The Origin and Development of the Cultivated Sunflower' CHARLES B

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The Origin and Development of the Cultivated Sunflower' CHARLES B. HEISER, JR. Department of Botanv Indiana University The origin of cultivated plants has long The Use of the Wild Sunflower challenged the imagination of both botanists Achenes2 of wild sunflowers were gathered and anthropologists. The problems relating to by many Indians of the western United States the tracing of such origins have been subject for use as food, and the plants or flower heads Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/17/5/161/14604/4438706.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 to renewed interest and scientific inquiry in were often used either medicinally or cere- recent years (1, 7). The cultivated sunflower monially. The principal species used for these is of particular interest because it is one of the purposes was the common wild sunflower, H. few crop plants to have been domesticated in annuus ssp. lenticularis. Among the archaeo- temperate North America and it is one of the logical material from Castle Park, Colorado, a few plants whose wild progenitor is definitely single seed was found which has tentatively known. been identified as wild H. annuus. Several The common sunflower, Helianthus annuus heads of wild sunflowers are found among the L., comprises three main races H. annuus ssp. archaeological remains from Tularosa Cave, lenticularis, the "wild" sunflower; H. annuus New Mexico, along with maize and other ssp. an7nuus,the "weed" sunflower; and H. cultivated and wild plants (4). annuus ssp. macrocarpus, the giant sunflower within historic cultivated for its edible seeds. The first, which Observations times have shown that the seeds of wild is widespread in western North America, is a sunflowers fur- a branched sunflower with small heads and nished particularly prized source of food for many groups of Indians of the western United achenes and few rays. The weed sunflower is States. The seeds were eaten raw or were also branched but with larger heads, achenes, and more numerous rays than the wild race. more frequently pounded into a sort of flour Its distribution is primarily confined to the and made into flat cakes or mixed with other middle western United States. The cultivated substances. Many of the early explorers, in- sunflower is generally unbranched and bears cluding Lewis and Clark, have left us ac- a single massive head with numerous rays and counts of the gathering of the achenes and the quite larger achenes. Its distribution is prac- methods by which they were prepared for tically world wide today but it does not persist eating. Medicinally the plant was used prin- outside of cultivation. cipally as a cure for chest pains. The flowers In his now classic Origin of Cultivated were worn in the hair in ceremonial dances Plants de Candolle pointed out that the among the Hopi. methods for discovering the origin of culti- No references to the use of the wild sun- vated species were to be derived from botany, flower are reported for locations east of the archaeology and paleontology, history, and Mississippi. The area of greatest use of wild In the some these philology. present paper of sunflowers is shown on figure 1. It is prob- lines of evidence will be examined in relation ably somewhere within this area that the to the origin of the cultivated sunflower. species had its origin as a wild plant. It ap- 'This article is based largely on two earlier papers parently was early adopted as a food plant (3, 5). Rather complete bibliographiesappear in these by certain Indians and its spread as a weed and only additional titles will be cited here. The study is in all probability the direct result of man's has been supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation since 1952. use of the plant. This early use and spread 'The fruit of the sunflower is botanically known as can be viewed as a necessary step toward its an achene and includes the seed proper with the pericarp around it. eventual domestication. 161 162 THE AMERICAN BIOLOGY TEACHER May 1955

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FIGURE 1-Map showing the locations of prehistoric cultivated sunflowers (A), distribution of the cultivated sunflower among the Indians in historical times (H), and the area of the greatest use of the wild sunflower (in heavy line).

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ A ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~......

.~~~~~~~~~... ~ ~ ~ ...... FIGURE2-Comparison of a modern variety of cultivated sunflower, Mammoth Russian (left) with prehistoric achenes from Cramer Village site, Ohio. The latter achenes are charred and are probably 10-15% smaller than the original size. Vol. 17, No. 5 ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CULTIVATED SUNFLOWEVR 163 Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/17/5/161/14604/4438706.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021

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FIGURE3 Prehistoric sunflower remains from Newt Kash Hollow Shelter, Kentucky. (Specimens from the University of Kentucky.)

