Bright As A Sunflower

by Kathy White

Title

Bright As A Sunflower

Artist

Kathy White

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

I love to see a field of beautiful sunflowers. They stand so tall and regal and have so much vibrant color. The Sunflower is an annual plant native to the Americas. It possesses a large inflorescence (flowering head). The sunflower is named after its huge, fiery blooms, whose shape and image are often used to depict the sun. It has a rough, hairy stem, broad, coarsely toothed, rough leaves and circular heads of flowers. The heads consist of many individual flowers which mature into seeds, often in the hundreds, on a receptacle base. From the Americas, sunflower seeds were brought to Europe in the 16th century, where, along with sunflower oil, they became a widespread cooking ingredient. Leaves of the sunflower can be used as cattle feed, while the stems contain a fiber which may be used in paper production.
To grow best, sunflowers need full sun. They grow best in fertile, moist, well-drained soil with heavy mulch. In commercial planting, seeds are planted 1.5 feet apart and 1 inch deep. Sunflower's "whole seed" (fruit) are sold as a snack food, raw or after roasting in ovens, with or without salt and/or seasonings added. Sunflowers can be processed into a peanut butter alternative, sunflower butter. It is also sold as food for birds and can be used directly in cooking and salads. American Indians had multiple uses for sunflowers in the past, such as in bread, medical ointments, dyes and body paints.
The sunflower is the state flower of the US state of Kansas, and one of the city flowers of Kitakyūshū, Japan. It is also the national flower of Ukraine.

Uploaded

October 24th, 2012

Statistics

Viewed 234 Times  -  Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/15/2024 at 2:39 PM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags