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WATER HYACINTH WOES
The water hyacinth’s leaves are a source of vitamins A, B1 and B2 and betacarotene. They contain 18.7% protein, 17.1% fiber and 36.6% carbohydrates. Each year, the state of Florida spends some $15 million to control it. Some of that control is by spraying poisons, so be careful where you collect hyacinths.HONEYSUCKLE HEAVEN
So you really have to make sure of which one you have and which part is usable and how. On the top of the common list is the Japanese Honeysuckle. It is the honeysuckle kids grew up with, picking the flowers for a taste of sweetness. Young leaves are edible boiled. In my native state of Maine there is the L. villosa, the Waterberry, sometimes
BUTTERCUPS - EAT THE WEEDS AND OTHER THINGS, TOOSEE MORE ONEATTHEWEEDS.COM
WILD GINGER
Wild Ginger, Asarum canadense, is found in eastern North America, Manitoba south excluding Florida, Texas and Nebraska.In western North America one finds Asarum caudatum, or Long-Tailed Wild Ginger, note flower at left. It’s roots can be used as a ginger substitute and leaves brewed into a tea. There is also something of a misnomer withthe plants.
AUSTRALIAN PINE
WILD ONION AND WILD GARLIC One cup onion leaves and bulbs. 1/2 cup Poor Man’s Pepper Grass or Mustard leaves. One cup chickweed or other mild green. Two diced tomatoes. Juice of one lemon. Tablespoon of oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Collect onions, dice, add other green items torn into smallbits,
A PITCH FOR SPRUCE GUM A cast iron pan too pitted for frying works well, too. Just the right size for a “chaw” off the tree. Put your granulated resin in the pot and add enough water to makes a slurry. Then heat slowly over low heat (remember, resin can catch fire easily or burn you badly if it gets on you while hot so be careful. WILD CARROTS AND QUEEN ANNE’S LACE EAT THE WEEDS AND OTHER THINGS, TOO The essential amino acids are 143 mg of valine per 100 grams, 178 lysine, 41 phenylalanine, and 26 tryptophan. Per 100 grams of seeds it has 17.7 grams protein, 17.1 grams fat, 41.4 grams starch, and 7.8 grams fiber. On alcoholic extraction, the seeds yield a saponin, a sterol glucoside, a flavone, and lecithin. GOUT WEED - EAT THE WEEDS AND OTHER THINGS, TOO Gout Weed has a long history of medicinal use besides being cultivated for food. It was the main gout treatment. One theory is the clergy got a lot of gout because they ate better than most but reports about St. Gerard say he lived poorly, giving half of what he ever made to his mother and the other half to those more poor than he.WATER HYACINTH WOES
The water hyacinth’s leaves are a source of vitamins A, B1 and B2 and betacarotene. They contain 18.7% protein, 17.1% fiber and 36.6% carbohydrates. Each year, the state of Florida spends some $15 million to control it. Some of that control is by spraying poisons, so be careful where you collect hyacinths.HONEYSUCKLE HEAVEN
So you really have to make sure of which one you have and which part is usable and how. On the top of the common list is the Japanese Honeysuckle. It is the honeysuckle kids grew up with, picking the flowers for a taste of sweetness. Young leaves are edible boiled. In my native state of Maine there is the L. villosa, the Waterberry, sometimes
BUTTERCUPS - EAT THE WEEDS AND OTHER THINGS, TOOSEE MORE ONEATTHEWEEDS.COM
WILD GINGER
Wild Ginger, Asarum canadense, is found in eastern North America, Manitoba south excluding Florida, Texas and Nebraska.In western North America one finds Asarum caudatum, or Long-Tailed Wild Ginger, note flower at left. It’s roots can be used as a ginger substitute and leaves brewed into a tea. There is also something of a misnomer withthe plants.
AUSTRALIAN PINE
WILD ONION AND WILD GARLIC One cup onion leaves and bulbs. 1/2 cup Poor Man’s Pepper Grass or Mustard leaves. One cup chickweed or other mild green. Two diced tomatoes. Juice of one lemon. Tablespoon of oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Collect onions, dice, add other green items torn into smallbits,
A PITCH FOR SPRUCE GUM A cast iron pan too pitted for frying works well, too. Just the right size for a “chaw” off the tree. Put your granulated resin in the pot and add enough water to makes a slurry. Then heat slowly over low heat (remember, resin can catch fire easily or burn you badly if it gets on you while hot so be careful. WILD CARROTS AND QUEEN ANNE’S LACERECIPES ARCHIVES
Rose Hip Leather. Prep Time: 1 hour. Cook Time: 30 minutes. Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes. Ingredients: 4 cups (1 Litre) of rose hips; Preparation: Just after a frost is the best time to gather rose hips. BUTTERCUPS - EAT THE WEEDS AND OTHER THINGS, TOO Buttercups are usually considered not edible. In fact, I think they were the first plant I learned not to eat when I was just a few years old. Of the 2,252 species in the family and some 600 buttercups in the genus perhaps a dozen and a half squeak into the edible realm.Potential famine
GROUND IVY - EAT THE WEEDS AND OTHER THINGS, TOO Ground Ivy, once known as Nepeta glechoma and Nepeta hederacea in the Catnip genus, is a native of Europe and southern Asia.It was introduced into North America by 1672, probably earlier, for medicinal uses. Gound Ivy moved west and was naturalized in Indiana by 1856 andColorado by 1906.
