Agricultural Information:

Plant Family: Asteraceae
Scientific name: Helianthus

Sunflowers are an annual plant native to the Americas with a rough, hairy stem and broad coarse leaves with a toothed edge. Plants generally range from 3 to 15 feet when grown in the right conditions, however, the world record is currently at over 30 feet tall.

What looks like a single flower is actually a flower head made of many small flowers or florets. The outer petals are ray florets, and the center contains many disk florets that then mature into seeds. Sunflowers exhibit heliotropism as young plants: the flower buds track the sun from east to west during the day. However, once mature, the flower head generally faces east.

Sunflower seeds are eaten raw, roasted, or used to extract sunflower seed oil. The seeds are also beneficial to feed bird populations.

Halachic Information:

Kilei zera’im & kilei zera’im*: Sunflower seeds are classified as legumes. The posekim argue whether legumes require minimal distancing from dissimilar species like vegetables, namely 1.5 tefachim, or if they resemble grain and require a distance of 6 tefachim between species.

*Kilei zera’im & kilei hakerem (interplanting – annuals & grapevines) generally do not apply outside of the land of Israel; the following laws apply only within the land of Israel.

Information about plants as they relate to torah and mitzvot has been generously provided by Mercaz Torah VeHa’aretz Institute.