Flowering plants, or Angiosperms, are by far, economically and nutritionally, the most important plants to humans. Many, perhaps most, of our edible, domestic plants are taken for granted by the people of the developed countries like the United States. You have probably eaten lettuce all your life, but if asked where did lettuce come from, would you know? Or the Irish potato? Did it actually come from Ireland?
The following article shows the origins of many of our common food plants. It lists some domestic animals as well, but the plants are in a large majority. Click on Origins of Selected Plant and Animal Domesticates and be surprised by the homeland of our domestic garden and farm plants.
Much of the world's population depends entirely on plant materials as food. Most of the plants consumed are in the grass family. This group of plants is quite large, comprising somewhere around 10,000 species. Of this enormous number, only three, wheat, rice, and corn, are consumed in vast quantities. Indeed, in some areas of the world, one or another of these three cereal grains constitutes nearly 100% of the human diet. Is there any nutritional danger in this? The excellent article, Economic Importance of Plants, clearly answers this question. Pay particular attention to what it says about corn. Because corn is native to the Americas, we are going to take a closer look at this famous grass. Just for interest, be sure to read the history of Kellog's Corn Flakes and Post Toasties at the end of the paper.
We hear a lot about rice and wheat, but it may well be that corn is eaten by more humans than any other grain. In fact, around half of the world's population depends mostly or entirely on corn for food. Can corn, by itself, be a balanced diet? See Maize and the Third World for the answer.
Click on Origins of Corn to see from where this grass may have come. Although there are many varieties of corn, there are relatively few basic groups: Corn Types and Characteristics. Corn is put to an astonishing variety and number of uses. Click on A Zillion Uses for Corn to see a large, yet only partial, list! You may also be surprised to see what is the greatest use of corn in the United States: The Many Uses of Corn. You will see ethanol as a gasoline substitute on this last list. Go to Questions & Answers on Ethanol Powered Cars for current information. Two uses of corn, on neither list, and which are quite original may be seen at Cornhusk Dolls and Cornhusk Bottles and Baskets.
FOR INVESTIGATION: For each inquiry, write your thoughts in a short paragraph for later comparison.
Origins of Selcted Plant and Animal Domesticates
Corn Types and Characteristics
Q&A ON E-85 (ETHANOL-POWERED) CARS
Native American Technology and Art: About Cornhusk Dolls...
Native American Technology and Art, Twined Cornhusk Bottles and Baskets