The Sunflower. 163 



The Sunflower. 



This magnificent genus of plants is entirely American. It 

 belongs to the class Syngenesia, order Polygamia Frustranea. 

 Its generic characters are : — calyx imbricate, ragged, leafy ; re- 

 ceptacle flat, chaffy ; egret two-leaved, somewhat chaffy, cadu- 

 cous. There are a great number of species. The Helianthus 

 Divaricatus — Small Sunflower, is a showy plant, often found 

 in woods, and flowering in August and September. It has a 

 smooth, round, straight stem, covered with a sea-green mealy- 

 powder. The leaves are rough, slightly cut at the margin, taper- 

 ing to a long point from a roundish base, three-nerved, and 

 placed opposite each other. The cultivated plant, from its spicy 

 and pleasant perfume, and numerous florets, would hardly serve 

 as a model for its forest brother, which has both in a much less 

 degree. The branches of the panicle are either two or three- 

 parted. It rises to the height of from five to seven feet. 



The Helianthus Decapetalus — Ten-rayed Sunflower, has 

 its upper leaves alternate ; it bears a showy yellow flower in 

 August, and rises four feet high. 



The Helianthus Frondosus — Rebel Sunflower, a variety 

 of the former, common in Canada, has below a smooth stem, which 

 is rough below, higher up it is straight; rises about five feet in 

 height, rather short peduncles, t which bear a small flower with 

 eight rays, from August to September. 



In the United States the Sunflower is cultivated on a large 

 scale for the purpose of preparing oil from the seeds, which is 

 good tasted, and fit for salads and any other purposes for which 

 olive oil is used. The whole plant, and particularly the flower, 

 exudes a thin, pellucid, odorous resin, resembling Venice tur- 

 pentine. 



Phillips tells us that this Peruvian plant has been named He- 

 lianthus, from two Greek words, meaning the sun and a flower, 

 because its magnificent corolla bears a resemblance to the great 

 luminary of day ; and on this account it was used in the reli- 

 gious ceremonies of the ancient Peruvians, who worshipped the 

 god of day — the virgins who officiated in the temple of the Sun 

 being crowned with the Helianthus made of pure gold, and 