NEWSLETTER #460, JUNE 8TH, 2021 Foraging Classes: You will note that besides local classes I will be holding four foraging classes in South Carolina in mid-July. Saturday, June 12th, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a.m. to noon.Meet just north of the science center. Sunday, June 13th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive.Port Charlotte. 9 a.m to noon, meet at the parking lot at Ganyard and Bayshore.CAN WE EAT GRASS?
That simple question has a complex answer: Yes, no, and maybe. It’s a topic I explored in a recent Green Deane Newsletter and the basis for this article. Strictly speaking we eat a lot of grass, but in the form of grain: Wheat, rice, rye, barley, millet, sprouts et cetera. What most folks want to CLOVER, AVAILABLE AROUND THE WORLD Clover is also a native of Europe and western Asia but has been used as a pasture crop worldwide. And while there are few pasture in the Arctic, clover grows from the top of the earth to the bottom and all around, nearly every location on the rotation. Though well-known as totally edible, from blossom to root, it is not choice “eatingwild.”.
FRUITS/BERRIES ARCHIVES Finding your first pawpaw is a thrilling moment. I can remember exactly where it happened and when. It was the summer of 1987 in Longwood, Florida, in The Springs, a gated community, along a naturewalk.
GOOSEGRASS, CLEAVERS, BEDSTRAW Actually four Galiums are used somewhat regularly. Besides curdling milk the Galium verum’s blossoms were used for coloring and scenting cheese and butter with a honey-like fragrance. The flower tops are also used to make a refreshing drink. Galium mollugo, White Bedstraw, Revala, is one of 56 leaves added to a ritual dish in Friuli, Italy, and is now naturalized in the eastern US, theVEGETABLE ARCHIVES
As one might expect there are disagreements on what huitlacoche means exactly. While authorities agree huitlacoche (week-la-KOH-chay) comes from the Aztecs there are two or more interpretations which are variations on a theme.Some say it means “sleeping excrement” others “raven excrement.” FLOUR/STARCH ARCHIVES Here is a research tip when you’re trying to figure out what grass you have in front of you. Do a google search using the botanical name you think it might be then add the name: Umberto Quattrocchi.He’s a grass expert with definitive publications, and fortunately not acommon name.
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GALINSOGA’S GALLANT SOLDIERSby DEANE
in Edible Raw ,
Greens/Pot Herb
, Miscellaneous
, plants
, Salad
, Toxic to Pets/livestock Galinsoga, “Gallent Soldiers” aka Quickweed grows up, it’s toxiclook-alike crawls.
_ _
_Galinsoga ciliata_: Quickweed is fast food Quickweed does not look edible or gallant. In fact, it looks like a daisy that lost a fight. But it, and a close cousin, _G. parvifolia_, are good pot herbs. There is a potentially toxic look alike, _Tridax procumbens_, “Coat Buttons” which is more viney, and low growing except for flower stalk. Unfortunately the blossoms of _Galinsoga ciliata_ and _Tridax procumbens_ are nearly identical so you have to look at the rest of the plant to make sure you have the Galinsoga. It is found nearly everywhere in North America except the desert southwest (and sparingly in warm southern states.)Galinsoga blossom
Beside roundish older leaves, _Galinsogas_ have (usually but not always) five widely spaced petals with indented tips. A native of Central and South American,_ Galinsoga ciliata_ (gal-in-SOH-guh sil-ee-ATE-uh aka _G. quadriradiata_) is a little plant that has gone a long ways. It was introduced to Kew Gardens in England in 1796 and not only has naturalized there but escaped to the continent as well. That makes some sense in that one plant in a season can produce 7500 seeds. As a new comer to not only the northern United States and Europe it does not have an extensive foraging history outside of its native region. However, as soon as it got to China it became a prime pot herb. The entire plant is eaten except the root. However the leaves are the best part. For an ugly little plant it has great taste. Pick a lot because it loses some size in the cooking. Low-growing _Tridax procumbers:_ NOT EDIBLE Nutritionally the leaves of the _Galinsoga_ per 100g edible portions are: 88.4g water, 156 calories, protein 3.2g, fat 0.4g, carbs 5.2g, fiber 1.1.g, calcium 284 mg, magnesium 60 mg, potassium 58 mg, iron 5.3 mg, zinc 1.3. mg, carotene 4 mg, vitamin