According to Greek mythology, the sunflower was once a water nymph called Clytie, who was deeply in love with Apollo, the God of the Sun. Apollo did not return her affections and poor Clytie resigned herself to sitting and fixing her eyes on her beloved sun from dusk until dawn, looking for Apollo’s chariot to return and to be joined again with her love. Gradually, her golden hair started to resemble yellow petals, her legs became the stem and her face became a flower. In her new form, Clytie continued to gaze at her sun from morning to night, as did all of her children, the sunflowers we see today.
