10 



black giant, another variety, has heads 16 to 22 inches in diameter, 

 with rather thick black seeds about three-eighths inch long (tig. 1, c). 



BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION. 



All of the annual varieties with large heads, cultivated for the pro- 

 duction of seeds, are referred to one species, Helianthus annum, which 

 is characterized as follows: Annual, with rather stout, erect, herba- 

 ceous stem, 1 to 3 inches in diameter and 5 to 20 feet in height, rough- 

 hairy or hispid, often purple-mottled, usually without branches except 

 near the top, but occasionally branching freely throughout; leaves 

 alternate except near the base of the stem, with rather stout petioles 

 2 to 10 inches long, and three-ribbed, heart-shaped blades 4 to 10 inches 

 long, and about two-thirds as wide, rough on both surfaces, coarsely 

 and irregularly toothed on the margins, pointed at the apex, and 

 somewhat decurrent on the petiole; heads one to six or more in the 

 smaller-flowered, branching forms, terminating the main stem and 

 branches, 4 to 20 inches in diameter, with 40 to 80 yellow rays and 

 brown or nearly black disk; chaff or scales among the disk flowers 

 three-toothed; scales of the involucre under and surrounding the 

 flower-head acuminate-pointed, more or less pubescent, and usually 

 cilia te. 



The akenes (fig. 1), commonly called " seeds," are variable in size 

 and coloring. They are obovate oblong, somewhat flattened, and more 

 or less diamond-shaped in transverse section. 



The sunflower stem has rather strong bast fibers, as have nearly all 

 tall, slender herbaceous stalks, and the plant has often been suggested 

 as a source of fiber suppty. The fiber is too weak and brittle, how- 

 ever, to be of value for cordage or textile purposes. Paper has been 

 made from the stalks, but in the treeless regions, where it is most 

 abundantly grown, the highest value is doubtless obtained in its use 

 for fuel. 



USES OF THE SUNFLOWER. 



The sunflower has long been grown in this country for ornamental 

 purposes. The beautiful yellow flowers, with dark centers, are par- 

 ticularly attractive in yards and gardens. In some of the Central States 

 the sunflower, in a much smaller form than the cultivated plant, grows 

 wild. In Kansas the borders of the wagon roads and railroads are fre- 

 quently lined for miles with these flowers, which, in August and Sep- 

 tember, when in full bloom, form a very marked feature of the prairie 

 landscape. The aesthetic influence of the sunflower has long been rec- 

 ognized in this country, but it is only of late years that we have real- 

 ized that it has an economic importance which promises to be a source 

 of wealth in the future. We have only just begun to learn from the 

 experience of China and Russia the economic value of the plant itself. 



