Iva annua, the annual marsh elder[3] or sumpweed, is a North American herbaceous annual plant in the family Asteraceae that was historically cultivated by Native Americans for its edible seed.

Iva annua is an annual herb up to 150 cm (5 feet) tall.

[1] Iva annua was cultivated for its edible seed by Native Americans around 4,000 years ago[7] in the central and eastern United States as part of the Eastern Agricultural Complex.

It was especially important to the indigenous peoples of the Kansas City Hopewell culture in present-day Missouri and Illinois.

Probably for these reasons it was abandoned after more pleasant alternatives (such as maize) were available and, by the time Europeans arrived in the Americas, had disappeared as a crop.