# Domesticated crops from North America **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 16, 2023, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107 "2023-05-16T02:44:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107/21 "2023-05-16T21:11:23Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But if they’re little more than a hobbyist curiosity now, are they a “crop” for the OP’s purposes? A resounding “maybe, but probably not.” IMO. There’s still a lot of commercially produced boysenberry jam out there. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107/22 "2023-05-16T21:27:02Z")
I don’t know if they’ve actually been domesticated, but fiddlehead ferns can be grown in small batches. I’m not aware of any significant commercial operations although they do show up in supermarkets around here. Their range is worldwide but I believe they are native to North America, specifically Canada. I think ramps fall into a similar category. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107/23 "2023-05-16T21:29:21Z")
Hmm. I did a bit of local poking around. And took wiki’s word for the rest. Although the article was last updated a decade or so ago. Knott’s still sells the stuff as they did when I was a kid nearby. Although Knott’s is merely a brand name within the Smucker’s jam empire these days. Per Amazon, Smucker’s / Knott’s boysenberry costs about 4x what Smucker’s blackberry costs. So a specialty product, but yes, cultivated in commercial quantities. Thanks for showing me the error of my less-than-thorough research. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107/24 "2023-05-16T22:13:00Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > So a specialty product, but yes, cultivated in commercial quantities. I honest to God love boysenberries. Prefer them to any of their relatives among the blackberry/raspberry group. So I will occasionally order boysenberry jam from Amazon for pbj duty 🙂. I miss readily available boysenberry yogurt. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107/25 "2023-05-16T22:32:58Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > _Stenocereus_ and _Selenicereus_ are not the same genus. You can tell because they’re spelled differently. > > Both genera are members of the subfamily Cactoideae. My bad, then - and they’re even more distantly related than I first thought. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107/26 "2023-05-16T22:36:57Z")
I don’t know specifically which species, but there are varieties of beans which are native to North America. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107/27 "2023-05-16T22:38:47Z")
[There’s currently a thread discussing beans in particular.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-figured-out-how-to-cook-beans-the-first-time/984046) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107/28 "2023-05-17T06:09:57Z")
Why is wIld rice’s cultivation not clear? There’s lots of farming for it. It looks like some theories suggest Chenopodium berlandieri the OG member of its genus, and maybe others, most notably the domesticated quinoa, is from it. Others dispute that. The parent species doesn’t have a commercial market that I’m aware of, but it’s popular among foragers (perhaps more commonly known as lamb’s quarters than goosefoot). > [@silenus](#): > > Boysenberries. Just because it’s a cross between 4 other berries shouldn’t disqualify it, based on the OP. Marionberry is just a blackberry cultivar, but don’t tell Oregonians that, they pretend like it’s some completely unique thing. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2023, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107/29 "2023-05-17T07:55:58Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I think ramps fall into a similar category. Ramps in Switzerland is known as Bear’s Garlic (_Allium ursinum_). Which is in the same Genus as ramps (_Allium tricoccum_). Probably not often grown as a domesticated crop, but devil’s club can be planted and is is used as a tea and medicine. > **[Devil's club](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_club)** > > Echinopanax horridum > Devil's club or Devil's walking stick (Oplopanax horridus, Araliaceae; syn. Echinopanax horridus, Fatsia horrida) (Squamish: ch’átyay̓) (Tlingit: S'áxt) is a large understory shrub native to the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, but also disjunct on islands in Lake Superior. It is noted for its large palmate leaves and erect, woody stems covered in noxious and irritating spines. It is also known as Alaskan ginseng and similar names, although it is not a true ginseng. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107/30 "2023-05-18T00:18:24Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > As far as tobacco It also would be removed in your OP as a whole-of-geographic-North-America crop and having been in precolumbian cultivation in the Antilles and Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107/31 "2023-05-18T00:53:25Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > How about sugar maple? I second this. It’s right there on their flag. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107/32 "2023-05-18T08:45:40Z")
How about poke/pokeweed? Not a common crop, but until the early 00’s there were a couple companies that provided it canned. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107/33 "2023-05-18T09:25:59Z")
Boysenberries are hybrids of raspberry/blackberry species from Europe - the cross-breeding may have happened in the USA, but the OP specifies: > [@dtilque](#): > > By “originated” I mean the plant was **native to North America** and the domestication occured somewhere on that continent. (emphasis mine) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107/34 "2023-05-18T13:26:45Z")
The Hood® Dairy considered making a boysenberry flavored milk. Guess what it was going to be called… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2023, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107/35 "2023-05-18T19:28:29Z")
“Boys in the Hood” / “Boysen the Hood” ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/domesticated-crops-from-north-america/984107.md?page=1)