C 6.7 mg, thiamin 0.08 mg, riboflavin 0.21 mg, and niacin 1.21 mg. _Galinsoga_ was named after Mariano Martinez Galinsoga, a Spanish physician and botanist in the 18th century. _Ciliata_ means fringed with hair. _Parvifolia_ means small flowers. The plant’s nick name in England is “gallant soldiers.” In Brazil it is known as botão-de-ouro. _G. parvifolia_ is toxic to goats, apparently among the few plants that are. GREEN DEANE’S “ITEMIZED” PLANT PROFILE IDENTIFICATION: Quickweed is identified by its opposite, oval, coarsely toothed leaves on opposite-branched stems. Its small flower heads have a yellow disk and five (or four) three-toothed white tiny petals (occasionally pink.) To two feet tall. It’s toxic look-alike, _Tridax_, is ground hugging except for the flower stalks, see photo upper right. Remember, _Galinsogas_ grows up, the entire plant. The _Tridax_ grows low except for the flower stalk which grows up. Do not eat the _Tridax. _The blossoms resemble each other closesly so don’t use just the blossoms for identification.__
TIME OF YEAR: May through fall in northern areas, nearly year round inFlorida
ENVIRONMENT: Waste ground, cultivated areas, roadsides, gardens, dooryards lowland fields. However, it prefers damp rich soil with plenty of sunshine. (The government lists toxic _Tridax_ as only growing in central and south Florida but eleven states consider it a “pest”: Alabama, California, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North and South Carolina Oregon, Texas and Vermont. ) METHOD OF PREPARATION: Cooked green. Put in boiling water for 10/15 minutes. Excellent with butter, salt and pepper. Dried leaves can be used for flavoring. _G. parvifolia_ being less hairy is used as a salad green as well. The juice and leaf paste of the _Tridax procumbens_ can be used to stop bleeding wounds.{ 8 comments
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PAWPAW PICKING UP IS RAREby DEANE
in Alcohol , Edible
Raw ,
Fruits/Berries ,
Medicinal , plants
, Protein Plant source, Trees/Shrubs
Pawpaw can be a dwarf shrub or a small treePAWPAW PANACHE
_Asimina triloba_
Finding your first pawpaw is a thrilling moment. I can remember exactly where it happened and when. It was the summer of 1987 in Longwood, Florida, in The Springs, a gated community, along a nature walk. I happened to glance over and saw a pair of horribly stunted misshapen green pears. And as is often the case, once one gets the image of the plant in the head by meeting it in person, one begins to see them. Their most common appearance in Central Florida is along the margins of Interstate 4 in the Deland area, and of course,pastures.
_Asimina obovata_
Wild pawpaws fall in the same category as gopher apples. The woodland creatures usually find them first so you rarely see a ripe one. The fruit is edible straight from the tree but palatability varies. There are two general types. One ripens early and is large with flavorful yellow flesh; the other is often smaller, ripens later, and has white, milder flesh. You can also divide pawpaws another way, Florida and all others. Florida’s pawpaws tend to be shrubs, if not dwarfs. They are: _Asimina obovata, Asimina incana, Asimina reticulata, Asimina longifolia, Asimina pygmaea, _and_ Asimina tetramera_. Farther north one can find the _Asimina triloba _reaching small tree height and in the coastal areas_ Asimina parviflora. _While I have not personally tasted them all Dr. Daniel Austin in _Florida Ethnobotany_ says he presumes they are all edible.__
_Asimina pygmaea_
Pawpaws are rich in nutritional value, including high levels of vitamins A and C. The downside is they don’t ship or store well, on par with loquats. Also they severely nauseate some people, can cause a rash when handled, and the seeds contain a depressant. Incidentally, the fruit is the largest native North American fruit and is heavy onthe protein side.
Pawpaws are also a little difficult to cultivate. In fact, they are really hard to cultivate. They need a lot of pampering for a few years to get them started, after that they are quite free of problems. They also attract a wide variety of butterflies. Those who champion the cause of pawpaws think that if they can persuade nurseries to pay more attention to the plant it can be a commercial success. It has few pests so it can be grown organically with little fuss. There might be even pawpaws on your grocery shelf in a few years. That would dependupon the lawyers.
