In his iconic book on plants growing in England, William Turner mentioned the sunflower for the first time. In the second part of Herbal published in 1562, he writes “because it turns its leaves with the sun, it is called heliotropion, that is, turned with the sun, or sunflower”. And one of the earliest travel writers in English Purchas also mentions that the sunflower is found not only in Peru but also in “many places with us in England”.
Perhaps the most famous sunflowers in the world, and certainly the most expensive, were painted in Paris and Arles by Van Gogh. Still Life: Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers was sold in 1987 for almost USD 40 million, making it the highest price picture at the time.
Now by far the largest producers of sunflowers worldwide are the Ukraine and Russia, which together produce almost half of all sunflowers globally. They are then processed to sunflower oil or for use in cosmetics.
