Some facts about sunflowers

• The scientific name is Helianthus? It comes from two Greek words, Helios meaning sun, and Anthos, meaning flower. The sunflower follows the sun's apparent path over the earth (phototropic), and this characteristic is how got its name.
• They belong to the Aster family. Interestingly, some sunflowers have 89 petals, which is a Fibonacci sequence number (a figure formed by adding consecutive numbers from zero).
• Sunflowers are one of the plants associated with the zodiac sign Leo the lion (23 July to 22 August) because of their mutual relationship with the Sun.
• The Sunflower is a good bee plant.
• In many parts of Europe sunflowers have provided/and still provide leaves for smoking, flower buds for salads, flowers for dyes, and oil for cooking.
• There are 67 species of sunflowers, growing in the various countries of the world.
• The sunflower is not one flower, but a cluster of more then 2000 tiny flowers growing together...go and have a closer look next time you come face to face with one.
• A sunflower's head can grow to be as big as 2 feet across and the plant itself can be as tall as 18 feet.
• The tallest sunflower grown on record was 25 feet tall and was grown in the Netherlands.
• The largest sunflower head on record measured 32 1/2 inches across its widest point and was grown in Canada.
• Miniature sunflowers can be grown using the Bonsai technique The shortest mature sunflower on record was just over 2 inches tall and was grown in Oregon using this method.
• The sunflower is the state flower of Kansas.
• The sunflower is the national flower of Russia.
• The French word for Sunflower is tournesol, or literally "turn with the sun".
  and in Spain and Italy: Girasoland
  in Germany: Sonnenblume
• Flower Meaning -Dwarf Sunflower: Adoration
  Tall Sunflower: False Riches