The sunflower is the state flower of Kansas and is found throughout the state. It has 11 different species and is on the state flag and quarter. The flower head follows the sun and is made up of 1,000 to 2,000 single flowers. Sunflower seeds are a good food source and were domesticated by Native Americans.
The state flower of Kansas is the sunflower, a wildflower native to and found throughout the state. While it is often difficult to identify different species of sunflowers, there are about 11 different species in Kansas. Since the state is home to such an abundant variety and number of sunflowers, the adoption of the plant as the state flower of Kansas is not surprising. Pride in the sunflower is also evident elsewhere in the official state symbols of Kansas. As the state flower of Kansas, the sunflower image is also on the state flag and in the state quarter; plus, Kansas even goes by the nickname Sunflower State.
The sunflower has a flower head that actually follows the sun and turns to face it during the day. Another characteristic of the sunflower is that its head is actually made up of 1,000 to 2,000 single flowers. Furthermore, sunflower also consists of two different types of flowers: disc flowers and beam flowers. Disc flowers are the small, usually hairy flowers that form the center of the sunflower, and beam flowers are the large yellow petals along the edge. Each disc and each ray are individual flowers and the disc flowers become seeds while the ray flowers do not.
As the state flower of Kansas, the sunflower is considered by some to be a bright and welcome sight on the flat prairie landscape. Sunflower seeds can be snacks for humans and animals. Sunflower seeds are high in protein, making them a good food source, and they are also high in oil, making them a good source for producing high-quality oil.
The cultivation of sunflowers dates back thousands of years to Native Americans. They domesticated the common wild sunflowers because they saw their value as a food source. At the time, the seeds of wild sunflowers were typically only 5 millimeters (0.5 centimeter) in size. Native Americans carefully chose the largest of the sunflower seeds to grow, and over the years, this resulted in the growth of the large sunflowers known today as the modern sunflower. The modern sunflower is capable of containing a large amount of seeds and, as such, producing an abundance of sunflower oil.
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