A native flowering plant from the Americas.  The common sunflower is most recognizable by their single large yellow apical "flower," with an initially greenish center that turns yellow-brown and then blackish as it matures.  They typically grow to heights of around 3 meters (10 feet) with record plants reach heights of 9+ meters (30+ feet). Sunflowers are grown for various purposes such as for food, cooking oil, livestock feed, and decoration. 

Domestic sunflowers come in a variety of colors beyond the common yellow, with colors such as cream color, gold, orange, red, mahogany, and chocolate brown.  While the common types only feature a singular apical flower (one that grows at the tip of the central stem), there are also varieties that grow many additional branching flowers.  The large blooms of the sunflower while commonly called a "flower" is in fact a "flower head," a structure composed of many smaller flowers (florets) that together appear as one single flower.

Sunflowers and their relatives are heliotropic while they're developing, meaning that the plants will turn following the direction of the sun during the day.  As they get closer to maturing, the plant stiffen and lose it's ability to track the sun. Due to their heliotropic nature, most plants will mature locked facing toward the East, the direction of the rising sun.

h4. See also

* [[Sunflower seed]]
* [[Tag group:flowers]]

h4. External links

* "Wikipedia: Common Sunflower":[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_sunflower]
向日葵 ひまわり ヒマワリ