Sunflower by Basilius Besler 1613, Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Besler’s florilegium was considered a highlight of botanical book illustration and was much admired also at the Dutch court in The Hague in those days.
Adriaen van der Donck in his Description of New Netherland, specifically refers to the sunflower as an example of indigenous plants found in America. In his chapter On Flowers he writes: “We also find there some flowers of native growth, as for instance, sun flowers, red and yellow lilies, mountain, lilies, morning stars, red, white, and yellow maritoffles (a very sweet flower,) several species of bell flowers, &c.; to which I have not given particular attention, but amateurs would hold them in high estimation, and make them widely known.”
Per Wikipedia: Basilius Besler, a Nuremberg apothecary and botanist, in 1613 described the plants of the garden of the Prince-Bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria.