Food-grade seeds are usually the largest and cleanest. Ingredient sunflower seeds are still of good quality but do not have the right characteristics. The rest of the seeds are then used in birdseed and other animal feed because they are usually a smaller, low-quality product.
• The scientific name of Sunflower is “Helianthus”. “Helia” for Sun + “Anthus” for Flower.
• The Tallest Sunflower is Over 30 Feet confirmed by Guinness World Records on August 28, 2014.
• During the day, the young sunflower follows the direction of the sun across the sky from east to west. This process is known as heliotropism.
• At night, the plants turn to face east to start their journey with the sun.
• The mature flower heads will generally remain facing east.
• The movement of the sunflowers is due to uneven growth, One side of the stem elongates during the day and another side during the night.
• There Are Thousands of Tiny Flowers That Create a Sunflower’s Head. The outside petals are called ray florets, and they cannot reproduce.
• A single sunflower can have up to 2000 seeds.
• Most people know is sunflowers are yellow. But they can even be red and purple!
• Sunflower seeds traveled to space In 2012, the U.S., with astronaut Don Pettit. More plants in the space.
• Sunflowers were used to remove cesium-137 and strontium-90 from the water after the Chernobyl disaster.
• Sunflowers are being used to clean up radioactive material in the soil near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which was the source of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
• Sunflower is one of just a very small handful of plants with the word flower in its actual name. Other flowering plants with flowers in their name include safflower, elderflower, coneflower, cornflower, and waxflower.
• The Annuus part of the scientific name of a sunflower, Helianthus Annuus, refers to the fact that these flowers are an annual plant and live for just one year.
• Not many people realize that sunflower is not just a single flower. The large dark middles of these flowers are actually made up of thousands of individual flowers.
• After pollination by bees and other insects, the flowers in the middle of each sunflower grow into edible seeds.
• Sunflowers are the national flower of Ukraine in Eastern Europe. Ukraine is one of the world's biggest producers of sunflower seeds and also oil.
• Sunflowers are a symbol of faith and loyalty, optimism and happiness, long life, and good luck. They are associated with all things happy and positive and really are cheerful flowers.
• The French word for sunflower is tournesol. Tournesol literally means turns with the sun. The French name refers to the fact that these flowers are heliotropic.
• Sunflowers have many positive meanings but they are also truly positive with the fact that they are able to take up and absorb toxins and heavy metals from the polluted ground.
• Sunflowers have long inspired the world's best creative minds in literature and art. Great artists such as Vincent Van Gogh have produced famous and iconic paintings of this flower.

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