_Asimina incana_
Like all plants the pawpaw is a mini chemical factory. The Indians used dried pawpaw seed powder to control head lice and pharmaceutical preparations today still use pawpaws for that. The leaves are diuretic and the bark yields a strong fiber for cordage. It also belongs in a family of fruit trees that are suspected of inducing Parkinson’s Disease. That is currently being researched. Pawpaw has not been indicted but to a lawyer all that might be close enough to keep the fruit off the grocery stores shelves. You might have to forage for pawpaws or grow your own. Which reminds me, historically, the pawpaw was under cultivation by Indians east of the Mississippi when de Soto traipsed through in 1541. Chilled papaw fruit was a favorite dessert of George Washington. Thomas Jefferson planted some at his Monticello. I don’t recall of either dying from Parkinson’s. _Asimina longifolia_ As for its usual genus name, _Asimina _(uh-SIM-min-nuh) nearly any guess is as good as any other. My best deduction is the Indians called the bush Assimin (“_min_” in Algonquin means food, still found in “persimmon.” ) Assimin would be fine enough but then European languages and writers get involved. The early French inhabitants of Louisiana, called the fruit _“Asiminer”_ from which we get the genus name. This is somewhat close to the Latin word for monkey, _simia_. That led to an early reference to calling the plant _“monin”_ which was an old French word for monkey. That came from the Greek word for monkey, _maimou_. It changed through Latin into the romance languages as _monin, mouninu, monnino,_ and _monin._ That leads folks to think the fruit had something to do with monkeys but I think it was just an assumption of one botanist who thought Louisiana French were referring to a “monkey plant.” Further, the pawpaw is North American and there are no native monkeys. One Florida version is _Asimina _ reticulata, (reh-tick-yoo-LAY-tuh) meaning the veins in the leaf have a net pattern. It can be found in slightly damp or occasionally damp areas. Another is _Asimina _ obovata (oh-bo-VAY-ta) meaning egg-shaped leaves. It likes it dryer ground can grow twice as tall as the _reticulata_. The others are more or less reported, not the most common of shrubs. Locally pawpaws are rarely over four feet high whereas farther north the grow into trees. The _A. obovata_ is listed as rare and the _A. tetramera_ endangered.Asimina parviflora
One would think pawpaws would be a bit easier to explain, but no, and it also points to one of the problems of the cut-and-paste Internet. Many say pawpaw (or papaw or paw-paw) is a corruption of the American Indian word papaya, a version or cognate shortened by the Spanish. That’s not too bad, no great stretch there. And that it came originally from native Americans seems reasonable. Others, no doubt copying the same wrong site, note that it is Indian then make a huge leap across the Pacific and say it is from the Hindi language, you know, near China… and then younger folks wonder why older folks don’t trust the Internet… _Asimina reticulata_ Two aspects of the pawpaw I’ve found interesting is first it is in the Annonaceae family and closely related to magnolias though actually much older than the larger magnolias. The little ol’ pawpaw came first first. Next is that it is pollinated by carrion flies and insects attracted to fetid odors. Growers often put roadkill or rotting meat in their groves to attract the pollinating flies. Now there’s a tasty thought… How to spell it… dictionaries are split, pawpaw, papaw… if you go back to the original it should be _“papa”_ said pawpaw. In that regard papaw seems half-hearted. The USDA says pawpaw, Dr. Austin, ever sensitive to language’s influence on botany, went with pawpaw. Pawpaw eliminates mispronunciation, looks balanced to me and reflects the balanced sound the ear hears… always the musician…And in case you
wondered since 1994, Kentucky State University http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/ has served as the USDA National Clonal Germplasm Repository, for _Asimina_ species, as a satellite site of the NCGR repository at Corvallis, OR. There are over 2,000 trees from 17 states there on 12 acres at the KSU farm. Researchers evaluate the genetic diversity contained in wild pawpaw populations so that unique material can be added to the KYSU repository collection to be used in breeding. And for an unusual recreational and educational opportunity, visit the Annual Ohio Pawpaw Festival in September Lake Snowden in Albany, Ohio for three days of Pawpaw music, food, contests, art, history, education, sustainable living workshops and activities for the kids! http://www.ohiopawpawfest.com/ . GREEN DEANE’S “ITEMIZED” PLANT PROFILE IDENTIFICATION: Shrubs or small trees, three to 40 feet, 15 common, evergreen in southern area, deciduous in northern area. Leaves alternate, simple ovate, smooth edge entire, length varies with species, flowers foul-smelling of rotting meat, single or in clusters, three large outer petals, three inner smaller petals, white to purple or red-brown. Fruit like cylindrical pears, misshapen, many seeds; green when unripe, maturing to yellow or brown, flavor similar to bothbanana and mango.
