In North America, about four to five thousand years ago, people seem to have had squash. Squash probably originates down south, somewhere between Mexico and th

In North America, about four to five thousand years ago, people seem to have had squash. Squash probably originates down south, somewhere between Mexico and the Andes. They had an ancestor to sunflower, too, originating from North America. Those, or species and cultivars rather similar to those, have survived to the present. The rest of what they grew back then, has not survived. There was something related to sumpweed, which is like ragweed but with a high-protein seed, similar to a grain. And there was goosefoot, which is rather closely related to quinoa, and the huanzotle of the article from Mexico, which also produces a high-protein seed. And they grew something related to little barley (not that closely related to actual barley) which grows almost everywhere in North America. (If you live in North America you have probably seen it before [1].) Their wild ancestors/relatives are often considered weeds today. These were not minor crops. Central North America had fields of them, supporting populations in the millions of settled farmers in small villages, for several thousand years. All gone now. The domesticated forms were probably a fair bit different from the wild forms. They may have not made the best crops for various reasons -- given that corn seems to have displaced them all a couple thousand years ago. (The corn monoculture really goes back quite a ways, it seems.) Something akin to this story likely occurred everywhere agriculture was invented. Probably, the large majority of crops and cultivars that have existed at some time, now do not. [1] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Hordeum_pusillum_%283877588841%29.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Hordeum_...