SUNFLOWER. 
195 
SUNFLOWER. 
FALSE RICHES. 
The Sunflower has been thus.named from the 
resemblance which its broad golden disk and 
surrounding rays bear to the sun. On this ac¬ 
count it was used in its native country by the 
Peruvians, who worshipped that luminary—the 
virgins who officiated in the Temple of the Sun 
being crowned with Sunflowers of pure gold, 
wearing them also at their bosoms, and carrying 
them in their hands. These golden flowers, re¬ 
flecting the rays of their deity, formed a scene 
of dazzling brilliancy. The first Spaniards who 
arrived in Peru were amazed at this profuse dis¬ 
play of gold, but they were still more astonished 
when in May they beheld whole fields covered 
with these flowers, which they concluded at first 
sight to be composed of the same precious 
metal. 
The Sunflower has been made the emblem of 
