Kansas State Flower: Sunflower

The Sunflower holds the position of Kansas's official state flower. Each flower head contains dozens of bright yellow petals surrounding a dark center disk. The blooms measure 3 to 6 inches across in wild plants. Cultivated varieties produce heads up to 12 inches wide. A single flower head can contain over 1,000 seeds.

Wild sunflowers bloom from July through September across Kansas. Peak flowering occurs in August when fields turn golden yellow. Plants reach heights of 3 to 10 feet depending on growing conditions. Tall sturdy stalks support the heavy flower heads. Rough hairy leaves grow alternately along the stem. The flower heads track the sun across the sky during growth.

Native sunflowers grow throughout Kansas in prairies, roadsides, and disturbed ground. The plants tolerate drought and poor soil. Full sun produces the strongest growth. Kansas farmers also cultivate sunflowers as a commercial crop. Fields of domestic sunflowers cover thousands of acres. The oil-rich seeds serve multiple agricultural and food purposes.

Known as Sunflower, this plant's scientific designation is Helianthus annuus. The species belongs to the Asteraceae family. This massive family includes daisies, asters, and over 23,000 species of flowering plants worldwide.

The genus name Helianthus comes from Greek words meaning sun and flower. The species name annuus indicates the plant completes its life cycle in one year. Sunflowers die after producing seeds in fall. New plants grow from seeds the following spring.

Native Americans cultivated sunflowers for food thousands of years before European contact. They developed varieties with larger seeds and flower heads. Spanish explorers took sunflower seeds to Europe in the 1500s. Russia became a major sunflower producer. Modern commercial varieties trace ancestry to both native American and Russian breeding programs.

Kansas selected the Sunflower as its official state flower in 1903. The Kansas legislature passed this designation without a formal public vote. Sunflowers already symbolized Kansas in popular culture. The state earned the nickname Sunflower State decades before official adoption.

Kansas residents strongly associated their state with sunflowers. Wild sunflowers bloomed abundantly across Kansas prairies each summer. The tall yellow flowers dominated the landscape. Visitors to Kansas commented on vast expanses of sunflowers. Artists and photographers featured sunflowers in works about Kansas.

No competing flowers received serious consideration during the selection process. The decision seemed obvious to lawmakers. Some debate occurred over whether to specify wild or cultivated sunflowers. The legislature chose not to distinguish between varieties. Both native and domestic sunflowers represent Kansas equally. The designation became official on March 3, 1903.

The Western Meadowlark serves as Kansas's state bird, a grassland songbird with distinctive yellow breast and melodious call. Both symbols represent Kansas officially. Kansas adopted the Sunflower in 1903 and designated the Western Meadowlark as state bird in 1937.

The Sunflower is often associated with Kansas's agricultural heritage and prairie landscape. The flower traditionally symbolizes loyalty and adoration due to its tendency to face the sun. Its bright yellow color frequently represents optimism and the golden wheat and grain fields that define Kansas agriculture.