TIME OF YEAR: End of summer, fall ENVIRONMENT: Rich bottom lands to rain-watered pastures, open areas, beside open areas. The two most common places I find it is at the base of tall pines or in cow pastures. METHOD OF PREPARATION: Used like a banana, raw or cooked, as in baked desserts, ice cream, pastries, or in making beer. Don’t eat the skin and don’t eat the seeds. Chewed seeds will cause digestive problems, whole seed usually pass through. Try only a very little at first. Some people have a very several allergic reaction to pawpaws.{ 70 comments
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CORAL BEAN: HUMMING BIRD FAST FOODby DEANE
in Antioxidants ,
Flowers , Greens/PotHerb , Medicinal
, Toxic to
Pets/livestock ,
Trees/Shrubs
The Eastern Coral Bean is easy to spot this time of year. Photo byGreen Deane
_ERYTHRINA HERBACEA_: PART EDIBLE, PART NOT Eastern Coral Bean in blossom The (eastern) Coral Bean is one of those damned if you do, and damned if you don’t kind of species. Parts of it are edible, parts of it are toxic, narcotic and hallucinogenic. So there is a trade off: Very easy to identify, but harvest carefully. The boiled flowers and young leaves are edible, cooked like string beans but in more water. This semi-toxic plant is also quite healthy. A Japanese study published in the Journal of Natural Medicines, 29 Jan 2008, confirmed five antioxidants in the coral bean flower and found a sixth antioxidant. I boil mine for 15 minutes in plenty of water. They turn green and limp when cooked and reduce in size so collect a lot. The flavor is mild, like young spinach. Coral Bean is a plant of the old South and into Mexico. But, it can grow not only across the southern tier of the United States but up the east coast to Maryland and up the west coast to Washington state. Out hiking it is always very easy to spot though in the wild it is rarely more than a spindly bush. However most people know the coral bean as a landscape plant and under cultivation and ideal conditions can reach25 feet.
Cooked young leaves edible, but poor fare It is one of those odd thing in the plant world that people interested in plants tend to view them three basic ways. One is the agriculturist who views them as a commodity. There are those like foragers who tend to land on the nature side of things. They want to know where does it grow and can it be eaten. Then there are those who view plants like artistic elements to be put in a living canvas, the landscaped garden. I have a close friend like that. His property is as disciplined as mine is feral. He knows probably not a botanical name, nor which leaf he can eat, yet he’s a good husband of his plants and his yard a thing of beauty. He works very hard at it. A coal bean to him would be a bit of color, and color over time because a landscaped garden is an interplay of plants as the season progresses. To an agriculturist the coral bean is a source of costly contamination, especially the seeds. It is a weed, weeds cost money and they are thus called noxious and must be dealt with as some enemy. To me it is something to add to the herb pot if it is shy on content. And I suppose there is a fourth group that includes most people. They ignore plants even though their lives depend on them. The seeds are toxic, do not eat The coral bean is an interesting plant for many reasons, one of which is that it always turns it leaves towards the sun. Each petiole has three uterine-shaped leaves, two on short stems but all three stems have the ability to turn the leaf. And you will notice unlike most trees and more like an herb, the smaller leaves are in the middle. Those are the edible young leaves, and of course, the red blossoms, both cooked. The seeds are NOT edible. They have been used for beads, however, and played an important religious role for the Aztecs in auguring the future. In tiny amounts the seeds are said to behallucinogenic.
As for the toxin, it is not great according to the data base of the state of North Carolina. It varies from according to age, weight, physical condition and individual susceptibility. Most of the reports involve kids eating the scarlet seeds. In Mexico the seeds are used to poison rats, dogs and fish. It is similar to curare and hypnotic. That the flowers and leaves are edible is confirmed by no less august authority than Dr. Julia Morton, who for most of her life was the final say on toxic plants in warm climates, such as Florida. In fact, she is one of the experts that authored the edible plant portion of the U.S. military’s survival guide. I like the flowers. Boiled they are a mild in flavor. The flowers of the _Erythrina flabelliformis_ (fla-bel-ih-FOR-miss, fan shaped) are reported as edible — very favored in Mexico — but I have not tried them. As for the botanical name of the coral bean, _Erythrina herbacea_ (air-rith-RYE-nuh hur-BAY-see-uh) …There are about 112 species in the genus _Erythrina_, which comes from the Greek word ερυθρος which means red. The species name, _herbacea_ in Latin means “grass, low growing, not woody.” It was named that because this particular plant is more herbaceous than others in the genus. Many of the plants in the genus are well-known and used in the tropics and subtropics as street and park trees. Some are used as shade trees for coffee or cacao and can grow to a hundred feet high. In most of its range in the United State the Coral Bean is a bush. The common name might come from the fact the flowers are shaped like a form of red coral. It is also called the Cherokee Bean, who used a decoction of the root for various purposes including kidney and urinary blockage. Besides brilliant color the Coral Bean’s second claim to fame is that it’s fast food for humming birds. They were made for each other and one of the quickest way to get hummers to your yard is to grow a Coral Bean, just keep the seeds away from the kids. Humming birds, by the way, follow routes, kind of like air corridors called traplinings, (for next time you’re playing scrabble…. Other known edibles in the genus include _E. americana, E. berteroana, E. fusca, E. rubrinervia, _and_ E. veriegata._ GREEN DEANE’S “ITEMIZED” PLANT PROFILE IDENTIFICATION: Bush, three to sixteen feet,compound, uterine-shaped leaves lost in winter in cooler areas, kept in warm areas, herbaceous, bushy, can survive a lot of trimming. Stems have small, curves prickles, as do leaves. Flowers on leafless spikes in early to early summer depending upon the latitude, young leaves throughout the growing season. Easily blooms in February in Florida. Occasionally blossoms in fall. In dry areas can keep blossoms after leaves havefallen
TIME OF YEAR: Broken shade, sandy woods, hardwood hammocks, dry coastal tidewater areas, roadsides ENVIRONMENT: Usually an understory plant among other bushes. But I’ve also seen it grow in full sun. Become less common due to destruction of habitat. METHOD OF PREPARATION: Boil young leaves and blossoms in ample water. Whether the blossoms are edible raw is a bit of a debate with one authority quoting another in a questionable reference saying yes. Be safe and don’t eat them raw. I know one can be eaten raw but beyound that I do know know. Besides containing harmful alkaloids, they contain antioxidants. Flowers turn mushy while cooking and loose theirred color.
