Cultivars
Squash (Cucurbita pepo) is considered to be one of the first domesticated plants in the Eastern Woodlands, as it descended from Cucurbita pepo var. ovifera spp. ozarkana, a wild gourd, indigenous to the Eastern Woodlands. Current findings suggest this plant was cultivated circa 2050 BCE, independent of contacts with Mesoamerica. The squash that was originally part of the complex was raised for edible seeds and to produce small containers (gourds), not for the thick flesh that is associated with modern varieties of squash.
Other plants of the EAC include little barley (Hordeum pusillum), goosefoot or lambsquarters (Chenopodium berlandieri), erect knotweed (Polygonum erectum), maygrass (Phalaris caroliniana), sumpweed or marsh elder (Iva annua), and sunflower (Helianthus annuus).
The plants are often divided into "oily" or "starchy" categories. Sunflower and sumpweed have edible seeds rich in oil. Erect knotweed and goosefoot, a leafy vegetable, are starches, as are maygrass and little barley, both of which are grasses that yield grains that may be ground to make flour. (Note that erect knotweed is a distinct species from the Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum) that is considered an invasive species in the eastern United States today.)
Read more about this topic: Eastern Agricultural Complex