Sunflower, Mammoth (Skyscraper)

Sunflowers should be the American National Flower but alas that honor goes to the rose, another noble flower to be sure, but not a uniquely American flower as is the Sunflower. The Sunflower is native to the Southeastern United States, but eons ago it made its way to South America where it became an important staple crop of the Incans who grew the plant for its seeds and for oil. Native Americans ground the seeds to make meal cakes, a source of protein that sustained them through the winters, and made dyes from some purple flowered varieties. The Spanish introduced the Sunflower into Europe in the 16th century, and by 1596 the famous English herbalist, John Gerard, was extorting the virtues of this wonderful plant. Gerard wrote that he ate the flowerbuds like globe artichokes and he found them to be “surpassing the Artichoke far in procuring bodily lust”. Sunflowers grew in many sizes, shapes and colors. Those native to the West exhibited frequent branching and were shorter. Those native to the East had larger flowerheads, less branching and were taller. According to Tovah Martin from her book, Heirloom Flowers, “The single-stemmed feature that we’ve come to associate with the mammoth sunflowers…was probably a mutation, encouraged by Native Americans for the largest seedheads.” Czar Peter the Great played a key role in expanding the popularity of the Sunflower. While on a trip to Holland, he discovered the plant and brought seeds back to Russia. He began to cultivate Sunflowers and encouraged his Russian people to do the same. His efforts launched one of the largest scale agricultural production programs of the 18th century. By the early 19th century more than 2 million Russian acres were under cultivation with Sunflowers.