Back in the late 1700’s, Benjamin Franklin found a small seed on a whisk broom that a friend had brought him from France for dusting his beaver hat. Next spring he planted that seed and it grew into a tall corn-like plant with a flowering brush of stiff fibers bearing seeds.
Can that possibly be true? That the entire American broom industry is based on a single accidental sorghum seed? Must be, I got it from an official document, here. And I got that from this merry flight of fancy: A Farrago On Brooms, Broomcorn, and Broom Dusting. Full of interesting nuggets, some wicked satire, and whole lot of entertainment.