|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
Kansas State Flower:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Kansas recognized the sunflower as official state flower in 1903 (the sunflower is also featured on the Kansas state quarter, state flag, and the nickname for Kansas is "The Sunflower State)."
American Indians were using native sunflowers for food over 3,000 years ago. These wild sunflower seeds were only about 5 mm. long. Over hundreds of years and careful husbandry (selecting only the largest seeds for cultivation), the plains indians began the development of today's large modern sunflower, rich with oil. Sunflower heads consist of 1,000 to 2,000 individual flowers joined together by a receptacle base. The large petals around the edge of a head are actually individual ray flowers, which do not develop into seed. There are more than 60 species of sunflowers. The Native Sunflower grows to 15 feet tall with flower heads up to 2 feet in diameter, and can produce over 1,000 seeds from one plant. The flower head turns and faces the sun throughout the day - tracking the sun's movement. Sunflower seeds are rich in protein and yield a high-quality vegetable oil. |
|
Source: |
Sunflower: an American Native: U of Missouri
|
Links: |
Sunflower Family (Asteraceae): Wayne's World
|
|
Great gifts for teachers - travelers - students!
|
|
|
|
State Symbols USA is a nonprofit organization promoting
|
|
