Butterfly and sunflower

Small Italian butterfly on a big sunflower

What is called sunflower is actually a group of numerous florets crowded together. The outer florets are the sterile ray florets and can be all shades of yellow from almost white to very dark. The florets inside the circular head are called disc florets. They mature into what are commonly called “sunflower seeds,” but are actually the fruit of the sunflower. The inedible husk is the wall of the fruit and the true seed lies within the kernel.