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The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), also called sunroot, sunchoke, wild sunflower, [3] topinambur, [3] or earth apple, is a species of sunflower native to central North America. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] It is cultivated widely across the temperate zone for its tuber , which is used as a root vegetable .
Striped sunflower seeds are primarily eaten as a snack food; as a result, they may be called confectionery sunflower seeds. The term "sunflower seed" is a misnomer when applied to the seed in its pericarp (hull). Botanically speaking, it is a cypsela. [1] When dehulled, the edible remainder is called the sunflower kernel or heart.
The plant has an erect rough-hairy stem, reaching typical heights of 3 metres (10 feet). The tallest sunflower on record achieved 9.17 m (30 ft 1 in). [3] Sunflower leaves are broad, coarsely toothed, rough and mostly alternate; those near the bottom are largest and commonly heart-shaped.
The best-known species is the common sunflower (Helianthus annuus). [6] This and other species, notably Jerusalem artichoke ( H. tuberosus ), are cultivated in temperate regions and some tropical regions, as food crops for humans, cattle, and poultry, and as ornamental plants. [ 7 ]
Sunflower oil can be extracted using chemical solvents (e.g., hexane), or expeller pressing (i.e., squeezed directly from sunflower seeds by crushing them). [23] "Cold-pressing" (or expeller pressing) sunflower seeds under low-temperature conditions is a method that does not use chemical solvents to derive sunflower seed oil.
Underside of a sunflower sea star. Sunflower sea stars can reach an arm span of 1 m (3.3 ft). They are the heaviest known sea star, weighing about 5 kg. [4] They are the second-biggest sea star in the world, second only to the little known deep water Midgardia xandaros, whose arm span is 134 cm (53 in) and whose body is 2.6 cm (roughly 1 inch) wide. [7]
An initial auction in early 2011 at Sotheby's in London for 100 kg of the seeds fetched US$559,394, a further sale at Sotheby's New York in 2012 reached US$782,000. [12] In 2012 The Tate acquired approximately 8 million seeds weighing 10 tonnes which had been displayed by the gallery as a cone five metres in diameter and one and a half metres tall.
Sunflowers (original title, in French: Tournesols) is the title of two series of still life paintings by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh.The first series, executed in Paris in 1887, depicts the flowers lying on the ground, while the second set, made a year later in Arles, shows a bouquet of sunflowers in a vase.