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News Release 16-090
Sunflowers move from east to west, and back, by the clock
Plant biologists discover how sunflowers use internal circadian timing to follow the sun
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When they're mature, sunflowers stop tracking the sun and instead face solely eastward.
Credit: Ben Blackman
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Honeybees visit a mature sunflower. Here, the bees are collecting nectar rather than pollen.
Credit: Stacey Harmer
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A sunflower just before maturation. Soon the yellow ray petals will unfold.
Credit: Ben Blackman
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Sunflower being visited by a native bee, the "ultra green sweat bee."
Credit: Nicky Creux
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This mature sunflower was imaged using forward-looking infrared (FLIR) imaging; bees are white.
Credit: Evan Brown
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Young sunflowers are good solar-trackers, following the sun by day and re-orienting at night.
Credit: Ben Blackman
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