The PrehistoricDistribution of the and the other food plants which originated Cultivated Sunflower elsewhere. A fact which may be of consider- Achenes and heads of sunflowers have been able significance is that no archaeological cul- found at a number of archaeological sites in tivated sunflowers have been found in the the eastern half of North America (fig. 1.). southwestern area where there was a well From the size of these structures we can infer developed agriculture in prehistoric times. that the Indians of this region had the culti- The Cultivated Sunflower Among the Indians vated sunflower (fig. 2). The achenes re- In the Post Colombian Period covered at many of the sites are as large as From the accounts of the early explorers it anv known for modern sunflowers, so it seems is possible to map roughly the area of cultiva- likely that the sunflower was fully developed tion of the sunflower in North America as a cultivated plant long before the discovery (fig. 1) in early times. Champlain in 1615 ob- of the New World. The material recovered served the sunflower in cultivation in eastern from Newt Kash Hollow Shelter, Kentucky Canada, and it was subsequently observed by (6) is of particular interest in that the small others in the northeastern area. In addition to size of the heads (fig. 3) and achenes sug- its use for food, the sunflower seed was a gests a rather primitive type of the cultivated source of oil which was used for cooking, plant which may represent one of the stages annointing the hair, and as a base for various through which the sunflower passed before it pigments which were painted on the face and reached the single large headed condition. At body. The mention of the sunflower in the most of the sites the sunflowers are found with creation myth of the Onondago along with maize, but it is possible that the sunflower was other cultivated plants might indicate long in cultivation before the Indians had maize usage of the plant. 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to a limited extent on reservations in Ontario Alexander Henry, Thomas Nuttall, and and New York State. Prince Maximilian all observed the sunflower The sunflower was also observed among the in cultivation among the Indians on their Algonquin Indians of North Carolina, and travels up the Missouri River, but other rec- Hariot in 1588 wrote "There is also another ords of its cultivation in the central United great herbe . . . about sixe foote in height; the States are lacking, although the greatest use head ... a spanne in breadth" which was used of sunflowers in prehistoric times appears to for making both "a bread and broth." The be centered there. Today the sunflower is still plant apparently was not cultivated in the grown by the Hidatsa, Mandan, and Arikara southeastern area, but we find references to its Indians in North Dakota. The sunflowers cultivation in what is now southern Louisiana grown by these Indians are extremely variable and eastern Texas. and branched forms with rather small achenes Vol. 17, No. 5 ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CULTIVATED SUNFLOWER 165

CflRYSANTT. PERVNTANYvt. purple dye and the rays for a yellow dye was even more important. The Havasupai have the long purple achene similar to the Hopi sunflower but in addition have forms with striped seeds. The sunflower has been known from Mexico since the sixteenth century, and is grown to a very limited extent among Indians in Northern Mlexico today. The Mexican sunflowers are characterized by a slight beak on top of the achene which is unique among cultivated sunflowers today although the beak Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/17/5/161/14604/4438706.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 has also been found on certain prehistoric achenes. Mangelsdorf and Reeves maintain that the sunflower was not known in Mexico in early times, supporting their claim with the fact that the sunflower is known today only in northern Mexico and known by the name mai'z de teia which "indicates that it wvas introduced from elsewhere, and after corn was already there." Although the supposition that the sunflower arrived in Mexico after corn was present seems very likely it should be pointed out that the sunflower was also known under the names of "chimalacatl" and "an- thilion" which are not derived from the word maize. The Introduction of the Sunflower Into Europe The first published record of the sunflower in Europe is in 1568 when the sunflower was illustrated (fig. 5) and described very com- pletely by Dodonaeus. Thereafter there are frequent accounts of the sunflower by the herbalists. According to the descriptions, the first sunflowers introduced into Europe had FIGURE 5-The nfrst drawing of the sunflower in Europe. From the herbal of Dodonaeus (1568). This purple disks, and there was considerable diver- is clearly the cultivated variety. sity in the achene coloration-black, white, and striped forms are mentioned. are found. These are very similar to the weed Dodonaeus listed Peru as the native home sunflower (H. anniuus ssp. annuus) in many of the sunflower, and for a time it went under respects and could represent a primitive form the name Chrysanthemum Peruvianum. There of the cultivated sunflower or the result of is no evidence to substantiate the pre-Colom- hybridization between weed and cultivated bian occurrence of the sunflower in South sunflowers. America. The assignment of plants to "Peru" In the Southwest there are records of the in the early herbals cannot always be taken sunflowers among the Zuni, Hopi, and Hava- literally, but simply as indications that the supai, and it is still cultivated in northern plant came from somewhere in the Americas. Arizona. The sunflower of the Hopi is a late The first introduction of the sunflower into maturing form, characterized by long, narrow, Europe probably came from Mexico by way purple achenes. The Hopi used the plant for of the Spanish explorers and subsequently food, hut perhaps the use of the achenes for a from "Virginia" and "Canada" by the French 166 THE AMERICAN BIOLOGY TEACHER May 1955 and English. There can be little doubt that Discussionsand Conclusions the sunflower went to Europe from some- From the evidence now at hand it is clear where in North America. As previously that the sunflower was domesticatedin tem- pointed out there are no records of its cultiva- perate North America. It is not possible to tion in South America in prehistoric times, and reconstruct the definite steps leading to the its cultivation there today can be dated as origin of this plant but the following working very recent. The wild sunflower extends into hypothesis may be advanced. The wild sun- northern Mexico which also was the southern flower (H. annuusssp. lenticularis)in remote limit for the cultivation of the domesticated times became a food plant of the Indians of plant. western North America. In time it became a The sunflower spread rapidly throughout camp-following weed and was carried into

