A LIVING HISTORY BLOG.

18TH CENTURY LIVING HISTORY IN AUSTRALIA.

Thursday 8 July 2010

Another New Plant Tinder I Have Found. Australia, USA, UK, Europe.

The inner pithy core of the sunflower stem. The sunflower is native to the Great Lakes area in the New World, and of course is now grown in many countries.

Double headed sunflowers in my garden.

The larger single flowered sunflower drying out in Autumn.

Part of a sunflower stem split.

A closer look at the pith inside. Scrape it out and char it in the fire, but be careful because it burns hot and fast, and you need to be quick to smother it in your tinderbox.
I suggest you add raw/uncharred pith to the prepared tinder, otherwise it will smoulder away too fast to make fire, but it does work, I have tested it.
You can also use this pith tinder as is with a reading/burning/magnifying glass without charring it first, as you can do with all tinders.

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