Bold. Bright. Strikingly beautiful. Of course, we are talking about the sunflower. A flower domesticated over 4000 years ago by Native Americans! Most know the flower’s abilities to provide delicious and nutritious seeds, but it is also used in conservation to restore degraded lands. Sunflowers are able to pull heavy metals, contamination and even radioactive waste out of the soil. 

Today, Matt Fox visits the Columbia Bottom Conservation Area that has been restored into a thriving bottomlands ecosystem by the Missouri Department of Conservation using the power of these amazing flowers. Together, he highlights the importance of these plants and shows off the creatures that rely on them. 

So come with us on a journey to discover the awesome powers of this North American native: the Sunflower!