Erico is an inspiring teacher! Here he is showing us that one sunflower is actually lots of tiny disk and ray flowers. Every petal is a flower! This is called a composite plant.
Did you know that plants are classified together because of their flower? It's crazy. Plants in the same family often don't look alike. Imagine a family reunion with the Madron tree, Uva Ursi and Manzanida. They each are completely different sizes!
The flower, since it only blooms for a short period each year, is the only part of a plant that doesn't adapt to climate and predators over time. The vegetative parts of the plant evolve to its environment, so when you want to know what kinds of plants are related, the only constant characteristic to study is the flower. It's like the plant's finger-print! (only much sexier)
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