Typically, there are 34 spirals in one direction and 55 in the other however, in a very large sunflower head there could be 89 in one direction and 144 in the other. Generally, each floret is oriented toward the next by approximately the golden angle, 137.5°, producing a pattern of interconnecting spirals, where the number of left spirals and the number of right spirals are successive Fibonacci numbers. These mature into fruit (sunflower 'seeds'). The flowers in the center of the head are called disk flowers. They are sexually sterile and may be yellow, red, orange, or other colors. Each 'petal' consists of a ligule composed of fused petals of an asymmetrical ray flower.

The outer flowers, which resemble petals, are called ray flowers.

What is often called the ' flower' of the sunflower is actually a ' flower head' or pseudanthium of numerous small individual five-petaled flowers (' florets'). Sunflower leaves are broad, coarsely toothed, rough and mostly alternate. The tallest sunflower on record achieved 9.17 metres (30.1 ft). The plant has an erect rough-hairy stem, reaching typical heights of 3 metres (9.8 ft). Sunflower seeds were brought to Europe from the Americas in the 16th century, where, along with sunflower oil, they became a widespread cooking ingredient. The name sunflower may derive from the flower's head's shape, which resembles the sun. The domestic sunflower, however, often possesses only a single large inflorescence (flower head) atop an unbranched stem. Wild Helianthus annuus is a widely branched annual plant with many flower heads.

The plant was first domesticated in the Americas. This sunflower species is also used as wild bird food, as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), in some industrial applications, and as an ornamental in domestic gardens. Helianthus annuus, the common sunflower, is a large annual forb of the genus Helianthus grown as a crop for its edible oil and edible fruits.

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