All About Sunnies

Most of us call them sunflowers with an

"s." But according to Mary Lou, whose
work in sunflower breeding took her to
many parts of the world for 21 years,
sunflower never turns into
sunflowers...ever! So, if you have one
sunflower or twenty, you still have
sunflower. Period. (Got it?)

Mary Lou shares these interesting facts about sunflowers:

Sunflower is a crop/plant that is actually native to the U.S.That

means it started in the United States first, before anywhere
else in the whole, wide world.

• There are actually many different sunflower species

(upwards to probably 80 different species) in the U.S.
They grow everywhere from the state of Washington to
the state of Florida. (Some of them don't look much like
the "happy" sunflowers we commonly think of when we
hear the word sunflower. That's because they're "multi-
headed," meaning they have more than one "face." They
like to grow in ditchbanks, and are usually considered just
a stubborn weed.
• Sunflower grown as crops (not weeds) fall into two main
categories: the kind with very large seeds (most
commonly black and white striped) called confectionary
sunflower and the kind called oilseed sunflower (or oiles),
sporting all-black seeds.
• The 'face' of a normal sunflower plant contains up to
3,000 individual flowers. A seed develops from each
flower, while the bigger flower "face" blooms in rings -
about an inch a day. It usually takes a full week for a
sunflower to bloom.

True or False?
Question: Do sunflower bloom by turning their face toward the
sun?
 Answer: False!

Most people think a sunflower "follows the sun," but that

actually happens when sunflower are very young plants, long
before they are ready to bloom. A fieldful of sunflower looks
beautiful first thing in the morning, as they point their faces
toward the east. By noon they're pointing straight up, and by
evening, to the west. If you check back the next morning, they'll be facing east
again.

• The sunflower plant can grow from 3 to 18 feet tall.

• A sunflower only requires 90 to 100 days to grow.
• A single sunflower can have up to 2000 seeds.
• Growing sunflowers is a great way to attract birds to your yard.
• More than sixty different varieties of sunflowers can be found in the world. Out of all these, the most common one is bright yellow, with
dark brown centers filled with seeds.
• A sunflower head is made up of 1,000 to 2,000 individual flowers that are joined together to a base. The large petals that are found
around the edge of a sunflower are individual ray flowers, these do not develop into seeds.
• A domesticated sunflower has a single-stem and a large seed head. This is in contrast to the wild variety that is highly branched with
small heads and seeds.
• A distinguishing quality of the sunflower is that its flowering head tracks the sun’s movement. This occurrence is known as "heliotropism."
• Sunflower seeds are used to produce numerous things like cooking oil, medicine, paint, animal feed and biodiesel.
• In the last few years, a new form of low-pollen sunflower has been created. This method will not only help reduce the risk of asthma for
pollen suffers, but also increase the life of the flower itself.
• New kinds of sunflowers that range from orange, tan, maroon or striped petals are being created. Not only are they different in color but,
their centers are also green and yellow instead of the original sunflower color we all love.
• The tallest sunflower was grown in the Netherlands by M. Heijmf in 1986 and was 25' 5.5" tall.
• Kansas city has been nicknamed "The Sunflower State."
• 32.5", was the size of the largest sunflower head which had been grown in Canada.
• The Bonsai technique was used to make the shortest mature sunflower record. The sunflower was grown and was just over 2" tall.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-about-sunflowers.html

Name: The botanical name is Helianthus. The Greek word "helios" means sun and "anthos" means flower.
It is aptly named after the sun which it resembles.
Description: A large flower head with usually a big dark centre and bright yellow petals.
Origin: South and West of the USA.
Colour: Most sunflowers are bright yellow with dark brown centres, but varieties are appearing now which
have tan, orange, maroon or striped petals, and green-yellow centres. Some are even without the central
disc, but are fully covered in petals instead.
Availability: A summer flower, but some are available all year round ('Orit') and most can be available from
late spring to late autumn.
Family: Asteraceae, Aster family
Varieties: There are now so many varieties owing to its popularity and sunflower is one of the top ten best
selling cut flowers in UK. 'Snittgold' cultivar, which is the classic sunflower, has more than 15 different
varieties from the small-flowered 'Sonja' to the large-flowered 'Orit'. 'Sunrich Orange' has the darkest yellow
of all the sunflower varieties. Other bi colours such as 'Prado Red' and 'Floristan' have reddish brown petals
with yellow bordering.
Care Tips: They need a lot of water.
Trivia:
Facts: Sunflower stems were used to fill lifejackets before the advent of modern materials. Low-pollen
sunflowers have been developed in recent years which not only helps asthma sufferers, but extend the
flower's life
Language of Flowers: The dwarf sunflower means "adulation".
Medicinal: The sunflower is grown for the seeds and oil it produces.Each mature flower yields 40% of its
weight as oil.
History: The flower was cultivated by North American Indians for many years as a food crop The nutritional
value is still the main reason for growing it in many parts of the world. Only recently have we begun to grow
sunflowers for decorative reasons.
Zodiac: Sunflowers are bold and exuberant and one of the flower associated with the star sign Leo.

