Sunflowers

The sunflower - Helianthus annuus - is a member of the Asteraceae family and the Heliantheae tribe. The Helianthus genus comprises more than 60 known species, all of which are melliferous. The story of the sunflower doesn't begin in Russia. It is thought to have originated in Mexican biodiversity before arriving in America, where the Amerindian peoples discovered that its seeds were nutritious. It wasn't until America was rediscovered that the plant traveled to Europe, where it attracted a great deal of curiosity due to its large size. As the sunflower is subject to heliotropism before flowering, the word "sunflower" is borrowed from the Italian girasole, "that turns with the sun". At the start of flowering, the blossom definitely points in an East/South-East direction.