Europe although at first it was grown chiefly many new areasby the Indians.In the central Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/17/5/161/14604/4438706.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 as a curiosity. Somnetimeprevious to the nine- and eastern United States the new weed be- teenth century it reached Russia where it became more or less stabilized and the race came a spectacular success. At the time of its known as H. annuusssp. annuushad its origin. introduction, the Holy Orthodox Church of This weed may actually have been brought Russia observed very strict regulations regard- into cultivation and with the selection of ing diet during Lent and the days preceding mutants restricting branching and increasing Christmas. Not only meat but many other oil seed size this plant could have developed into foods were on the prohibited list. However, the giant, monocephalicplant known today as the sunflower which had recently been in- H. aninuusvar. macrocarpus.It is not possible troduced was overlooked and as a result the to point to one definiteregion as the center of oily seed of the sunflower became a very origin of the new form but the present dis- popular food. Russia soon became the world's tributionof the weed sunflowerand the distri- foremost producer of sunflowers, a position bution of the archaeologicalsunflowers strong- it occupies to this day. ly suggest the central United States as the place of origin. The sunflower made its way back to the United States in the latter part of the nine- The sunflower, then, is unique in having teenth century, and it was offered under the its origin in temperate North America, for name of "Mammoth Russian" or "Giant Rus- the majority of American food plants were sian." It is probable that most sunflowers now broughtinto domesticationin Centralor South in cultivation in this country are derived from America. Whether the sunflower was domes- Europe rather than directly from the Indians. ticated before these Indianshad acquiredother cultigens and thus agriculture had an inde- Numerous varieties of the cultivated sun- pendent origin in temperate North America flower are now known, although no detailed or whether the sunflower was brought into classification has ever been attempted. De cultivation after these Indians had acquired Candolle pointed out that the greatest vari- the knowledge of agriculture from other ability in cultivated plants is generally in the peoples is not clear.3It may have been that part for which it is cultivated, and we find the sunflower was a basic food before the that the varieties of sunflower differ primarily introduction of maize. With the introduction in the shape, size, and pigmentation of the of maize, a most superiorfood plant, the sun- achenes (fig. 4). The old standard varieties flower lost its dominant position and was (12'-15' in height) are being replaced today kept mainly for its secondary uses as a dye by semi-dwarf (6'-8') and dwarf varieties (3'-6') which can be harvested with modern 3Achenes of Iva, the marsh elder, have been found farm machinery. There are no well defined among the archaeological remains from the Ozark botanical taxa that can be recognized among and Kentucky shelters (2, 6). These achenes are much the cultivated sunflowers, and there seems to larger than those of the wild Iva ciliata to which they appear related, and it has been suggested that they be no valid reason for attempting to assign come from cultivated plants. This plant is not known Latin names to the different cultivated varie- for any historical Indian group, and it may also be that it disappearedwith the arrival of other cultivated ties. plants. Vol. 17, No. 5 SCIENCE AND ENGLISH COMBINE 167 and oil plant. However, as yet there are not enough facts to allow much more than specu- Science and English lation on this interesting subject. Comb ne References Cited EMMA FORCE, Biology Teacher 1. Anderson, Edgar. 