44 

 I 



JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. 



This is an interesting native plant 

 often known as the Wild Sunflower. 

 Indians and early colonists used its 

 tuberous roots much as we use pota- 

 / Hp*** toes today. It was also carried abroad 

 and cultivated extensively, particu- 

 larly in Italy, where it was known as 

 ^^^j Girasole Articocco (Sunflower Arti- 

 jmk choke), from which name it was cor- 



F mm W rii pted into the Jerusalem Artichoke 



as we know it now. The stalk, 

 which grows from six to twelve feet 

 in height is very rough and the three- 

 ribbed, toothed-edged leaves, the low- 

 er ones of which are set oppositely on 

 the stalk, are also rough, — this 

 roughness presumably being to discourage crawling insects 

 from reaching the summit. The several flower heads are 

 two or three inches across and consist of from a dozen to 

 twenty rays about a greenish-yellow center. This species 

 naturally grows in somewhat moist thickets but is often 

 seen in or about old gardens where it continues to grow as 

 a reminder of the days when it was cultivated for food. 



COMMON SUNFLOWER as a wild plant is native to 

 the western half of the United States. The flower heads 

 normally grow but from three to six inches in diameter, but 

 under cultivation they often attain a mammoth size. They 

 are grown for their ornamental beauty and also for the sake 

 of the numerous seeds produced in the central disk. These 

 seeds form a staple diet for most species of parrots. Gold- 

 finches like them too, and pay frequent visits to gardens 

 that contain them. Many bird lovers plant sunflowers just 

 for the sake of attracting and feeding these birds during 

 the winter months. Although sunflowers are now grown in 

 nearly all civilized countries, they all originally came from 

 America. Several other similar species occur in our range, 

 nearly all being found in low meadows, thickets or swamps. 



