Sunflower Meaning

Another name for sunflower is Helianthus.

In Greek, the meaning of Helios is sun and anthos means flower. The name is perhaps derived because of the special characteristic of sunflowers that follows the direction of the sun. In ancient times, the sunflowers were not cultivated because of its beauty but it was cultivated because it is useful.

There was also are report by Francisco Pizarro that in 1532, he saw the Incans worship a giant flower. The priestesses of the Inca Empire also wore large golden sunflower disks on top of their garments.

There is also a legend in Greek mythology where the God of sun (Apollo) was the subject of admiration of a water nymph. She was madly in love with Apollo that she never stopped staring at the sun. Unfortunately, Apollo did not even notice the water nymph and the other gods took pity on her so they turned her into a sunflower.

According to the legend, this is the reason why sunflowers always follow the path of the sun - it’s because the water nymph even when turned as a flower still follows the person she loves.

• Name:Sunflower
• Color: Yellow, red, orange or other radiant colors
• Shape: Disk like shape
• Fact: Sunflowers have been in existence since the ancient times. A carbon dating was done is some of the seeds that are found in a North American clay that dates back to almost 3,000 years ago. The seeds were found out to be sunflower seeds.
• Poisonous: No part of the sunflower is poisonous
• Number of Petals: This depends on the size of the sunflower but the sunflower is commonly associated with having Fibonacci number. It could have 89 petals or 144 for some.
• Victorian Interpretation: Loyalty, pride, sunshine
• Blossom Time: May to October
• Superstitions: It is said that planting sunflowers in your garden brings good luck. Also, according to Indian superstitions, their brave warriors can overcome a long distance of travel even without food except for a bag of milled sunflower seeds.

What the Sunflower Means

• Sunflowers also have different meanings for different cultures. In China, sunflowers stand for longevity while in the Andes Mountains the golden images of this flower can be found in their temples.
• In central and North America, the natives use sunflowers for the production of oil used in medicine, dye and foods. North American Indians also place a bowl of sunflower seeds on their dead’s grave.
• In some culture, sunflower means constancy and deep loyalty. It could also symbolize power, nourishment and warmth. For the negative meaning, it denotes false appearance, haughtiness and unhappy love. The sunflower is also the symbol for having a world that is free from nuclear weapons.
• The Shape: Has a disk-shape attribute.
• Petals:The outside petals of the sunflower are called ray petals and can come in different colors.
• Numerology: The sunflower has a numerical expression of 7
• Color: Sunflower has a variety of colors with the most common color as yellow

 Herbalism and Medicine:

The sunflower is a useful plant with many medicinal properties but the greatest medicinal property is associated with pulmonary afflictions. Many Indians use this as their main medicine for respiratory ailments like lung infections, bronchitis and pleurisy. They make a decoction out of the sunflower petals and consume it after.

It’s also used to heal bruises, wounds and ulcers. The sunflower seed oil extracts are good for chest diseases. Just take in 10-15 drops of the oil extract for two-three times a day and you will feel relief from the effects of chest diseases. On the other hand, the sunflower tea can also treat headaches and nervous conditions.