Have you noticed that sunflowers face a particular direction in the morning and the direction changes until it begins the following day. I am not talking about those fake sunflowers you see in bushes as there are so many fake flowers. That is that for that. Sunflowers face the east in the morning where the sun rises from and they turn all around the day till they are facing the west at night where the sun sets.
When sunflowers blossom, sunflower bees rush towards them in the morning for pollen and nectar, and at the same time pollinate the flowers as they go. The sunflower's ability to move around with the sun is known as heliotropism. At night, the sunflower spends all night going backwards from the west to the east from the west.
Scientists believe that the sun's light signals cells in the plant’s east side to swell and elongate faster than the other side which is the west side and at night, the cells in the other side start to elongate making the plant stem go back to facing the east. This has become the circadian clock of the sunflowers just like we humans have our circadian rhythm which automatically tells our body to wake up or go to bed. The movement of the sunflower east and west is before it begins to blossom but when it begins to bring out flowers, it is fixed to the east for the rest of its life.
They remain in this position which is very good for bees to pollinate the flowers once the sun rises. Researchers noticed that when sunflowers are facing west, they do not have lots of bees visiting and pollinating. Bees are after the bright anthers but when they are not bright, bees do not get to go close.
A sunflower blossom is made up of numerous Florets to form an inflorescence. Before dawn, the florets at the edge of the field bloom, and pollen from the inside moves to the top, after which the style which is after the florets at the edge start to bloom.
These florets are ready for pollens from other plants and this is where bees come into play. They move pollen from flower to flower as they move them from one to another. Each pollinated floret the grows into a seed and this goes on until all the florets have blossomed then it begins to dry off and this gives birth to the sunflower seeds that we use for oil and many other things.
