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Sunflower Meets Its Bee-st Friend |
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Sunday, 01 July 2007 |
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photos by Sue Suby
Safety Harbor residents Nick Baker and Tara Mollick have a bumper crop of sunflowers at their home on Harbor Hill Drive, near S.R. 590. At right, their neighbor’s house nearly disappears behind a mass of blooms. Above, a critically important friend — a bee — pays a visit to one of those sunflowers. Bee pollination is considered critical to the production of that popular snack, sunflower seeds.The plant also is valuable for the oil derived from its seeds. The sunflower is an American native and although it now is cultivated worldwide, it was first introduced to Europe after North American settlers learned of it from native residents. A sunflower head is not a single flower,but actually consists of 1,000 to 2,000 individual flowers. Sunflowers are raised commercially in the Midwest, but most in Florida are grown for decorative purposes.
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