CHARACTERISTICS OF SUNFLOWER PLANT

The Image Sunflower plants taken earlier 

Sunflower is an erect, annual plant which grows from 0.6 m to well over 4m high depending on variety.

Roots: It has a strong tap root with a large lateral spread of surface feeding roots.

Stem: Stems are often unbranched, round at first, later become thicker, angular and woody. 

 

Leaves: Leaves are large and ovate with lower leaves opposite and upper leaves alternate.

Flowers: Flowers (heads) are terminal, 10-40 cm in diameter. Some varieties also produce additional second smaller flowers borne on lateral branches arising from leaf axils. This reduces the total yield of the plant and is undesirable. However, even varieties which do not normally produce branches may do so if plants encounter unfavorable conditions such as low temperatures or drought. Plants flower 2-4 months after sowing and take a total of 3-6 months to mature depending on the variety and growing conditions.

Pollination: Sunflower is cross pollinated, mostly by bees, and in some varieties self- compatibility mechanisms exists to prevent a plant from pollinating itself.

Seeds: Seeds are variable in size and highly variable in color. Non oil seed varieties have large seeds with thick seed coats (hulls) which are easily removed from the kernels while oilseed varieties have small seeds with thin hulls which are difficult to remove from kernels. Oil content differs with variety but is also affected by growing conditions. If growing conditions are poor and seed not well filled oil content may as much as 10 per cent less than obtained under optimum growing conditions with low oil content (23-35%).