Classifications of Sunflowers

Kingdom

• The sunflower belongs to the kingdom Plantae. This simply means it belongs to the plant kingdom, as opposed to the animal kingdom or any other kingdom.

Subkingdom

• The next part of the common sunflower's name refers to its subkingdom: Tracheobionta. Plants belonging to this subkingdom are vascular plants with a system of veins for carrying nutrients throughout their structures. Plants with vascular systems can grow much taller than those without vascular systems, because they are able to transport nutrients and water against gravity throughout a larger structure. In contrast, moss is a classic example of a nonvascular plant.

Superdivision and Division

• The next piece of the sunflower's name, Spermatophyta, identifies the plant's superdivision. The common sunflower's superdivision name indicates that it reproduces from seeds. Seed plants are divided into two main groups: naked seed plants and flowering plants. Angiospermae, the next part of the common sunflower's scientific name, indicates that the common sunflower is a flowering plant. Flowering plants are further divided into six distinct groups. The sunflower belongs to the group of flowering plants called Eudicotyledon.

Subclass, Order and Family

• The next three parts of the common sunflower's name are its subclass, order and family: Asteridae, Asterales and Asteraceae. These names simply narrow, and more explicitly define the family of flowers to which the sunflower belongs. The Asteraceae, or Aster, family contains 477 genera.

Genus

• In the classification of plants, families define groups of genera that have common characteristics. Of the nearly 500 genera of the Aster family, the common sunflower belongs to the genus Helianthus. This genus contains approximately 70 species, a number which is somewhat fluid as new species are discovered and old species are combined.

Species and Botanist

• The sunflower belongs to the species annuus which, translated from Latin, means "annual." The letter "L," which appears after the species name, identifies the botanist who scientifically described the plant. Coincidentally, the L in the common sunflower's name refers to Carl Linnaeus.

Latin

• The scientific names of plants are written in Latin. While a plant's complete Latin name helps define its place in life, you will most often see a plant named only by its genus and species. The common sunflower "Helianthus annuus" simply translates to "Sunflower, annual."

Cultivars

• The common annual sunflower is available in many cultivars, or varieties. When looking at sunflower seed packets at a garden center, you may see Helianthus annuum "Russian Giant," which is a giant sunflower, or Helianthus annuum "Autumn Beauty," a smaller cultivar that displays fall-like colors. The cultivar is not included in the Latin scientific name; it's a description to help gardeners and scientists identify a specific variety within a species.