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| ## annual sunflower {#annual-sunflower .Title-Header}                 |
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| *Helianthus annuus* L.                                                |
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| Plant Symbol = HEAN3                                                  |
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#### *Contributed By: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center*

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.2in" height="1.4694444444444446in"}

### Alternative Names

common sunflower, Kansas sunflower, mirasol; *Helianthus* comes from the
Greek *helios anthos*, meaning "sun flower" (Kindscher 1987). The
species name *annuus* means "annual."

### Uses

*Ethnobotanic*: The sunflower is a native domesticated crop. During the
last 3,000 years, Indians increased the seed size approximately 1,000
percent. They gradually changed the genetic composition of the plant by
repeatedly selecting the largest seeds (Yarnell 1978).

Originally cultivated by North American Indians, it has a long and
interesting history as a food plant (Kindscher 1987). Sunflower seeds
were and still are eaten raw, roasted, cooked, dried, and ground, and
used as a source of oil. Flower buds were boiled. The roasted seeds have
been used as a coffee substitute. The Mescalero and Chiricahua Apache
made extensive use of wild sunflowers. The Hidatsa used wild verse
cultivated sunflowers in the production of cooking oil because the seeds
of their smaller flower heads produced superior oil (Wilson 1917). In
the Northeast, sunflowers are part of the Onandaga (Iroquois) creation
myth (Gilmore 1977). In the Southwest, the Hopi believe that when the
sunflowers are numerous, it is a sign that there will be an abundant
harvest (Whiting 1939). In the prairies, the Teton Dakota had a saying,
"when the sunflowers were tall and in full bloom, the buffaloes were fat
and the meat good" (Gilmore 1977).

*Helianthus* seeds were eaten by many California natives, and often
ground up and mixed with other seeds in pinole (Strike 1994). The
sunflower was used for food in Mexico and had reputed medicinal value in
soothing chest pains (Heiser 1976). Francisco Hernandez, an early
Spanish explorer, ascribed aphrodisiac powers to the sunflower
(*Ibid*.).

Charles H. Lange, an anthropologist at the University of Texas, wrote
that "among the Cochiti, a reliable 'home remedy' for cuts and other
wounds is the juice of freshly crushed sunflower stems. The juice is
smeared liberally over the wounds, bandaged, and invariably results in a
speedy recovery, with never a case of infection" (Heiser 1976).

According to Moerman (1986) sunflowers were used in the following ways:

-   The Cherokee used an infusion of sunflower leaves to treat kidneys.

-   The Dakota used an infusion of sunflowers for chest pains and
    pulmonary troubles.

-   The Gros Ventres, Rees, and Mandan used sunflowers ceremonially; oil
    from the seeds were used to lubricate or paint the face and body.

-   The Gros Ventres, Mandan, Rees, and Hidatsa used sunflower seeds as
    a stimulant, taken on a war party or hunt to alleviate fatigue.

-   The Hopi used the sunflower plant as a "spider medicine" and
    dermatological aid.

-   The Navajo ate sunflower seeds to stimulate the appetite.

-   The Navaho-Kayenta used the plant for the sun sand painting ceremony
    and as a disinfectant to prevent prenatal infections caused by the
    solar eclipse.

-   The Navaho-Ramah used a salve of pulverized seed and root to prevent
    injury from a horse falling on a person and as a moxa of the pith to
    remove warts.

-   The Paiute used a decoction of sunflower root to alleviate
    rheumatism.

-   Pawnee women ate a dry seed concoction to protect suckling children.

-   The Pima applied a poultice of warm ashes to the stomach for worms
    and used a decoction of leaves for high fevers and as a wash for
    horses' sores caused by screwworms.

-   The Thompson Indians used powdered sunflower leaves alone or in an
    ointment on sores and swellings.

-   The Zuni used a poultice of sunflower root to treat snakebite, along
    with much ritual and ceremony.

Purple and black dyes extracted from wild sunflowers were used to dye
basketry materials. A yellow dye was also derived from the ray flowers.
The Hopi Indians grew a sunflower variety with deep purple achenes, and
obtained a purple dye by soaking them in water (Heiser 1976). The dye
was used to color basketry or to decorate their bodies.