1952. Plants, Man and Life. LOIS RAMSTACK, English Teacher Little, Brown and Co. Boston. 245 pp. Whitefish Bay High School 2. Gilmore, M. R. 1931. Vegetal Remains of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Ozark Bluff-Dweller Culture. Pap. Mich. Acad. 14: 83-102. The combination of two of our major 3. Heiser, C. B. 1951. The Sunflower Among the courses was demonstrated recently. Two of Phil. Soc. 95: North American Indians. Proc. Am. Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/17/5/161/14604/4438706.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 432-448. our sophomore biology students who were 4. . 1952. Helianzthus in P.S. Martin et al, also taking a sophomore speech course drew Mogollon Cultural Continuity and change. Fieldiana: upon their biology background for the subject 40: 475-477. inatter for a required original dramatization 5. . 1954. Variation and subspeciation in the in speech. The presentation was so effective common sunflower. Helianthus anniuus. Amer. Midl. that the skit was selected to be part of an Nat. 51:287-305. assembly program. 6. Jones, Volney H. 1946. The Vegetal Remains of Newt Kash Hollow Shelter. In W. S. Webb and The skit "The Plight of the Amoebae" was W. D. Funkhouser Rock Shelters in Menifee County, written and presented by Dorothea Gother Kentucky, Univ. of Ky. Rept. in Arch. and Anthropol. and Sue Shultz. The accompanying illustration 3:147-165. 1946. was done by Richard Silberman, a student 7. Sauer, Carl 0. 1952. Agricultural Origins and Dispersals. Amer. Geog. Soc., N. Y. 110 pp. photographer. A cyclorama was used as a background for staging. A black curtain would be nmoreeffec- New England Biological Association tive, but a lighter one may be used. The open- Meeting ing of the stage curtains was narrowed as much as possible. The only light was a dark The New England Biological Association blue spotlight located in the auditorium. An met on Mlarch 19, 1955, at the Harvard Blood overhead spot could be used with equal effect. Preservation Laboratory, Boston, Massachu- An ordinary schoolroom table served to setts. Dr. Robert Mac Creadie, Assistant Direc- create the setting. It was draped with white tor of the Biological Laboratory and his sheets. The girls sat on the table, and they too assistants determined the blood types of those were draped with white sheets to give the w ho requested it. A tour of inspection was effect of the amoebae. Movement of head and conducted through the laboratories. arms simulated action and helped the move- I)r. D. MVI.Surgenor of the laboratory staff ment of the skit. A final suggestion might be explained the principles and mechanics of made about casting. Small but clear girlish b)lood fractionation. The process was demon- voices are more effective in characterization, strated and Association members saw the red than boys' voices. czlls separated from the plasma, looked at platelets, and observed and handled packaged "The Plight of the Amoebae" plasma. 1st Amoeba: Oh woe is me! Oh cruel, cruel All in attendance at this excellent meeting world! were impressed with the Laboratory's re- 2nd Amoeba: What's the trouble? It's been search program, and returned to their respec- wonderful for mne. tive communities with a feeling of appreciation 1st. Amoeba: Food is so scarce lately. I have for "a day well spent." only one, mind you one, well fed food vacuole to my name. And the rebellious An Education Directory of Education Associa- b)acteria I just caught in it are still alive tions, Part 4, has been oublished bv the U. S. and kicking. Not only that but it has an Department of Health, Education and Welfare, outrageous taste. It's giving me a vacuole- Office of Education. The cost is 30 cents. ache.