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Annual Sunflower
Ethobotany: The cultivated sunflower, widely grown for seed, oil and as an ornamental, is derived from H. annus, and is considered one of the world’s most important oil crops. Seeds, or achenes, of H. annus were gathered as food by Native Americans of the Western United States, and the species was already in cultivation in North America when European settlers arrived to the area. Annual sunflower is the only major crop to originate from what is today the United States (Tull 1999). The sunflower was one of the first New World crops introduced to Europe in the late 1500’s. Sunflower seed yield good protein, vitamins, minerals, and high quality oil. Besides being useful in cooking, sunflower oil is used in soaps, paints and varnishes. Sunflowers were used in religious ceremonies and creation of myths of the Onondaga of New York. American Indians ground the seeds into meal, used the oil as food and as a base for painted pigments, and also used various parts of the plant medicinally. Indians also made cordage with the stem fibers and used the seeds and flowers for dyes. The Chinese reportedly have used fibers from the sunflower stalks in fabrics, and the pulp even shows promise for paper production. Furthermore, the Russians have used the pith of the stalks as a buoyant material for life preservers (Tull 1999). Wildlife Value: Sunflower have fair wildlife value. White-tailed deer commonly forage on flower heads and new vegetative growth in mid- to late-summer. Seeds are consumed by Quail, Mourning Dove; and numerous small mammals; and songbirds such as various sparrows, American Goldfinch, Carolina Chickadee, and Dark-eyed Juncos. Jeff Sparks (Natural Resources Coordinator) Last Update: |
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A native annual found growing in stream bottoms, roadsides and disturbed areas throughout Texas. Blooms May to October. Annual sunflower is extremely variable in size, flowering when as small as 10-cm tall or as high as 4-m tall. Leaf blades are triangular-ovate-lanceolate and are mostly alternate but lower most leaves may be opposite. Helianthus is a North American genus consisting of approximately 50 species. 