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FIREWEED SALE
by DEANE
in Edible Raw ,
Greens/Pot Herb
, plants
Fireweed has a taste you will either like or definitely dislike. Photo by Green Deane. _ERECHTITES HIERACIIFOLIA_: EDIBLE PILE DRIVER Art Gallery Pension, Athens, Greece. Photo by Green Deane When I go to Greece I always stay a few days in Athens to get used to the time change and visit in-town relatives (as opposed to out-of-town relatives.) I stay at the same little hotel — the Art Gallery Pension — on _Erekthion_ Street. It’s a few hundred feet due south of the Acropolis and the _Erechtheon_, a shrine also atop the Acropolis (or _Acropoli_ as the Greeks say.) I also stay at the same pension a month or so later when I am ready to leave, to enjoy the Plaka night life after I’ve adjusted to the time change and to visit in-town relatives again. So when I see Fireweed’s scientific name, _Erechtites hieraciifolia,_ though half a world away I am reminded that even after some two and a half millennia the language of the past is still with us, particularly with Greek in botany. More on thatlater.
Erechtheion, or in Greek Ἐρέχθειον Opinions vary greatly on the Fireweed. Horrible, a choice edible, or toxic? Widely used in the past and the present in Asia this is not a dainty-flavored plant. While young leaves can be eaten raw and older ones cooked Native Americans did not use it for food but rather medicine. This might give us pause to be cautious. A 1939 study found the plant has pyrrolidines. That’s a group of chemicals that can damage your liver, permanently. Usually species with pyrrolidines are not eaten. Yet this plant has a history of consumption. Fireweed (_Erechtites hieracifolia) Photo by Green Deane_ Merritt Lyndon Fernald, of _Gray’s Manual of Botany_ and also co-author of _Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America_, wrote twenty years after the above study: _“There is no reason, except the odor, that prevents us from using it.” _Dick Deuerling, author of _Florida’s Incredible Wild Edibles_, told me personally he only ate tasty wild foods and that did not include the _E. hieracifolia_, though he included it in his book. Dr. James A. Duke author of the _Handbook of Edible Weeds_ and a second book, _Medicinal Plants,_ said he could not improve on the comments of Troy Peterson, author of _A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants_ who said of the _E. hieraciifolia_: _“The strong flavor suggests this is an acquired taste.”_ Duke recommends we don’t eat it. Fireweed, famine food or goumet delight? Photo by Green Deane That said I have a good friend who enjoys the flavor immensely, raw or cooked. Here’s what one reader — below –had to say about it:_ “I’m honestly perplexed with regards to the culinary reputation of this plant. Every chef I’ve shown this plant to so far has been really impressed, in a good way. The distinct perfume and flavor goes amazingly well in multiple preparations. I did cold blanched greens Korean style with sesame oil and soy sauce, brown rice steamed with chopped fireweed and shiso, and a quick chutney pickle of peeled fireweed stems and leaf tips, poor man’s pepper, nasturtium leaves, chopped apples, cucumber and coriander. I also used it as a soup base with lamb’s quarter and nettle. One vegetarian cold soup with raw goat buttermilk and the cooked wild greens puree, and one with chicken broth. The blanched greens also went into translucent summer roll wraps with sauteed pickerelweed, plantain seed heads, chanterelles, venison and nasturtium flowers, to be served with thechutney._
_Not a single person in the large class (22 students + wildlife center interns and instructors) found the fireweed to be less than delicious prepared by these methods. All of the above dishes vanished like snow on a hot griddle, and I had to go harvest more fireweed after class so there would be any left for my chef buddy to play with at his restaurant. They ate it all._ _Identification is 100% certain; this is_ Erechtites hieraciifolia_. Properly prepared, it is delicious, and all of the local professional chefs whom I’ve gotten interested in wildcrafted foods are pretty excited to work with this plant. It’s not at its best raw and unadorned, but a little kitchen tweaking and flavor pairing and it’ssuddenly amazing. _
_All I can say is if other foragers don’t know how to use and appreciate this green, that just leaves more for me and my cheffriends!”_
_E.
