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| 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%).
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