The sunflower is native to Central America and was first domesticated in Mexico by 2600 BC. It may have also been domesticated independently in Tennessee around 2300 BC. Many indigenous peoples saw the sunflower as a symbol of their solar deity. Europeans first encountered sunflowers in Peru in the 1500s. The structure of the sunflower head is made up of many small florets spiraling in a pattern related to the Fibonacci sequence, efficiently packing the seeds.