Library / English Dictionary

SUNFLOWER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any plant of the genus Helianthus having large flower heads with dark disk florets and showy yellow rays

Synonyms:

helianthus; sunflower

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("sunflower" is a kind of...):

flower (a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sunflower"):

Helianthus angustifolius; swamp sunflower (sunflower of eastern North America having narrow leaves and found in bogs)

common sunflower; Helianthus annuus; mirasol (annual sunflower grown for silage and for its seeds which are a source of oil; common throughout United States and much of North America)

giant sunflower; Helianthus giganteus; Indian potato; tall sunflower (very tall American perennial of central and the eastern United States to Canada having edible tuberous roots)

Helianthus laetiflorus; showy sunflower (tall rough-leaved perennial with a few large flower heads; central United States)

Helianthus maximilianii; Maximilian's sunflower (tall perennial of central United States to Canada having golden-yellow flowers)

Helianthus petiolaris; prairie sunflower (similar to the common sunflower with slender usually branching stems common in central United States)

girasol; Helianthus tuberosus; Jerusalem artichoke; Jerusalem artichoke sunflower (tall perennial with hairy stems and leaves; widely cultivated for its large irregular edible tubers)

Holonyms ("sunflower" is a member of...):

genus Helianthus (genus of tall erect or branched American annual or perennial herbs with showy flowers: sunflowers)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Sunflowers, like solar panel arrays, follow the sun from east to west. The researchers tapped into information in the sunflower genome to understand how and why sunflowers track the sun.

(Sunflowers move from east to west, and back, by the clock, NSF)

By measuring the flowers with an infrared camera, they found that the east-facing sunflowers heated up more quickly in the morning — and also attracted five times as many pollinating insects.

(Sunflowers move from east to west, and back, by the clock, NSF)

As the sunflower matures and the flower opens up, overall growth slows and the plant stops moving during the day and settles down facing east. This seems to be because the circadian clock ensures that the plant reacts more strongly to light early in the morning than in the afternoon or evening, so it gradually stops moving westward during the day.

(Sunflowers move from east to west, and back, by the clock, NSF)