Whyis a raven like a writing desk?Origins of the sunflower that isneither an artichoke nor fromJerusalem

摘要

The Mad Hatter asks a nonsensical riddle at his tea party whereAlice drops in on her way through Wonderland – Lewis Carrolllater contended that the conundrum had no answer, although manyhave tried to find one. Polyploid plant complexes, like the one towhich the Jerusalem Artichoke belongs, have long been seeminglyimpenetrable riddles like that of the Mad Hatter, but Bock et al., inthis issue of New Phytologist (pp. 1021–1030) use a new moleculartechnique coupled with deep understanding of the plants themselvesto unravel this complex story. The origins of this ‘minor’cultivated plant have been elucidated, and very elegantly too. TheJerusalem Artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus, a member of the daisyfamily and of the same genus as the cultivated sunflower Helianthusannuus, illustrates well the vagaries of common names – oncecoined they stick. Investigation of the origins of cultivated plantscan be fraught with problems, among them common names thatcan mislead.