The Teton Dakotas boiled flower heads from which the involucral bracts
had been removed as a remedy for pulmonary troubles (Gilmore 1977).
Pawnee women who became pregnant while still nursing a child took a
sunflower seed medicine to prevent sickness in the child (Kindscher
1992). In the southwest, Zuni medicine men cured rattlesnake bites by
chewing the fresh or dried root, then sucking the snakebite wound
(Camazine and Bye 1980).

The wild sunflower was worn in the hair of the Hopi Indians of Arizona
during various ceremonies, and carved wooden sunflower disks found at a
prehistoric site in Arizona almost certainly were employed in ceremonial
rituals (Heiser 1976).

*Agricultural*: Early American colonists did not cultivate sunflowers.
The sunflower probably went from Mexico to Spain, and from there to
other parts of Europe (Heiser 1976). The Russians developed the Mammoth
Russian or Russian Giant sunflower and offered these varieties as seeds,
which in 1893 were reintroduced to the United States. Sunflowers are
used as a source of vegetable oil. The seeds are used for snacks and for
bird food.

*Medicinal*: Medicinal uses for the sunflower utilized by the Europeans
include use as a remedy for pulmonary affections, a preparation of the
seeds has been widely used for cold and coughs, in the Caucasus the
seeds have served as a substitute for quinine in the treatment of
malaria, and sunflower seeds are used as a diuretic and expectorant
(Heiser 1976). Sunflower pith has been used by the Portuguese in making
moxa, which was used in the cauterization of wounds and infections. An
infusion from the flowers has been used to kill flies.

A variety of terpenoid compounds have been found in Helianthus species,
primarily sesquiterpene lactones and diterpenes (Gershenzon and Mabry
1984). These substances probably offer sunflowers protection against
some insects.

*Horticultural*: Sunflowers are cultivated as ornamentals or garden
plants, where the blooms are cherished for their beauty, and the seeds
can be eaten by both humans and wildlife. Game birds, songbirds, and
rodents (Martin et al. 1951) eat the large, nutritious seeds of
sunflowers. These attractive weedy plants are of outstanding value to
wildlife in the prairies and other parts of the West. Birds eating the
seeds include Wilson snipes, doves, grouse, ring-necked pheasants,
quail, blackbirds, bobolinks, lazuli buntings, black-capped chickadees,
cowbirds, white-winged crossbills, crows, house finches, goldfinches,
purple grackles, horned larks, longspurs, meadowlarks, white-breasted
nuthatches, pyrrhuloxias, ravens, sparrows, and tufted titmice. Small
mammals who relish the seeds include the least chipmunk, eastern pocket
gopher, ground squirrels, lemmings, meadow mice, pocket mice,
white-footed mice, prairie dogs, and kangaroo rats. Muskrats eat the
stems and foliage. Antelope, deer, and moose browse on the plants.

*Industry*: Sunflower stalks have been used as fuel, fodder for
livestock, food for poultry, and ensilage (Heiser 1976). In the Soviet
Union, after the dried flower stalks have been used for fuel, the ashes
are returned to the soil. The seed hulls could be used for "litter" for
poultry or returned to the soil or composted. A few years ago, it was
found that the hulls could be used in fuels. Today the hulls are used in
the Soviet Union in manufacturing ethyl alcohol and furfural, in lining
plywood, and in growing yeast. The stems have been used as a source of
commercial fiber. The Chinese have used this fiber for the manufacturing
of fabrics. Other countries are experimenting with the use of fiber in
paper.

### Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status, such as, state noxious status
and wetland indicator values.

### Description

*General*: Sunflower Family (Asteraceae). The sunflower is an erect,
coarse, tap-rooted annual with rough-hairy stems 6-30 dm (2-10 ft) tall.
The leaves are mostly alternate, egg-shaped to triangular, and entire or
toothed. The flower heads are 7.5-15 cm (3-6 in) wide and at the ends of
branches. Ray flowers are yellow and disk flowers are reddish-brown.

### Distribution

The sunflower (*Helianthus annuus*) is a common and widespread roadside
weed. It is common in open sites in many different habitats throughout
North America, southern Canada, and Mexico at elevations below 1900 m.
*Helianthus annuus* is highly variable as a species, and hybridizes with
several other species. The heads and plants are very large in cultivated
forms.

