Sunflowers or what?

[celticdragonfly]

Tonight while we were out we went and looked at some of these big yellow flowers we see around here a lot, some of them were growing right next to the Chickfila in Lake Worth. I've seen them not just growing wild but growing in fields. I'd been thinking okay, they're an actual cash crop, so I was thinking they were sunflowers, but Karl thinks they're not big enough. He suggested I get a picture and post it and ask others what it is.




I expect these are probably obvious to lots of people, and yes, I know diddly about botany. What can I say, when and where I was growing up, I was allergic to so much of what was growing outside I stayed away from as much of it as possible.

Comments

[kattelyn.livejournal.com]

Yup, that's the native sunflowers I'm very much allergic to. Get me in the same room with 'em and I can't stop sneezing.

The sunflowers that Karl is thinking of are the highly hybridized fancy ones you get seeds from. These are the native wild ones.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

And yet I see them growing in what sure look like cultivated fields. Do they grow them on purpose?

[kattelyn.livejournal.com]

Nope. Like many of the larger weeds (bloodweed, poke salat, lamb's quarters, and the infamous ragweed) they like freshly turned earth. All it takes is a windy day or a bird pooping and you've got a field full of 'em.

They're an official PITA in the garden.. especially larger gardens, cause they'll take over and crowd out the stuff you want growing. At least most of the stuff is edible!

[kattelyn.livejournal.com]

*laughs* oops, hit send before I meant to.

As is a normal tagline in one of the wild foods mailing lists... If ya can't beat it, EAT IT!

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

What part of it does one eat and how??

[kattelyn.livejournal.com]

Sunflowers? uh, I'm not all that certian. I never really paid much attention to them cause I'm allergic and its bad juju to eat something you're allergic to.

I could ask if you wanted me to.

[sivib.livejournal.com]

I've always called them "brown-eyed susans", but I think they're related to daisys.

[kattelyn.livejournal.com]

Look at the size relative to her hand. Brown eyed susans are much smaller.

Look at this...

http://www.northrup.org/photos/browneyes/

http://www.nps.gov/miss/restoration/gallery/flowers/brown-eyed_susan.html

and this is sunflowers...

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=HEAN3

Yep. Definitely sunflowers

[curiousmay9.livejournal.com]

I planted a couple of rows of sunflowers in my garden a while back. There are dozens if not hundreds of varieties.

If that field has ever had hybrid sunflowers planted, these might be the natural offspring of spilled seeds. They won't look anything like what the farmer planted on purpose.

You'd be surprised how far they can spread too, over time, and with the help of various critters. But somehow I don't think any of the cherry pits I spit out the window last week will ever sprout. I was on the highway.