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SUNFLOWER
(Helianthus annuus)
wild sunflower
Description:
Annual. Reproducing only from seed and growing, 4-10 ft. Stems,
leaves, rough and hairy. Heads have bright yellow ray flowers
and brown disk flowers. Achenes, mottled, gray-brown, egg shaped.
Escaped cultivation throughout the U.S., along roadsides, fields
and waste areas.
EDIBLE,
MEDICINAL: Nutritious seeds are eaten raw, roasted, sprouted,
ground into meal or nut butter, substitute for coffee, poultry
feed. Pressed oil from seeds used for culinary, cosmetic and industrial
uses. Flower buds cooked like artichokes. Seeds used to treat
coughs, dysentery and kidney inflammation. Root, laxative, treats
stomach pain. Leaf
infusion for diarrhea, using only 1/2-l tsp of the tea, more may
stop bowel action 1-3 days.
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