### Establishment

Sunflowers need full sun. Irrigation is required until they become
established.

*Seed Propagation*: When the soil has warmed up to at least 45ºF (7ºC)
in the spring, sow hardy sunflower seeds where they are to flower. Seeds
can also be sown in pots or seed trays and either planted out in their
final positions in late fall or overwintered in a cold frame to be
planted out in spring. This technique is particularly useful in gardens
with clay soil that is slow to warm up in spring.

There are two main methods of sowing outdoors in situ: broadcast and in
drills. For both, prepare the seedbed first. Dig over the soil to one
spade's depth, then rake over and firm. Broadcast Sowing: Sprinkle seeds
thinly and evenly on the surface of the prepared seedbed and rake them
in lightly. Label seedbeds, then water the area gently but thoroughly
with a fine spray. Sowing in Drills: Using either a trowel tip or the
corner of a hoe, mark out shallow drill holes 3-6" (8-15 cm) apart,
depending on the ultimate size of the plant. Sow seeds thinly and evenly
by sprinkling or placing them along each drill at the appropriate depth.
Carefully cover with soil and firm. Label each row and water gently but
thoroughly with a fine spray.

To prevent overcrowding, the seedlings usually need to be thinned. To
minimize disturbance to a seedling being retained, press the soil around
it after thinning the adjacent seedlings. Water the newly establishing
seedlings fairly frequently until the roots have developed. Support is
required for the sunflower stems. Stakes help support the stem and
protect the seedlings from rodent or bird damage. Birds and small
mammals love both the sunflower seeds and the tender young seedlings. A
scarecrow or netting may be necessary to protect the plants from
herbivores.

### Management

In pre-European settlement times, the Hidatsa cultivated sunflowers in
the following ways (Wilson 1917):

1\) Garden plots were created from wooded and brushy areas in river
bottomlands.

2\) Brush cleared for planting was spread over the plots and burned, for
it was conventional wisdom that burning trees and brush "softened the
soil and left it loose and mellow for planting". Burning also added
nutrients to the soil.

Before setting fire to the fields, the dry grass, leaves, and brush were
removed from the edges of the fields so the fire wouldn't spread.

3\) Plots were allowed to lay fallow, and were taken out of production
for two years to let them rejuvenate.

4\) Sunflowers were the first seeds planted in the spring. Planting was
done using a hoe. Three seeds were planted in a hill, at the depth of
the second joint of a woman's finger. The three seeds were planted
together, pressed into the loose soil by a single motion, with the thumb
and first two fingers. The hill was heaped up and patted firm.
Sunflowers were planted only around the edges of a field. The hills were
placed eight or nine paces apart.

There were several varieties of sunflowers; black, white, red, and
striped colors occurred in the seeds.

5\) Seeds were harvested by spreading sunflower heads on the roof to
dry. The heads were laid face downward, with the backs to the sun. After
the heads had dried for four days, the heads were threshed by laying
them on the floor face downwards and beating them as a stick. An average
threshing filled a good-sized basket, with enough seed left over to make
a small package.

6\) Parched sunflower seeds were pounded in the corn mortar to make
meal. Sunflower meal was used in a dish called four-vegetables-mixed; it
included beans, dried squash, pounded parched sunflower seed, and
pounded parched corn.

7\) Sunflower seed balls were made of sunflower seed meal. In the olden
times, every warrior carried a bag of soft skin with a sunflower-seed
ball, wrapped in a piece of buffalo-heart skin. When worn with fatigue
or overcome with sleep and weariness, the warrior took out his
sunflower-seed ball, and nibbled at it to refresh himself.

Each garden plot was "owned" and tended by a woman who cleared it. It
was kept cleared of weeds and birds were chased off.

### Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

*Cultivars*: Apache Brown Striped, Autumn Beauty Hybrids, Aztec Gold,
Bellezza d'Autuno, Big Smile, Black Oil, Color Fashion Hybrids,
Confection, Daisetsuzan, Discovery, Evening Sun, Floristan, Full Sun,
Fun Sun, Gloriosa Polyheaded, Gold & Silver, Gray-Stripe, Hallo, Happy
Face, Havasupai Striped, Henry Wilde, Holiday, Hopi Dye, Inca Jewels,
Incredible, Italian White, Lion's Mane, Lemon Queen, Luna, Mammoth
Russian, Monster, Moonwalker, Music Box, Orange Sun, Park's Velvet
Tapestry, Paul Bunyan, Peredovik, Piccolo, Provance Hybrids, Silverleaf,
Sonja, Sun Hybrids, Sunbeam, Sunbright, Sunburst Hybrids, Sunrise,
Sunset, Sunspot, Taiyo, Tangina, Teddy Bear, Tarahumara White,
Valentine, Vanilla Ice, Velvet Queen, and Zebulon.

HEAN3 is widely available through local nurseries and seed companies.

### References

Andros, F. 1883. *The medicine and surgery of the Winnebago and Dakota
Indians*. American Medical Association Journal 1: 116-118.

Beichel, C., E. McDonald, & T. Cole (eds.) 1993. *Encyclopedia of
gardening*. Dorling Kindersley, London, New York, & Stuttgart. 648 pp.

Carlson, G.G. & V.H. Jones 1939*.* *Some notes on use of plants by the
Comanche Indians*. Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters 25:
517-543.

Camazine, S. & R.A. Bye 1980. *A study of the medical ethnobotany of the
Zuni Indians of New Mexico*. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2: 365-388.

Densmore, F. 1974. *How Indians use wild plants for food, medicine, and
crafts*. Dover Publications, Inc. New York, New York. 397 pp.

Gershenzon, J. & T.J. Mabry 1984. *Sesquiterpene Lactones from a Texas
population of Helianthus maximiliani*. Phytochemistry 23: 1959-1966.

Gilmore, M.R. 1977 (1919). *Uses of plants by the Indians of the
Missouri River region*. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Reprint
of a work first published as the 33^rd^ Annual Report of the Bureau of
American Ethnology. Washington, D.C.

Grinnell,G.B. 1962. *The Cheyenne Indians*. 2 vols. New York: Cooper
Square Publishers.

Hart, J. A. 1976. *Montana native plants and early peoples*. Montana
Historical Society, Helena, Montana.

Heiser, C.B. Jr. 1976. *The sunflower*. University of Oklahoma Press.
198 pp.

Kindscher, K. 1992. *Medicinal wild plants of the prairie*. *An
ethnobotanical guide*. University Press of Kansas. 340 pp.

Kindscher, K. 1987. *Edible wild plants of the prairie*. University
Press of Kansas. 276 pp.

Martin, A.C., H.S. Zim, & A.L. Nelson 1951. *American wildlife and
plants a guide to wildlife food habits.* Dover Publications, Inc., New
York, New York. 500 pp.

M^c^Clintock, W. 1909. *Materia medica of the Blackfeet*. Zeitschrift
fur Ethnologie: 273-279.

McGregor, R.L., T.M. Barkley, R.E. Brooks, & E.K. Schofield (eds.) 1991.
*Flora of the Great Plains*. Great Plains Flora Association. University
Press of Kansas. 1402 pp.

Moerman, D.E. 1986. *Medicinal plants of Native America*. Research
Reports in Ethnobotany, Contribution 2, University of Michigan Museum of
Anthropology Technical Reports, Number 19. 534 pp.

Strike, S.S. 1994. *Ethnobotany of the California Indians*. Volume 2.
Aboriginal Uses of California's Indigenous Plants*.* Kowltz Scientific
Books. USA-Germany. 210 pp.

Wilson, G.L. 1987 (1917). *Buffalo Bird Woman's garden. Agriculture of
the Hidatsa Indians*. Minnesota Historical Society Press, St. Paul,
Minnesota. 129 pp.

Yarnell, R.A. 1978. *Domestication of sunflower and sumpweed in Eastern
North America.* In: The Nature and Status of Ethnobotany. Richard I.
Ford (ed.) Anthropological Paper 67, Museum of Anthropology, University
of Michigan, pp. 289-299.

### Prepared By

#### *Michelle Stevens*

Formerly USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

### Species Coordinator

#### *M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, c/o Plant Science Department,
University of California, Davis, California

Edited 05dec00 jsp; 20may03 ahv; 07jun06 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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