Sunflowers are native to the Americas and were cultivated by their inhabitants long before the arrival of the Europeans. The seeds of the plants served as a source of food for many Native American tribes, which cracked the shells and ate them whole and pounded them into a flour-like substance used to make bread and cakes. Native Americans also utilized pigment obtained from the plants as a dye and sunflower oil for cooking and to smooth the hair and skin. When explorers brought the sunflower back to Europe around the early 1500s, the plant became popular as an ornamental and was eventually cultivated in its adopted habitat for oil and food production as well. The sunflower became particularly prevalent in Russia, where growers developed different varieties to serve specific purposes.