# Sunflowers - Source: Kiddle (kids.kiddle.co), CC BY-SA 3.0, Kiddle encyclopedia, adapted from Wikipedia - Reading level: Grade 5 - Subjects: Plants, Nature - Topics: sunflowers, sunflower, seeds, people, flowers, called - Length: 1225 words, about 9 min - Published: 2026-03-29 - Original: - Page: - Open in Sprouts: ![A sunflower.jpg](https://sprout.rootsofreason.org/media/kiddle-sunflowers-2b8813d3f2.jpg) The **sunflower** (*Helianthus annuus*) is a tall, yearly plant from the daisy family. Sunflowers are famous for their bright, large "flowers" and are grown for their edible seeds. These seeds are a popular snack food and are also used to make cooking oil. Farmers use them to feed livestock, and people put them out for bird food. Many people also plant sunflowers in their gardens because they look beautiful. Wild sunflowers often have many smaller flower heads, but the ones grown by people usually have one big flower head on a single stem. ## Discovering the Sunflower Plant This amazing plant has a straight, somewhat hairy stem that can grow very tall. Sunflowers typically reach about 3 meters (10 feet) in height. The tallest sunflower ever recorded grew to an incredible 10.9 meters (35 feet, 9 inches)! Sunflower leaves are wide, have rough edges, and are mostly arranged alternately along the stem. The leaves closer to the ground are the largest and often shaped like a heart. ### Sunflower's Unique Flower Head Sunflowers bloom during the summer months. What we usually call the "flower" of a sunflower is actually a special cluster of many tiny flowers. This cluster is called a "flower head" or pseudanthium. It can be about 7.5 to 12.5 centimeters (3 to 5 inches) wide. Each flower head is made up of hundreds of small, individual flowers called florets. The bright, yellow "petals" on the outside are called ray flowers. These ray flowers are sterile, meaning they don't produce seeds. They can be yellow, red, orange, or other colors. The tiny flowers in the center of the head are called disk flowers. These disk flowers are arranged in a spiral pattern and are the ones that develop into the sunflower "seeds" we eat. ### How Sunflowers Follow the Sun ![SunflowerSunset2](https://sprout.rootsofreason.org/media/kiddle-sunflowers-46a5ff7bf3.jpg) Flower heads facing east, away from the late afternoon sun Many people think that sunflower heads always turn to follow the Sun across the sky. This is a common idea, but it's not entirely true for mature sunflowers. Young sunflower buds do show this behavior, called heliotropism. They face east in the morning and slowly turn west as the Sun moves. However, once a sunflower head is fully grown and blooming, it stops tracking the Sun. Instead, it usually stays facing in one direction, most often towards the east. ### The Amazing Pattern of Florets ![SunflowerModel](https://sprout.rootsofreason.org/media/kiddle-sunflowers-4bfae43dfc.png) Vogel's model for *n*=1 ... 500 If you look closely at a sunflower's center, you'll see a beautiful pattern of spirals. Each tiny floret is placed at a specific angle from the next, creating these spirals. For example, you might see 39 spirals going one way and 55 going the other. In very large sunflowers, there could even be 89 and 144 spirals! This special arrangement helps the sunflower pack its seeds in the most efficient way possible. ### Sunflower's Genetic Code The sunflower has its own unique genetic code, called a genome. It has 17 pairs of chromosomes. Scientists estimate that the sunflower genome is quite large, containing billions of base pairs, which is even slightly larger than the human genome. This complex code holds all the instructions for how a sunflower grows and develops. ## Where Sunflowers Grow Sunflowers were first grown by people in the Americas a very long time ago. In the 16th century, sunflower seeds were brought to Europe from the Americas. There, they became a popular ingredient for cooking, especially the oil made from them. Over time, a lot of sunflower production moved to Eastern Europe. As of 2020, Russia and Ukraine together produced more than half of all sunflower seeds worldwide. Sunflowers grow best in rich, moist soil that drains well. They are often found in