The Unbelievable History of Sunflowers

the sunflower when we think of it we think of an impressively tall plant with a lionine flower at its head a flower likened to the sun by more than one culture however the sunflower is more than just a remarkable sight it's also had a number of important uses for thousands of years including being an important source of food to this day what is the story behind this radiant flower ladies and gentlemen hello and welcome to fire of learning's food history series a series in which we discuss the surprising and amazing origins of the foods we eat every day thank you for joining us in this episode as we discuss the history of the sunflower now then let's get to it so where did the sunflower come from in the first place the wild sunflower originated in the modern day southwestern united states though where exactly it was first domesticated is a subject of surprisingly contentious debate some researchers have argued that it was first domesticated in mexico though research now favors the idea that cultivation began in the modern day central united states regardless cultivation began in north america roughly four to five thousand years ago the sunflower then spread across north america and would become an important crop to many cultures across the continent extending across much of the modern united states and southern canada and possibly reaching the aztecs of modern mexico they were not mere decoration but more importantly a source of food sunflower buds and leaves can be and are eaten but the emphasis for consumption has always been on the seeds the seeds could be cracked roasted and eaten they could also be ground into flour and made into sunflower meal or bread and squeezed to produce oil the plant however also had numerous other uses the oil was used for the skin and hair for example it was also believed to have medicinal properties as one example the zuni pueblo used it in the treatment of snake bites some amerindian groups also made dye from sunflower plants the stock furthermore which is stronger than one might expect was sometimes used as a building material finally it certainly did have important symbolic and decorative use as well numerous tribes used sunflowers and religious rituals decoration and more it appears that like most of the new world crops that native americans had discovered the first europeans to discover the sunflower were the spanish they seemed to have brought sunflower back to europe in the early 16th century as it was recorded in madrid in 1510. there is another reference to them in the herbal of the flemish botanist rembert doromans which dates to 1568. he wrote the plant groweth in the west india which is called america of the virtue of this herb and flower we are able to say nothing because the same has not yet been found or proved of any man and cooked in 1597 the english botanist john gerard claimed that he had grown sunflowers which he called indian suns or golden flowers of peru which were 14 feet in length the sunflowers were not actually peruvian accounts like these suggest the sunflowers spread across europe rather quickly throughout the 16th century however it would take time for europeans to recognize the potential the plant had as a food source and for the next two centuries it was primarily used as an ornamental plant though some europeans claimed it had medicinal properties using it to treat things like inflammation there are about 70 species in the genus to which sunflowers belong helianthus of which only five are cultivated there are also flowers in other genera that are called sunflowers such as in the genus heliopsis however we're primarily talking about only one species helianthus anus or the common sunflower and all its varieties of which there are over two thousand these varieties are quite diverse with differences in size colors lifespan and more the genus name helianthus comes from the greek helios meaning sun and anthos meaning get this flower the famous swedish scientist carl linnaeus created this genus in 1752 expressing a high opinion of the sunflower as he did so he said of it quote who can see this plant and flower whose great golden blossoms send out rays in every direction from the circular disk without admiring the handsome flower modeled after the sun's shape end quote an honorable mention is helianthus tuberosus the jerusalem artichoke also called sun root or sun choke which grows edible tubers this type of sunflower actually became rather popular in europe in the 16th century as a root vegetable but then sharply declined as they were out competed by other root vegetables but that's a story for a future video it seems that in the 18th century europeans were starting to eat sunflower seeds largely as a snack there was also a patent issued in england in 1716 pertaining to sunflower oil extraction to a man named arthur bunyan 18th century europeans were becoming curious about using it for more than an ornamental the nation that would do the most to bring sunflowers to modern agriculture however was actually russia this may have been spearheaded by the russian czar peter the great who reigned from 1682-1725 the reason peter is called great was his contribution to modernizing russia turning it into a great power in this effort he would travel to the nations of western europe to observe life there looking for things he could implement in his homeland it is said that he encountered the sunflower while in the netherlands and that it was among the many things he brought back to benefit russia whether he truly played a direct role in popularizing the sunflower as a crop himself though or if this was something that simply occurred in the spirit of his age is difficult to determine as many of these sorts of claims tend to be the first reference to using sunflower oil as a cooking oil dates to russia in the year 1779 russian farmers would further pioneer modern sunflower oil production throughout the 18th and 19th centuries breeding sunflowers to produce more oil and dividing various cultivars between those with seeds best for producing oil and those best for eating part of the popularity of sunflower oil in russia seems to stem from the fact that sunflower oil circumvented the orthodox church's lenten food restrictions allowing it to replace hemp seed oil as the go-to during lent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries sunflower cultivation became much more popular around the world even though sunflowers are native to north america it seems their agricultural popularity even there was also sparked by indirect russian influence and cultivars german immigrants who had originally migrated to russia where they became known as volga germans played a major role in the return of the sunflower to north american farming when many of them left russia for the americas in the latter half of the 19th century among the volga immigrants destined for countries like canada and america were those of the religious group known as the mennonites who were among the most prodigious sunflower farmers it would take time for the rest of america and canada to take interest in a sunflower in the same way the volga germans had sources from the late 19th century suggest that some americans did not even know what sunflowers were when sunflowers did become popular in america they were first grown for ornamental reasons and to produce seeds as food for chickens however american sunflower seed production took off in the early 20th century as they were increasingly grown for a greater variety of purposes namely the production of oil this was partly instigated by the world wars during which nations had to increasingly rely on vegetable oil produced at home in the soviet union during world war ii german military teams were specifically organized to capture sunflower oil processing plants the consumption of sunflower seeds themselves became popular in america and many other countries after world war ii today roughly 50 million tons of sunflower seeds are grown each year the leading two producers russia followed by a close second ukraine are responsible for over half of all global sunflower seed production the primary purpose remains vegetable oil indeed sunflower oil is more popular than one might expect a large number of you watching this have whether you know it or not consumed it within the past week multiple times still sunflower production has declined in recent decades in countries like the united states where production today is lower than its peak in the 1980s however though its popularity may fluctuate this ancient gorgeous and useful plant is exceptionally unlikely to ever go entirely out of style now since these plants are so famous for their height i know some of you are curious what's the largest sunflower ever grown according to the guinness world records the largest sunflower ever grown was grown in germany by a man named hans peter schieffer in 2014 it measured 30 feet and 1 inch or 9.17 meters in height i hope you enjoyed this video if so i invite you to come check out the rest of fire of learning and to subscribe to see more videos like this in the future including those of the food history series if you'd like to further support the channel there is a link to my patreon page in the description a special thanks to my current patrons listed here i also run a science channel here on youtube called lucinox so if that sounds interesting to you come check that out too sources are in the description thank you for watching [Music]

Channel: Fire of Learning

Views: 151,505

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Length: 11min 11sec (671 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 23 2022