Photos taken by ScienceNrrd on 8.17.09
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The sunflower's scientific name Helianthus comes from the Greek words Helios, meaning sun, and Anthos, meaning flower, a nod to their behavior: in the bud stage, their heads follow the sun over the course of the day, turning as the sun moves across its path. Only upon maturing do they then find a stationary position, thereafter facing East. Sunflowers can grow up to twenty feet tall, and their massive heads can grow to be well over two feet in diameter. What appear to be single flowers are actually inflorescences, many tiny flowers, or florets, clustered together on a common receptacle, or base. The head of a sunflower is called a radiate head. It contains two types of flowers: disk florets, which are in the center of the head and bear fruit – the seeds we eat, and ray florets, which circle around the outer edge of the head, reaching out like the chromosphere during a solar eclipse.
I am a sunflower, a sun seeker. Wherever the fiery ball of gasses goes, I will follow. Some people follow eclipses. Some people follow Phish. I follow the sun. I love to feel the heat of the sun cascading down on me, burning my eyes, my veins, my organs within. I thrive on the sun; it brings me more pleasure than almost anything else in life. The heat, the light, the smell of the sun, is like photosynthesis for my soul. Like a sunflower, I raise my head in praise, turning my face as the sun moves across the wide sky. If I were a bird, I would soar across this expanse, higher and higher, to get closer to the bright star.
I began my life far from equatorial paradise. But like a seedling transplanted from its starter pot into a garden rich with nutrients and light, I too was transplanted to develop in the warm glow of a low-latitude Eden. Eventually, like a tuft of dandelion seeds on the wind, I was blown far away to a much colder place, but just as my floral counterpart, my roots remain firmly planted where the sun shines most brightly.
I have a bittersweet relationship with sunflowers. They are beautiful, they share my longing, they appreciate the beauty that is the sun. But each summer, as their plate-sized clusters of buds begin to unfurl, they bring with them the reminder that summer is soon ending. I watch the petals open, the bees pollinate, the stems standing proudly. I watch the petals curl in, the heavy heads bowing down gracefully in deference to the coming seasons. I pick some heads and leave them lying about the yard for the plethora of creatures who will delight in their new-found meal. And as I nibble on toasted seeds, I await the coming summer, when I can once again enjoy the sunflowers in their glory, rising up proudly to meet the sun.
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*In proper form, scientific names of organisms are typed in italics or underlined when written. As this blog's format does not allow for either in the blog post title, I have put the scientific name in parentheses.
Total solar eclipse, 11.3.1994
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