For the first time, we welcome sunflowers in our garden below.
I took several photos of how they grow and began to study their behaviour, interesting life and uses from Wikipedia.The
sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is an annual plant in the family Asteraceae and native to the Americas, with a large flowering head (inflorescence).
What is usually called the "
flower" is actually a "
head" (formally composite flower) of numerous florets (small flowers) crowded together. The
outer florets are the sterile
ray florets and can be yellow, maroon, orange, or other colors. The
florets inside the circular head are called
disc florets, which mature into what are traditionally called "
sunflower seeds," but are actually the
fruit (an achene) of the plant. The
inedible husk is the
wall of the
fruit and the
true seed lies within the
kernel.
The
florets within the sunflower's cluster are arranged in a
spiraling pattern. Typically each floret is oriented toward the next by approximately the
golden angle, 137.5°, producing a pattern of interconnecting spirals where the number of left spirals and the number of right spirals are successive
Fibonacci numbers. Typically, there are 34 spirals in one direction and 55 in the other; on a very large sunflower there could be 89 in one direction and 144 in the other.
Sunflowers in the
bud stage exhibit
heliotropism. At sunrise, the faces of most sunflowers are turned towards the east. Over the course of the day, they follow the sun from east to west, while at night they return to an eastward orientation. This motion is performed by motor cells in the pulvinus, a flexible segment of the stem just below the bud. As the bud stage ends,
the stem stiffens and the blooming stage is reached.
Sunflowers in the
blooming stage are
not heliotropic anymore. The stem has frozen, typically in an
eastward orientation. The stem and leaves
lose their
green color. The wild sunflower typically does not turn toward the sun; its flowering heads may face many directions when mature. However, the
leaves typically exhibit some
heliotropism.
To grow well, sunflowers need
full sun. They grow best in
fertile,
moist,
well-drained soil with a lot of mulch. In commercial planting, seeds are planted 45 cm (1.5 ft) apart and 2.5 cm (1 in) deep.
Sunflower "whole seed" (fruit) are sold as a
snack food, after roasting in ovens, with or without salt added. Sunflowers can be processed into a
peanut butter alternative,
Sunbutter, especially in China, Russia, the United States, the Middle East and Europe. In Germany, it is mixed together with rye flour to make
Sonnenblumenkernbrot (literally: sunflower whole seed bread), which is quite popular in German-speaking Europe. It is also sold as
food for birds and can be used
directly in cooking and
salads.
Sunflower oil, extracted from the seeds, is used for cooking, as a carrier oil and to produce
margarine and
biodiesel, as it is cheaper than olive oil. A range of sunflower varieties exist with differing fatty acid compositions; some 'high oleic' types contain a higher level of
healthy monounsaturated fats in their oil than even olive oil.
The
cake remaining after the seeds have been processed for oil is used as a
livestock feed. Some recently developed cultivars have drooping heads. These cultivars are less attractive to gardeners growing the flowers as ornamental plants, but appeal to farmers, because they reduce bird damage and losses from some plant diseases. Sunflowers also produce
latex and are the subject of experiments to improve their suitability as an alternative crop for producing
hypoallergenic rubber.For
commercial farmers growing
commodity crops, the
sunflower, like any other unwanted plant, is often
considered a weed. Especially in the midwestern USA, wild (perennial) species are often found in corn and soybean fields and can have a negative impact on yields.
Sunflowers may also be used to
extract toxic ingredients from soil, such as lead, arsenic and uranium. They were used to remove uranium, cesium-137, and strontium-90 from soil after the Chernobyl accident (see phytoremediation).
A
Mathematical model for the pattern of florets in the head of a sunflower was proposed by H Vogel in 1979 for n=1..500 . This is expressed in polar coordinates
r = c (square root of n),
θ = n (137.5 degress),
where θ is the
angle, r is the radius or
distance from the center, and n is the
index number of the floret and c is a
constant scaling factor.
It is a form of
Fermat's spiral. The angle 137.5° is related to the
golden ratio and gives a close packing of florets. This model has been used to produce computer graphics representations of sunflowers.
Note that The sunflower is
[1] the
state flower of Kansas, U.S.A. and one of the
city flowers of Kitakyushu, Japan.
[2] used as a symbol of
green ideology, much as the red rose is a symbol of socialism or social democracy. The sunflower is also the symbol of the
Vegan Society.
[3] the
subject of
Van Gogh's most famous
still life, Sunflowers (series of paintings).
一向以來，看飄色一定要去長洲。那些輕飄飄的小朋友扮演不同的角色，被高舉在半空，個個看來都像小飛俠般在人群前巡遊。
It was great joy to watch a film called “Soaring Over California” in a cinema at Disney’s California Adventure Park.
記得小時候的石塘咀山道及薄扶林道一帶的舊式樓房門口都裝上了『趟籠』。『趟籠』是用一組的圓柱木左右趟作橫閂，大致上和現在的鐵閘作用一樣，既可防盜，亦可通風。
今年的中國當代雕塑展在上海舉行:
[3]卡通雕塑 – 將流行元素融入傳統雕塑。
[4]有西方氣息的雕塑 – 人們的垂頭喪氣的表情，表露無遺。
What is usually called the "flower" is actually a "head" (formally composite flower) of numerous florets (small flowers) crowded together. The outer florets are the sterile ray florets and can be yellow, maroon, orange, or other colors. The florets inside the circular head are called disc florets, which mature into what are traditionally called "sunflower seeds," but are actually the fruit (an achene) of the plant. The inedible husk is the wall of the fruit and the true seed lies within the kernel.
A Mathematical model for the pattern of florets in the head of a sunflower was proposed by H Vogel in 1979 for n=1..500 . This is expressed in polar coordinates
Note that The sunflower is
Let us see why last time these men wearing red scarfs are running in one direction. These men are bullfighters. They are being chased by a number of bulls along winding narrow streets and cheered by the residents in the nearby houses. Their jobs are to lead the bulls to the arena where professional bullfighters raise their red cloths, pierce the bodies of bulls with spears and later kill the latter by long swords.
我去過的大城市如美國三藩市、洛杉磯、澳洲雪梨、新加坡，全部都有唐人街，而日本的大阪則有美國村，相信這地方是大部分美國人的集中地。
In my primary school days, there was a subject called 常識科. Somehow or other, I learned that Japan was divided into 4 main regions – Hokkaido (北海道), Honshu (本州), Shikoku (四國) and Kyushu (九州).
These are the “eyes” seen at several water pools near Shatin Town Hall at night.
Here, may I thank my dear brother who sent me these beautiful photos from Tokyo.
The colour of the Rainbow Bridge at night is equally beautiful. In particular, its colours are exactly the seven colours of the spectrum created by sending light through a triangular prism. The seven colours are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Can you see them all at the bridge-heads?
幸好Abby的手力夠，完全沒有倒瀉過湯。Connie自然要飲上幾口先。在Connie飲湯的一刻，Abby是眼甘甘的望著Connie把湯向口裏送。
在南丫島上通往洪聖爺灣鄉村路途上，我發覺相中那些美艷的花。它們的顏色全吸引著我，自然地又提起手中相機把它們的影像拍下來。那些鮮紅色和黃色正好像我國國旗上的兩種顏色的有趣新編排，美極了！
This photo is like a stage (舞台) where different buildings and structures are erected from it.