hieraciifolia_ has been viewed a famine food as the Caesar Weed (_Urena lobata_) is a famine food: Nutritious, common, and edible if you can get past this or that. With Caesar Weed it is texture, with _E. hieraciifolia_ it is aroma and flavor though opinions do vary from ugh to delicious. These plants are plentiful in the spring and summer. Tall, rank and in your face, it is hard to misidentify a Fireweed. Foul or not it is as good as any other spring/summer green and is not unheard of in winter either. Perhaps the key is proper preparation. Fernald did not have a lot of chefs giving the green a try. As to the scientific name, _Erechtites hieraciifolia._ The latter part, _hieraciifolia,_ is easy: It means “having leaves like the hawkweed,” referring to the _Hieracium_ (which itself means of or pertaining to priests.) But, _Erechtites_ is more involved and botanists tend to not know their Greek. One, for example, will say the genus name may come from _Erechtho_, to break. Another says it might be for the fable early king of Athens, _Erechtheus_. Both close but no cigar. They need to read more of the Classics. Ericthonius scaring maidens to jump off the Acropolis The goddess Athena went to the lame blacksmith-god Hephaestrus. He was the tool maker for the gods. She wanted some weapons. (For sake of the story we will set aside why a goddess would need weapons or someone to make them.) Things did not go as she planned. Hephaestrus found her so enticing that he tried to overpower her and take away her virginity. She successfully resisted and he missed his mark, so to speak, leaving a deposit on her thigh. With a scrap piece of wool she wiped it off and threw the wool to the ground. That impregnated the earth, Gaia. Gaia gave birth to a son and took him to Athena who named him_ Erichthonius_. _Erextho_ means trouble and _xthon_ means earth. The name has come to mean “troubles from the earth” for a troublesome, ruderal weed that pops up after fires. The transliterated spelling varies greatly. _Erechtites_ was also the name of an ancient groundsel in Greece and was first used to describe a plant in 40-80 CE by Dioscorides (for whom the yam genus is named.) King Erechtheus, who invented the chariot, was actually an early king of Attica not Athens but the region of Attica included Athens. _Erechtites hieracifolia_ blossoms. Photo by Green Deane The plant has many local names as well besides Fireweed: Goat’s Chicory, Burn Weed, Stickers, Sun’s Ribs, Dog Weed and American Burnweed. There is also a second “Fireweed” a tall perennial (_Epilobium angustifolium_) in the evening-primrose family with spikes of pinkish-purple flowers. It is also edible. Our Fireweed has one other common name: Pilewort. Folks used Oil of Fireweed to externally treat their hemorrhoids. Fireweed puts out the fire. A poultice of the leaves work well I am told. Fireweed also has some internal uses as well such as treating dysentery. And I saved this for last. The pronunciation of _Erechtites hieraciifolia_, is eleven syllables: e-rek-TEE-tez hee-eh-rak-ee-FO-li-a. I should mention that some folks remember _Erechtites_ by starting with “Eric’s Teeties.” Clearly Greeks like long words. That is why it is easy to tell the difference between an Irish and Greek cemetery. When you drive by the Irish cemetery the stones are all tall and skinny with vertically engraved short names like Sean Ireland. Whereas all the stones in the Greek cemetery are low and long to accommodate Βασιλιος Σταβρος Τσαπατσαρις. GREEN DEANE’S ITEMIZED PROFILE IDENTIFICATION: Erect annual to 80 inches, flower yellow to whitish, 1/3″- 2/3″ inches long; inflorescence flat-topped to elongated clusters of drooping heads, flowers barely open; fruit, a dry seed on a bright white fluffy powder puff. Leaf alternate, lance-shaped, sharply toothed, some times lobed. It has a … ah… distinctive aroma that once you know is unmistakeable. TIME OF YEAR: Blooms early summer to autumn. ENVIRONMENT: Dry to wet; open woods, partially disturbed sites, fields, lake shores. Often colonial. METHOD OF PREPARATION: Tops, leaves, flower buds raw or cooked, including steaming and boiling. * E. hieracifolia (L.) Raf. PYRROLIZIDINE ALKALOID: hieracifoline. Manske, Can. J. Res., 17B, 8 (1939){ 21 comments
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WILD ONION AND WILD GARLICby DEANE
