Sunflower is a tall plant known for its showy yellow flowers. There are more than 60 species of sunflowers. The most common type grows from 3 to 10 feet (1 to 3 meters) tall and has one or more heads of flowers. Each head consists of a disk of small, tubular flowers surrounded by a fringe of large yellow petals. A sunflower head may measure more than 1 foot (30 centimeters) in diameter and produce up to 1,000 seeds. The head turns and faces toward the sun throughout the day.

Sunflower seeds are rich in protein. They yield a high quality vegetable oil used in making margarine and cooking oil. Some varieties of sunflowers have large striped seeds, which are roasted for snack food or blended with other grains to make birdseed. Special oil-seed varieties produce small black seeds that contain up to 50 per cent oil. Sunflower oil is the world’s third most important vegetable oil. Only soybean oil and palm oil are produced in greater abundance. Sunflower oil is sometimes used as a replacement for diesel fuel.

Before its breakup, the Soviet Union produced more sunflower seeds than any other nation. In the United States, production increased rapidly during the mid1970′s as a result of improved varieties and in response to a growing demand for sunflower oil. The chief sunflower states are Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Strawflower is a tall herb grown for its yellow, orange, red, or white flowers. It is cultivated as an annual— that is, for one growing season. However, the straw-flower is actually a perennial and thus can live for more than one year. The flowers are dried and used in winter bouquets. The strawflower belongs to a group of plants called everlastings. All everlastings have flowers that last a long time when dried. The strawflower originated in Australia, and is now grown in Europe and America. It grows 3 feet (91 centimeters) tall.

Scientific classification. The strawflower belongs to the composite family, Asteraceae or Compositae. Its scientific name is Helichrysum bracteatum.

Static electricity. Statice, is a name commonly applied to sea lavenders, a group of herbs or shrubs used in rock gardens and flower bed borders. Sea lavenders grow wild throughout the world, especially in salt marshes and desert or semi desert regions. Their purple, rose, white, or yellow flowers are often dried and made into bouquets. A group of evergreen herbs called thrifts or sea pinks have also been known as statices. Thrifts are found mainly on coasts and in mountainous areas. Their small pink or white flowers grow in dense, globe-shaped clusters.

Sea lavender a type of statice, grows wild in salt marshes and deserts worldwide. The above illustrations show the entire plant, left, and a close-up of flower clusters, right both sea lavenders and thrifts grow well in most garden soils. They usually reproduce by seed. The plants should be started in a greenhouse in early spring and then planted outside. Sea lavenders and thrifts have flowers all summer.

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Easter lily is a flower’s that has become a sign of Easter. The Easter lily is a tall plant with long, pointed leaves. The large, fragrant trumpet-shaped flowers are a waxy white color.

Easter lilies grow throughout the world. American florists formerly grew the Madonna lily of southern Europe. Its periods of blooming, however, are not regular.

The Easter lily has long, pointed leaves and large, white blossoms. It is often used as a decoration at Easter.

New kinds of Easter lilies have been brought to America from China, Japan, and Bermuda. The Bermuda Easter lily blooms early. The Chinese and Japanese lilies are the hardiest flowers. These lilies bloom outdoors in June or July. Florists can force Chinese and Japanese lilies to bloom just before Easter by growing them in greenhouses.

EVERLASTING is any one of a number of plants whose flowers keep both their color and shape long after they have been picked and dried. Most of them belong to the composite family. Some of them, such as the globe amaranth, belong to the amaranth family. The wild pearly everlasting grows in North America. It is a small plant found on sunny, dry hillsides and in open woods. Its straight, leafy stems are covered with soft wool. Its flowers grow in many branched clusters. In southern France great quantities of immortelles, another type of everlasting, are grown. These are woven into wreaths for decorations or winter ornaments. Immortelle flowers are deep yellow, but they can be bleached white or dyed in different colors.

Other kinds of everlastings are found under the name of strawflower. This name is given because of the straw like blossoms. They are often an inch or more across. If picked before fully mature and dried, they may appear fresh for a year or more. There is an Australian everlasting which bears both single and double flowers that vary in color. The everlasting of the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, has silky white flowers.

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