Helianthus annuus L. = Helianthus annuus ssp. lenticularis Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) Native Common Sunflower Western Sunflower Annual Sunflower

                                        June Photo

Plant Characteristics:  Annual, stem usually stout, 3-20 or more dm. high, often openly branched, very hispid; herbage rough-hairy; lvs. petioled, the blade 6-15 cm. long, narrowly to broadly ovate, truncate or cordate at base, mostly serrate, the uppermost often entire; heads large, the low-convex often reddish disk 2-3.5 cm. wide; phyllaries narrowly to broadly ovate, abruptly and slenderly acuminate, densely scabrous and usually at least medianly hirsute-hispid; dorsally, strongly hispid-ciliate; paleae often 3 toothed, not conspicuously hairy; fr. 3-15 mm.

Habitat:  Roadsides and waste places, frequent at lower elevs., occasional up to 5000 ft.; many plant communities; throughout our area except for the Mojave Desert; to Can., Mex.  Feb-Oct.

Name:  Greek, helios, sun, and anthos, fl.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 183).  Latin, annuus, annual.  (Jaeger 19).

General:  Occasional in the study area.  Photographed along Back Bay Dr. northerly of Big Canyon.  (my comments).     The nutritious seeds were tasty to the Native American populations.  A useful fibre was taken from the coarse stalks and a good dye was made from the flowers.  The name was given to the flower because it was supposed to turn always to the sun.  Scientists explained this with the hypothesis that the stem grows more quickly on the shaded side than on the other.  It worried some of the early herbalists when they encountered a variety with several blooms all facing in different directions.  (Dale 66).     The annual sunflower does follow the sun to a considerable degree.  But not every flower on the plant is so placed that it is able to do so.  (John Johnson).     Used by the Pimas as string for candles.  Crushed seeds were boiled for their oil.  (Clarke 219).     The seeds were used to make a purple and black dye; the flowers a yellow dye.  (Heizer and Elsasser 136).     The plant was much used by Indians who did not cultivate maze, the seeds were used for flour and thickening soup.  The seeds are first parched and then pounded between two stones, until they are reduced to a fine meal.  (Coon 136).      Grinding the seeds and shells together produces an edible paste due to the oil content of the seeds.  (lecture by Charlotte Clarke, author of Useful and Edible Plants of California, April 1987).      One of the sunflowers, H. annuus, is still known by reservation Indians in the Dakotas as a remedy for pulmonary ailments.  They boil sunflower heads and drink the medicine.  (Fielder 149).      Helianthus species have been known to cause hay fever and asthma.  (Fuller 379).      H. annuus has been found to accumulate free nitrates in quantities capable of causing death or distress to cattle.  (Fuller 384).      Its seeds are used by the Indians in the preparation of hair-oil.  This wild sunflower of the plains is believed to be the original parent of the large sunflower of our gardens.  (Parsons 190).      Parson's book was published in 1909.  (my comment).       The Cahuilla,  Indians of the Colorado Desert, the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains, gathered the seeds in the fall for use as flour.  Although some Indian tribes of the Southwest cultivated the plant, cultivation of sunflower has not been reported among the Cahuilla except in modern times.  (Bean and Saubel 76).      Native Americans used the mineral-grasping root in combination with other roots for snakebite and a warm decoction was used as a wash for rheumatism and inflammations.  They boiled the flower heads to extract the oil and used it as a hair tonic.  As a nourishing meal, the roasted shells or seeds were crushed and sifted; the same was also made into a hot beverage; the parched and crushed seed was used for bread meal.  The deep-rooted plants contain many minerals including copper.  There are very few foods in which copper is found in any amount, however, sunflower seeds present a rich source. (Hutchens 189).      A purple and black dye was extracted from seeds for clothes and baskets; also a yellow dye was derived from the plant.  Roasted seeds or shells crushed and sifted were used as a drink like coffee.  (Sweet 59).      The Kawaiisu Indians of the southern Sierra Nevada region cut the flower heads of Helianthus annuus from the plant and lightly pounded them to remove the seeds; they were winnowed, slightly roasted and lightly pounded again to remove the outer membrane.  They were then ground into pinole in a bedrock mortar and eaten dry.        The Cahuilla Indians also used the seeds of Helianthus annuus; they were ground and mixed with the flour of other seeds.  The seeds contain 26 to 44 percent protein and 28 to 35 percent oil.  (Campbell  164,165).      Some 50 species of temp. N. and S. Am.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 183).       Subspecies lenticularis is not recognized in the Jepson Manual.  (Hickman, Ed. 1329).

Text Ref:  Abrams, Vol. IV 113; Hickman Ed. 278; Munz, Calif. Flora 1088; Munz, Flora So. Calif.; Roberts 11. 183.

Photo Ref:  June 5 83 # 3,4; May 2 84 # 7A.

Identity: by R. De Ruff, confirmed by F. Roberts.  

First Found:  June 1983

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 181.

Have plant specimen.

Last edit 5/8/05.  

                             June Photo                                                           May Photo