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: a large flower head with usually a big dark centre and bright yellow petals.
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.
A summer flower, but some are available all year round ('Orit') and most can be available from late spring to late autumn. It originates from the South and West of the USA, and 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.
A plant of the genus Helianthus of the family Asteraceae, the sun is attributed with a number of uses. The nutritious seeds were eaten raw, made into a meal, and even sometimes used as a source of hair oil. A yellow dye was obtained from the flower heads, and a fibre from the stalks. Today the common sunflower is widely cultivated; it is particularly valued in the countries of the former Soviet Union, where the seeds are made into bread. The seeds are almost universally used as a poultry food and principally as the source of oil utilized for such purposes as cooking and soap making.
The common sunflower is the state flower of Kansas, and a sunflower is regarded as the floral emblem of Peru, where this flower was much revered by the Aztecs, and in their temples of the Sun, the priestesses were crowned with Sunflowers and carried them in their hands. The early Spanish conquerors found in these temples numerous representations of the Sunflower wrought in pure gold. The giant sunflower, also called the ‘tall sunflower’ is a composite plant, Helianthus giganteus with very large yellow flower heads.
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.