Claim: Wilmatte Porter Cockerell discovered a mutant red sunflower that she cultivated in her own garden and later sold seeds to companies like Burpee, an American seed and plant company founded in Pennsylvania.
Evidence: She discovered and cultivated red sunflowers, eventually selling the seeds to commercial seed companies. In 1910 Cockerell discovered a red sunflower across the road from her home in a field. This sunflower was a mutant that she and Theodore transferred to their garden. Cockerell proceeded cultivate it further, developing the mutation to the point where it could be sold to commercial seed companies. Seed companies such as Peter Henderson & Co, Sutton & Sons, and Burpee marketed the red sunflower seeds throughout the world. Burpee Seeds and Plants, officially W. Atlee Burpee & Co., is an American seed and plant company that was founded by Washington Atlee Burpee in Pennsylvania in 1876.