SUNFLOWER
Helianthus annuus
FEATURES: This plant belongs to a large composite genus, Helianthus, so called because its golden-rayed
flowers are likened to the sun. Perhaps the sunflower seed’s nutritional richness is due to the flower’s
amazing ability to follow and face the sun from morning to night. Scientists call this ability heliotropism.
The robust annuals (Helianthus annuus) are never known in the wild state; they existed in cultivation in
pre-Columbian America. The root system of the sunflower is quite extensive and goes down deep, thus
extracting many of the trace minerals not always present in topsoil.
The leaves are numerous, rough, very large, and somewhat heart-shaped. The disk is very broad and
brownish, and its tubular florets develop four-sided, very oily achenes (a small dry carpel containing a
single seed that does not burst when ripe). The yellow petals are daisylike in pattern. The plant reaches
15 feet in height and is often planted as a concealing border. The sunflower is the state flower of Kansas
and a floral symbol of Peru.
MEDICINAL PART: Seed.
SOLVENT: Boiling water.
BODILY INFLUENCE: Diuretic, expectorant, nourishing.
USES: 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. Herbalists use the plant in syrup or infusions for coughs, bronchitis, clergyman’s sore throat,
pulmonary difficulties, early stages of consumption, and disease of the kidneys. Infusion of the pith stalk
used as a wash will often act effectively in early stages of inflammatory sore eyes, the same being taken
internally. Sunflower leaves have also been used for the treatment of malaria. The sun-drenched,
deeprooted sunflower is known to contain the following: Phosphorus: Essential for building bones, teeth,
activating and regulating enzymes, proper fat and carbohydrate digestion, and is a vital building material