The sunflower is one of many plants that are now known to aid in “phytoremediation,” a process that employs various types of plants to remove, transfer, stabilize, and/or destroy contaminants in the our soil, water and air.

Do sunflowers clean soil?

“[Sunflowers] are able to take heavy metals from contaminated soil in a way that's completely natural and un-harmful to the soil and its surrounding ecosystems,” Kitrinos said. “They're called 'phytoremediators.

Do sunflowers absorb toxins?

“Sunflowers are what environmental scientists call hyperaccumulators– plants that have the ability to take up high concentrations of toxic materials in their tissues. They can absorb zinc, copper, and other common pollutants across of variety of their genome.”