Sunflowers have a long history in North America, where they have been grown for more than 4,500 years. People have been eating different parts of the sunflower plant for a long time because it is all edible. Before crops like corn became popular, sunflowers were already being grown for food. People would eat the leaves, stalks, and roots, and they would roast the seeds and eat them or press them to make oil. Sunflower oil was commonly used for cooking, and the oil and pigments from sunflowers could be used in cosmetics.
Sunflowers can grow really tall, and the tallest one ever recorded was 30 feet high. There are different types of sunflowers, including red and white varieties. Sunflowers are also helpful for cleaning up the environment because they can absorb toxins from the soil. Each sunflower has a lot of tiny flowers called florets, and they produce nectar that bees and other pollinators like to eat.
