Another Plant Tinder For Fire Making.

As I have said many times before, once you become familiar with what plant tinders look like & feel like, you can start to identify many more. Some such as the beaten inner bark of the Stringybark Tree are not so readily recognised, but still the same thought processes enabled me to see the possibilities.
The inner core of the Sunflower plant again is not so readily identified, just like the inner core of the Yacca Plant, it is hidden from view until the stem is cut open. Here in the images below you can see the soft white pithy core of the Sunflower stem. Treat this as you would punkwood, & char it to prepare it. This stem is still green so you can better see the core, but for tinder use use only the dried stems.
Not a native to Australia, but many of you may grow Sunflowers in your gardens, as we do for chook feed. The Sunflower is believed to have originated and was first domesticated in Mexico. The Sunflower is a member of the Jerusalem Artichoke, which is native to the Great Lakes area in the Americas. The stem pith of the Jerusalem Artichoke can also be used as tinder, but the stems are much smaller and thus yield far less tinder.

This is a dried Sunflower stem cut open.

Another type of Sunflower in our garden with multiple flower heads.

http://archive.archaeology.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/800px-girasoli.jpg

Sunflowers drying in the sun in front of a stand of corn.

Jerusalem Artichokes in our garden. These are also prized as a food source. You will never starve if you are growing Jerusalem Artichokes. The dried stems make excellent kindling.

Sunflowers.

Do you know how sunflower seeds were dehulled in the 18th century or earlier by woodland Indians and or colonials?
Thanks for your time.
Regards.

We're finding several references to Native American sunflower cultivation and use, but precious little regarding the dehulling process. Below please find two passages (one from the Eastern Woodland/Iroquois, the other from southwest American Zunis). Attached please find an 18 page scholarly article "The Sunflower among the North American Indians." While it does not specifically answer your question, it does provide a wealth of information and resources for further study.



"The sunflower...was frequently cultivated, either together with corn and beans, or in patches by itself, and furnished an oil which was highly esteemed. The Hurons and Iroquois generally are said to have sown but little of it, though they made from it and oil 'to annoint themselves.' The Indians of Virginia made of it 'both a kinde of bread and broth.' The oil was said, by a Mohawk informant, to have been made by roasting the seeds slightly, then pounding them in mortar, after which the material was boiled and the oil skimmed off. The oil, at present, is used principally for ceremonial purposes, such as the  anointing of the masks used by the False-face society. It was also stated by Chief Gibson to be good for the hair and to prevent it from falling out or changing colour."
---Iroquois Foods and Food Preparation, F. W. Waugh, facsimile 1916 edition [University Press of the Pacific:Honolulu] 2003(p. 78)


　"There is also another large herb, which resembles the marigold, about six feet high. The head is a span in width with the flower. Some believe it to be planta solis


[sunflower] From its seeds a kind of bread and also a broth are made."


SOURCE: Hariot, A Brief & True Report (online) : http://www.nps.gov/fora/forteachers/the-second-part.htm


　"The nuts and sunflower-seeds were shucked by being reheated in the roasting-tray, and, while still hot, rolled lightly under the muller, or molina, on a coarse slab
of lava. The brittle shells were broken by this slight pressure, while the oily meats, rendered soft by the warmth, came out clean and perfect. In this shape they were
usually eaten. If designed for thickening soups or stews, which purpose they served admirably, or for use as shortening, they were carefully parched yet again until
friable, then slightly ground on a fine-grained stone. So rich were the sunflower and suthl'-to-k'ia seeds that no amount of drying made it possible to reduce them to
meal except in the condition of paste. As such, however, they were formed with the fingers into little patti-cakes which, laid on leaves, or hardened by roasting deep buried in the ashes, were eaten with other food in the place of meat, supplying the lack of the latter, at least to the taste, most admirably."


SOURCE: Zuni Breadstuff (p. 252-253) http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/books/zunibreadstuff/zuni.html

Another New Plant Tinder I Have Found. Australia, USA, UK, Europe.

The inner pithy core of the sunflower stem. The sunflower is native to the Great Lakes area in the New World, and of course is now grown in many countries.

Double headed sunflowers in my garden.

The larger single flowered sunflower drying out in Autumn.

Part of a sunflower stem split.

A closer look at the pith inside. Scrape it out and char it in the fire, but be careful because it burns hot and fast, and you need to be quick to smother it in your tinderbox.

I suggest you add raw/uncharred pith to the prepared tinder, otherwise it will smoulder away too fast to make fire, but it does work, I have tested it.

You can also use this pith tinder as is with a reading/burning/magnifying glass without charring it first, as you can do with all tinders.

More On The sunflower. Kindly supplied by Lynne Olver, The Food Timeline.

Sunflower info.



We're finding several references to Native American sunflower cultivation and use, but precious little regarding the dehulling process. Below please find two passages (one from the Eastern Woodland/Iroquois, the other from southwest American Zunis). Attached please find an 18 page scholarly article "The Sunflower among the North American Indians." While it does not specifically answer your question, it does provide a wealth of information and resources for further study.


"The sunflower...was frequently cultivated, either together with corn and beans, or in patches by itself, and furnished an oil which was highly esteemed. The Hurons and Iroquois generally are said to have sown but little of it, though they made from it an oil 'to annoint themselves.' The Indians of Virginia made of it 'both a kind of bread and broth.' The oil was said, by a Mohawk informant, to have been made by roasting the seeds slightly, then pounding them in mortar, after which the material was boiled and the oil skimmed off. The oil, at present, is used principally for ceremonial purposes, such as the anointing of the masks used by the False-face society. It was also stated by Chief Gibson to be good for the hair and to prevent it from falling out or changing colour."


---Iroquois Foods and Food Preparation, F. W. Waugh, facsimile 1916 edition [University Press of the Pacific:Honolulu] 2003(p. 78)


　"There is also another large herb, which resembles the marigold, about six feet high. The head is a span in width with the flower. Some believe it to be planta solis[sunflower] From its seeds a kind of bread and also a broth are made."

SOURCE: Hariot, A Brief & True Report (online) :

http://www.nps.gov/fora/forteachers/the-second-part.htm

　“The nuts and sunflower-seeds were shucked by being reheated in the roasting-tray, and, while still hot, rolled lightly under the muller, or molina, on a coarse slab of lava. The brittle shells were broken by this slight pressure, while the oily meats, rendered soft by the warmth, came out clean and perfect. In this shape they were usually eaten. If designed for thickening soups or stews, which purpose they served admirably, or for use as shortening, they were carefully parched yet again until friable, then slightly ground on a fine-grained stone. So rich were the sunflower and suthl'-to-k'ia seeds that no amount of drying made it possible to reduce them to meal except in the condition of paste. As such, however, they were formed with the fingers into little patti-cakes which, laid on leaves, or hardened by roasting deep buried in the ashes, were eaten with other food in the place of meat, supplying the lack of the latter, at least to the taste, most admirably."

SOURCE: Zuni Breadstuff (p. 252-253)

http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/books/zunibreadstuff/zuni.html

-----------------------------------

Lynne Olver (IACP), editor


The Food Timeline

http://www.foodtimeline.org/