This large sunflower was seen shining brightly in a White Rock neighborhood Wednesday. The sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is an annual plant native to the Americas. It possesses a large inflorescence (flowering head). The sunflower is named for its ability to follow the sun in the course of a day. The sunflower has a rough, hairy stem, broad, coarsely toothed, rough leaves and circular heads of flowers. The heads consist of many individual flowers, which mature into seeds, often in the hundreds, on a receptacle base. From the Americas, sunflower seeds were brought to Europe in the 16th century, where, along with sunflower oil became a widespread cooking ingredient. Leaves of the sunflower can be used as cattle feed, while the stems contain a fibre, which may be used in paper production. Source: Wikipedia. Photo by TK Thompson/ladailypost.com