http://www.flowers.org.uk/flowers/facts/s-z/sunflower.htm

Activity
1. Share background information about what plants need to
grow and read “The Sunflower Story” to your class before
continuing with the activity. Share and discuss sunflower
facts.
2. Divide students into seven groups, and assign each group
one of the petals of the sunflower on the “Plant Chants”
page.
3. Explain that each petal represents one of the elements a
plant needs for healthy growth.
4. Coach groups to say their chants every time you read any
variation of the word in “The Sunflower Story.”
5. Read the story.
6. Reread the story, and have students underline the stages of
the life cycle
7. Have students illustrate the stages in the sunflower cycle by
making a story wheel. Divide one paper plate into eight
sections, and illustrate each section to represent one stage in
the sunflower life cycle. Cut a wedge shape in the second
paper plate and attach it to the first with a fastener in the
center. The top plate should turn to reveal each stage of the
cycle.
8. Have each student write a paraphrase of the story.

Additional Activities
1. Have students reenact the story as a play, and reenact the
chant for students in lower grades.
2. Have students research the needs of a different plant and
write a story to act out.
3. Have each group design a logo and advertising campaign
(commercials, flyers, posters) for its assigned element to
show why it is the most important for plant growth.
5. Have students find the top sunflower-producing states
(North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Colorado and
Minnesota) on a map of the US.
6. Provide sunflower seeds in shells, and have students shell
and eat them, then boil the shells and use the liquid to make
dye for squares of muslin.
7. Have a native foods feast, and serve treats made from
pecans, sunflower seeds, blueberries and cranberries.

http://www.agclassroom.org/ok
http://www.agclassroom.org/ok
8. Make sunflower butter by placing sunflowers in
a blender and processing them on “chop.” Let
students taste it on crackers. Do a taste
comparison with peanut butter. Try doing the
same with other nuts and seeds—pecans,
almonds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, etc.
Have students predict the results for each.
9. Compare and contrast pumpkin and sunflower
seeds.Compare and contrast store-bought
sunflower seeds and seeds taken from a
sunflower. Have students use the sunflower
graphic provided to record their observations.
10. Have students research to find a connection
between sunflowers and native Americans.
Were sunflower seeds served at the first
Thanksgiving?
Extra Reading
Burnie, David, Plant, Eyewitness Books, Knopf,
1999.
Fleischman, Paul, and Judy Pederson, Seedfolks,
HarperCollins, 1997.
Garland, Sherry, The Lotus Seed, Harcourt, Brace,
Jovanovich, 1993.
Lovejoy Sharon, Sunflower Houses, Interweave,
1991.
Stewart, Sarah, and David Small, The Gardener,
Farrar, 1997.
White, Linda, and Megan Lloyd, Too Many
Pumpkins, Holiday House, 1996.

All about sunflowers

The sunflower gets its name from the
Greek words helios, meaning “sun,”
and anthos, meaning “flower.”
The sunflower is one of only four
major crops native to what we now
know as the United States. Blueberry,
cranberry, and pecan are the other
three.
Ancient people made seed balls from
sunflower butter for a convenient
traveling food.
Sunflowers did not catch on as an
edible food in the Old World until it
reached Russia. During Lent and
Advent in Russia, the Holy Orthodox
Church forbade the use of many foods
rich in oil. Sunflowers provided as an
oil source that could be eaten without
breaking the laws of the church.
In 2003 the top sunflower-producing
states in the U.S. were North Dakota,
South Dakota, Kansas, Colorado and
Minnesota.
http://www.clover.okstate.edu/fourh/aitc/lessons/intermed/plants.pdf

Sunflower seed soup

gredients:

1 cup sunflower seeds without shells

3 cups chicken broth
2 thinly sliced green onions
1 Tbs. chopped dill
Salt and pepper to taste
Garnish with croutons

Preparation:

In a large pot, combine sunflower seeds, chicken broth and green onions and bring to a
boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for one hour. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish
with croutons and dill. Serve soup in bowls.

Yield: 2 servings