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* erect and branched herbaceous plant in the wild, single-stemmed in cultivated forms.
* whole entire leaves, alternate, rough to the touch
* radiate flower head, with numerous tubular flowers in the center and bright yellow ligulate flowers
A striking feature of sunflowers is that all flowering heads seem to point eastwards. Before flower opening, the young plant is facing the East in the early morning, and follows the sun during the day. At night, it comes back to its original position. But when flowers open, they stop eastwards.
F1 hybrids are usually grown, among which all individuals are of the same height, with a single large flower head. The presence of isolated, taller, branched individuals with small flower heads shows that the seed lot contains impurities. If these individuals are numerous, this means that the farmer used his own seeds, and that we are, thus, cultivating the heterogeneous F2 generation.
== Popular names ==
