Types of Sunflowers
Sunflowers are the tall, bright faces of late summer, and nearly all of them are North American natives long before they became a garden and farm crop. Wild species are branchier and smaller-flowered than the single giant of the seed packet. Here are the sunflowers in the Huck field guide, with how to tell them apart.
8 sunflowers in the Huck field guide. Tap any one for identification, habitat, diet, and a live sightings map.
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Do sunflowers really follow the sun?
Young sunflower buds do, tracking the sun across the sky each day and resetting overnight, a motion called heliotropism. Once the flower matures and opens, it usually stops and faces east for good, which warms it early and draws in more pollinators.
What is the difference between wild and garden sunflowers?
The common garden sunflower is a single species bred for one huge flower head on a tall stalk. Wild sunflowers are many species, usually shorter and much branchier, carrying lots of smaller heads, and they are perennial where the crop is grown as an annual.