open, dry areas and on hillsides. Outside of farms, wild sunflowers can be found in places with climates similar to Texas, often in moist, clay-based soils. It's a bit tricky to know exactly where sunflowers originally grew in the wild. However, experts believe they are native to parts of Arizona, California, and Nevada in the United States, and most of Mexico. Today, you can find sunflowers growing in almost every part of the world that isn't a tropical jungle, a desert, or a frozen tundra. ## Sunflower Ecology ### Threats and Diseases for Sunflowers Like all plants, sunflowers can face challenges from diseases and pests. One major threat is a type of fungus called *Fusarium*. This fungus lives in the soil and can cause a lot of damage to sunflower crops, sometimes destroying up to 80% of them. Another disease that affects sunflowers is Downy mildew. Sunflowers are especially vulnerable to this disease because their seeds are often planted shallowly in the ground. If the soil is very wet, it creates perfect conditions for Downy mildew to spread. Broomrapes are also a big problem for sunflowers. These are parasitic plants that attach to the roots of other plants, including sunflowers, and steal their nutrients. Broomrapes can cause complete loss of sunflower crops. ## Growing Sunflowers ![Dwarf sunflower seedling](https://sprout.rootsofreason.org/media/kiddle-sunflowers-969e8588c4.jpg) Seedling of a dwarf sunflower ![Solros - Common sunflower - (Helianthus annuus) - Ystad - 2025](https://sprout.rootsofreason.org/media/kiddle-sunflowers-d8507428ec.jpg) An 8 cm tall seedling of a common sunflower. When farmers plant sunflowers, they usually place the seeds about 45 centimeters (1.5 feet) apart and 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) deep in the soil. ### A Brief History of Sunflower Cultivation Native Americans were among the first people to grow sunflowers in North America, thousands of years ago. They were part of a group of important crops that also included plants like goosefoot and squash. While it was once thought that sunflowers were first grown in the southeastern US, there is now evidence that they were first domesticated in Mexico around 2600 BCE. The earliest fully domesticated sunflowers found in the US date back to about 2300 BCE in Tennessee. Many Native American groups saw the sunflower as a symbol of their sun god. For example, the Aztecs and Otomi people in Mexico, and the Incas in South America, all honored the sunflower. In 1510, Spanish explorers brought sunflower seeds from the Americas back to Europe. In the 16th century, new types of sunflowers were brought from America to Europe. Later, they were introduced to the Russian Empire. There, people started growing sunflowers on a large scale to produce oil. This method of growing sunflowers for oil was so successful that the Russian Empire later reintroduced it to North America in the mid-20th century, starting a new era of commercial sunflower farming there. During the 18th century, sunflower oil became very popular in Russia, especially because it was a plant-based fat that could be eaten during Lent, a time when many people followed special fasting traditions. A merchant named Daniil Bokaryov helped make sunflower oil widely available in the early 19th century. ### Global Sunflower Seed Production | Sunflower seed production – 2024 | | | --- | --- | | Country | (Millions of tonnes ) | | Russia | 16.9 | | Ukraine | 13 | | European Union | 8.5 | | Argentina | 4.5 | | Kazakhstan | 1.83 | | China | 1.75 | | Turkey | 1.35 | | South Africa | 0.77 | | World | 51.9 | | Source: FAS of the USDA | | In 2024, the world produced about 51.9 million tonnes of sunflower seeds. Russia and Ukraine were the top producers, together making up 58% of the total. ### Helping Sunflowers Grow with Fertilizer Scientists have studied how different types of fertilizers help sunflowers grow. They found that certain nitrogen-based fertilizers, like ammonium nitrate, helped sunflowers absorb nitrogen better. This is important for healthy plant growth. ## Picture credits - Public domain () - shirleybolling2005, CC BY 2.0 () - Doron , cmglee, CC BY-SA 3.0 () - Hildabast, CC0 () - Foto: Jonn Leffmann, CC BY 4.0 ()