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Iva annua
Also called Annual Marshelder, Marsh Elder, Pelocote, Rough Marsh Elder, Sumpweed, Marshelder, Seacoast Sumpweed
Annual marsh elder (sumpweed) is a North American annual herb in the daisy family, up to about 1.5 m tall, that grows in moist, open ground. It was once cultivated by Native Americans for its seed and is grown today mainly as a wild or ornamental-type plant rather than a garden crop.
Iva annua, the annual marsh elder or sumpweed, is a North American herbaceous annual plant in the family Asteraceae that was historically cultivated by Native Americans for its edible seed.
It is native to northeastern Mexico (Tamaulipas) and to the central and southern United States, primarily the Great Plains and Mississippi Valley as far north as North Dakota. There are some populations in the eastern US, but these appear to represent introductions.
Iva annua was cultivated for its edible seed by Native Americans around 4,000 years ago in the central and eastern United States as part of the Eastern Agricultural Complex. It was especially important to the indigenous peoples of the Kansas City Hopewell culture in present-day Missouri and Illinois. The edible parts contain 32 percent protein and 45 percent oil.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Iva annua by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
