Database: Sunflower

Helianthus annuus

FALSE RICHES. The sunflower has been made the emblem of false wealth, because gold, however abundant, cannot of itself render a person truly rich. It is related that Pythes, a rich Lydian, the owner of several gold-mines, neglected the cultivation of his lands, which naturally became so unproductive as not to afford the necessaries of life.

- The Language of Flowers