Andalucia Life Fauna and Flora, Flowers of Andalucia Southern Spain
August 2005, Sunflower, Helianthus annuus
The sunflower is native to North America where it has been grown since about 1000BC from Canada as far south as Mexico. During the 16th Century the Spanish explorers brought seeds back to Spain where the sunflower thrived and its seeds rapidly became, and still are, a favourite snack. From Spain the sunflower spread throughout the Mediterranean and from there worked its way north as far as Britain and Russia. Because the plant seeds freely it also establishes itself outside the cultivated fields where it reverts back to its original form, a sage green stem with large heart shaped leaves carrying one dinner plate size bright yellow flower with a dark brown centre on its growing top and smaller subsidiary flowers in its leaf axils. The native form rarely exceeds a metre in height. A field of sunflowers in flower during the summer is a spectacular sight especially as the cultivated plants grow to over 2 metres and it is easy to see why Andalucia