Wild Native Sunflowers

Identification

• Wild sunflowers differ from domesticated sunflowers because they're heavily branched, containing small seeds and seed heads. They have triangular to lance-shaped leaves with rough surfaces. Their leaf structure is simple with a pinnate or parallel venation. Prickly, short hairs, that are sometimes purple or other dark colors, cover their stems. They have showy ray flowers that are yellow and their disk flowers are brown.

Size

• According to Floridata, most sunflowers are tall, growing 8 to 15 feet high and contain large flower heads that are 8 to 12 inches wide. They have leaf blades that are 10 inches long and a single sunflower head that can produce as many as 1,000 seeds.

Geography

• Sunflowers grow wild in several semi-arid areas throughout the world from Argentina to Canada. They also grow in central Africa and in the Soviet Union. These plants do best in disturbed or low-lying locations, including roadsides, crop fields, field edges and overgrazed pastures. They're found growing wild in prairies, woodlands, old fields and glades.

History

• It's believed western Native Americans first cultivated sunflowers as far back as 1000 B.C. Europeans later cultivated the crop in various regions in North America, from Mexico to southern Canada. Spain probably brought sunflowers to Europe where they spread, until reaching Russia where the plant quickly adapted. The wild native sunflower became the state flower of Kansas in 1903.