One that you might have admired for years without knowing it was edible is the green-headed coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata), also called cut-leaf coneflower, goldenglow, thimbleweed, and sochan ...

So woven in with Cherokee culture is this plant that in 2019, the Eastern Band negotiated an agreement with the National Park Service to forage sochan in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Sochan, a relative of the sunflower, can grow up to ten feet tall. Packed with vitamins and minerals, it rivals kale as a nutritional powerhouse. Stephanie Brundage / Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower ...