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Sunflower Trivia - Sunflower Facts for Kids
The sunflower has been identified with the sun, gold, and its image has been worshiped as a god. Here is a slew of sunflower trivia and facts for your science projects, Kids.
Sunflowers are actually "composite flowers", or "heads"
A sunflowers also has a "neck", the pulvinus
Sunflowers have motor cells, in the pulvinus, which move the head so it faces the sun
Heliotropism is the term for this plant characteristic of moving its head
Sunflower "faces" follow the sun east to west through the sky and return at night to face the east, ready for the morning sun
Heliotropism only occurs during early stages before the florets form seeds
Sunflowers typically reach a height of 8 to 12 feet (2.5-3.5 m)
Their peak height is related to their growing conditions, including planting depth and timing
Sunflowers are native to the Americas, which means they were first found in the Americas and the seeds were then carried to and planted in other parts of the world
25 feet tall sunflowers have been grown in Ontario, Canada
Sunflowers are the state flower of Kansas, USA
Sunflowers are the city flower of Kitakyushu, Japan
The Incas used the image of the sunflower as their Sun God
Sunflower head is a composite pattern of florets (leaves and petals) grown with mathematical precision
The florets pattern is complex - it encorporates a golden angle, Fibonacci numbers, a golden ratio, the constant 137.5 angle and forms successive spirals which switch direction and density in Fibonacci precision, a form of Fermat's spiral
Sunflower's binomial name is Helianthus annuus
Scientific classification in the Plantae Kingdom:
Magnoliopsida, Asterales, Asteraceae, Helianthus, H. annuus
(Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species - remember that from Freshman Biology?)
"Wild sunflowers" are the ones with multiple flowers (heads), and are becoming popular with gardeners, and now cultivated for varieties of seeds
Sunflower colors can range from yellow to orange to reds, maroons and browns (My sunflower colors I enjoyed August '08 below.)
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