THE 



NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



Vol. 14 



September, 1918 



Xo. 6 



The Sunflower 



Margurite Hess 



Lyons Falls, X. Y. 



' ' Eagle of Flowers ! I see thee stand , 



And on the sun's noon-glory gaze; 

 With eye like his thy lids expand 



And fringe their dish with golden rays: 

 Though fixed on earth, in darkness rooted three, 



Light is thy element, thy dwelling air." 



HE sunflower, or Helianthus, is named 

 from helio, the sun, and anthos, a 

 flower, from the belief that the flowers 

 turned their faces toward the sun. 



I am sure we all feel that there are 

 few brighter, more sun-loving flowers 

 than these . The plants grow from four 

 to fourteen feet high, the stems being 

 rough and hairy, the leaves large, 

 usually alternate, petioled and varying in size and character. And 

 the whole plant is characterized by its large, showy yellow flowers. 

 All the sunflowers grow well in any common garden soil, most of 

 them being easily raised from seed, while many readily form 

 hybrids. Many species, however, are better adapted for the wild 

 garden — but to combine size, hardiness, and luxuriant bloom, one 

 must sometimes put up with coarseness. 



The sunflower is not a single flower but a large head or family of 

 flowers living together, each little flower having its own work to do. 

 There are two kinds of flowers in this head or family. The most 

 showy ones are found on the. outer edge and are called the ray 

 flowers or banner petals. The rest of the flowers are more numer- 

 ous and because they form a large disk in the center of the flower 

 family are called disk flowers. They are also sometimes called 

 tubular flowers as they are somew-hat tube-like in shape. Each 

 one of the little ray and disk flowers is called a floret. 



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