Uploaded June 2022 | Updated September 2026, 10 hours ago

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In this video, we look at the remarkable journey sunflowers have been on throughout their long history.

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The following music performed by Kevin Macleod Available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
Download available at incompetech.com

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Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G, Movement I (Allegro), BWV 1049 [orig. by JS Bach]
Accralate

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Vacation Casual
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Hickory Hollow

Sources

[1] Pappalardo, Joe. "Sunflowers: The Secret History." Overlook Press, 2008.

[2] Heiser, Charles B. “The Sunflower among the North American Indians.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 95, no. 4, 1951, pp. 432–48. JSTOR, jstor.org/stable/3143283.

[3] Lentz, David L., et al. “Sunflower (Helianthus Annuus L.) as a Pre-Columbian Domesticate in Mexico.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 105, no. 17, 2008, pp. 6232–37. JSTOR, jstor.org/stable/25461773.

[4] Smith BD. "Eastern North America as an Independent Center of Plant Domestication." Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Aug 15;103(33):12223-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0604335103. Epub 2006 Aug 7.

[5] Blackman BK, et al. "Sunflower Domestication Alleles Support Single Domestication Center in Eastern North America." Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Aug 23;108(34):14360-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1104853108. Epub 2011 Aug 15.

[6] Park B, Burke JM. "Phylogeography and the Evolutionary History of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.): Wild Diversity and the Dynamics of Domestication." Genes (Basel). 2020 Feb 29;11(3):266. doi: 10.3390/genes11030266.

[7] Putnam, D.H. et al. "Sunflower." Alternative Field Crops Manual, Purdue University.
https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/sunflower.html

[8] Sahagún, Monographs of the School of American Research and the Museum of New Mexico. Book 9: The merchants. Florentine Codex. General History of the Things of New SpainCE Dibble, AJO Anderson (School of American Research and the University of Utah, Sante Fe, 1959 [1569], No 14, Part X.

[9] Kiple, Kenneth F., and Kriemhild Conee Ornelas, editors. "Cambridge World History of Food, Volume 1." Cambridge University Press, 2000.

[10] Cumo, Christopher. "Sunflower." Encyclopedia of Cultivated Plants: From Acacia to Zinnia. ebrary.net/28124/environment/sunflower

[11] Gerard, John and Thomas Johnson. "The Generall Historie of Plantes." The Ex-Classics Website. CHAP. 259. exclassics.com/herbal/herbalv30086.htm

[12] "Sunflower Plant" Encyclopedia Britannica. britannica.com/plant/sunflower-plant

[13] "Jerusalem Artichoke" Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_artichoke

[14] How old is the sunflower in Mexico? Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Jul 29;105(30):E48; author reply E49-50. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0804588105. Epub 2008 Jul 21.

[15] Guinness Book of World Records. "Tallest Sunflower." GuinessWorldRecords.com guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/tallest-sunflower

Picture Attributions:

By Vengolis - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60781595
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By Eric Hunt - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80128771
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By torange.biz - https://torange.biz/photo/32/HD/sunflower-oil-crude-unrefined-32723.jpgPublished on https://torange.biz/crude-sunflower-oil-unrefined-32723, CC BY 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40799354
By Bundesarchiv, Bild 137-037542 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5338420
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