500px provided description: "Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows. It?s what the sunflowers do." ~Helen Keller

The sunflower?s name comes from its tendency to reposition itself to face the sun. Its genus, Helianthus, is rooted in two Greek words ? ?helios? meaning sun and ?anthos? meaning flower.

The ancient Greek myth of Apollo and Clytie is one explanation of why sunflowers turn towards the sun. In this story Clytie, a nymph, adored Apollo. At first, he loved her back, but soon he fell in love with Leucothoe. Because of her jealousy, Clytie told Leucothoe?s father of the relationship and he punished her by burying her alive.

In anger, Apollo turned her into a flower, but even in flower form she still loved him and would spend her days watching him as he moved the sun across the sky in his chariot, just like sunflowers move to face the sun. [#summer ,#sunflower ,#fading ,#Helianthus]