Portal:Latin America/Featured picture/Week 36, 2006

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The sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is an annual plant in the family Asteraceae, with a large flower head (inflorescence). The stem of the flower can grow up to 3 metres tall, with the flower head reaching 30cm in diameter. The term "sunflower" is also used to refer to all plants of the genus Helianthus, many of which are perennial plants.

Sunflowers are native to the Americas, and were domesticated around 1000 B.C. Francisco Pizarro found the Inca subjects venerating the sunflower as an image of their sun god. Gold images of the flower, as well as seeds, were taken back to Europe early in the 16th century.