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Wild Onions/Garlic and Spiderwort growing along the road near Ocala Florida. Photo by Green Deane _ALLIUM CANADENSE_: THE STINKING ROSE Your nose will definitely help you confirm that you have found wild onions, _Allium canadense,_ AL-ee-um kan-uh-DEN-see. Also called Wild Garlic and Meadow Garlic by the USDA, walking through a patch raises a familiar aroma which brings me to a foraging maxim: Wild onions/garlic, set bulblets on top _If a plant looks like an onion and smells like an onion you can eat it. If a plant looks like a garlic and smells like a garlic you can eat it._ If you do not smell a garlic or an onion odor but you have the right look beware you might have a similar-looking toxic plant. For example, we have a native lily here in Florida that looks like an onion but has no aroma. It is toxic. All parts of this particular Wild Onion/Garlic are edible, the underground bulbs, the long, thin leaves, the blossoms, and the bulblets on top. The bulblets are small cloves the plant sets where it blossoms. Harvesting them is a little easier than digging for bulbs but those are easy to find also. They’re usually about four inches underground. The bulblets are on the tippy top of the plant. It’s called both an onion and garlic because while it is a wild onion it has a very strong garlic aroma. Onions and garlic belong to the Lily family. The most common wild one is the _Allium canadense_. It has flattened leaves and hollow stems. On top there can be bulblets with pinkish white flowers or bulblets with sprouted green tails. When it sets an underground bulbs they will be no bigger than pearl onions. (See recipes below the I.T.E.M. panel.) They were clearly on the Native American menu though our local natives didn’t refer to them much. Ramps have wide leaves It is often said the city of Chicago’s name is from an Indian phrase that means “where the wild onions grow.” That is quite inaccurate. Chicago is actually a French mistransliteration of the Menomini phrase _Sikaakwa_ which literally means “striped skunk.” We would say ‘the striped skunk place.” The skunks were there because _Allium tricoccum_ (Ramps) were growing there. Skunks know good food when they smell it (and are bright pets. Very common where I grew up.) The nearby Des Plains River was called the “Striped Skunk River.” Incidentally because of man’s intervention that river now flows backwards from it original direction. While northern Indians used the Allium species extensively there are few records of southeastern Indians using them, though various southern tribes had names for the onion. Some of the tribes considered onions not edible. Ramps, _A. tricoccum_, (try-KOK-um) photo upper right, are also in the onion family, and very common in Appalachia. Farther north they are called “wild leeks.” Unlike onions and garlic, ramps have wide leaves but are used the same way. _Allium_ was the Latin name for the onion. An alternative view is that it is based on the Celtic word _“all”_ meaning pungent. _“Alla”_ in Celtic means feiry. _Canadense_ means of Canada, but refers to north North America. _Tricoccum _ means three seeds. Roman’s called garlic the “stinking rose.” _Allium canadense_ in large amounts can be toxic to cattle. Lesser amounts can flavor the milk as can salty fodder near the ocean. GREEN DEANE’S “ITEMIZED” PLANT PROFILE: WILD ONION IDENTIFICATION: _Allium canadense_: Grass like basal leaves, small six-petaled flowers, odor of onion or garlic, stems round, older stems hollow. Underground bulbs look like small white onions. Ramps, however, have two or three broad, smooth, light green, onion-scented leaves. Also see another article on a European import, the dreaded Garlic Mustard. TIME OF YEAR: Depends where you live. Ramps in spring, onions through the summer, bulbs in fall. Locally we see bulblets in April then intothe spring.
ENVIRONMENT: Like most plants onions like rich soil and sun but can grow in poor soil with adequate water. Leeks like rich leaf-losing woodlands and can grow in dappled shade. Locally all of the Wild Onions I’ve seen grow in damp places, or, places where run off gathers before seeping in. METHOD OF PREPARATION: The entire plant is edible raw or cooked, in salads, seasoning, green, soup base, pickled. You can pickle them using red bay leaves, peppergrass seeds, and some vinegar Recipes adapted from _“Wild Greens and Salads”_ by ChristopherNyerges
ONION SOUP ON THE TRAIL Two cups onion leaves and bulbs Two cups water or milk (or from powdered milk) 1/4 cup chia seeds (optional) or grass seed four bottom end tips of cattails A Jerusalem artichoke Two table spoons acorn flour (or other flour)1.4 cup water
Put chopped onions in 1/4 water and boil for five minutes. Add the rest of the liquid, cattail and Jerusalem artichoke. Cook at low temperature. Do NOT boil. When artichoke is almost done add flour and chia seeds. Mix. Salt and pepper to taste. Serves three.CAMP SALAD
One cup onion leaves and bulbs 1/2 cup Poor Man’s Pepper Grass or Mustard leaves One cup chickweed or other mild greenTwo diced tomatoes
Juice of one lemon
Tablespoon of oil
Salt and pepper to taste Collect onions, dice, add other green items torn into small bits, added tomatoes and other ingredients, toss.{ 119 comments
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