Foraging can be disappointing. On a recent hike, I found a forest strewn with what looked like black walnut trees. The feather compound leaves had toothed, asymmetrical leaflets, and immature green husks on the ground concealed a complex maze of familiar-looking chambers. Eureka! (Left: Brown Hooded Caterpillar by wide eyed lib)
Well, not quite. My main source of black walnuts is a single tree whose branches are too high for me to get a good look at the leaves. But something about the size of the immature nuts and the number of leaflets on the trees I'd tentatively IDed bothered me. When I later compared my photos to guidebook and internet sources, I realized my rookie mistake. I'd found bitternut hickory trees that, despite being fairly closely related to black walnuts, bear inedibly bitter nuts.
Someday I'll find that grove strewn with black walnuts; in the meantime this serves as a humbling reminder of the importance of looking at plants as they really are rather than trying to make them fit--through sheer will--a description that isn't quite right.
Covered: witch-hazel & wild mint
As always, if you're new to foraging and want to give it a try, please read the first diary in the FFF series for some important information.
Witch-hazel is a tall shrub or short tree with simple, opposite, oval leaves with a distinct scalloped edge. The leaves are clustered toward the ends of branches in a single plane so that if you look at a branch from the side it appears nearly 2 dimensional. Witch-hazel is one of the last plants in North America to flower, usually in October after the leaves fall off. The flowers have 4 long, narrow, scraggly yellow petals, are clumped together at the ends of the branches and resemble bedraggled pom-poms. The fruits are urn-shaped fuzzy seed capsules which burst shooting 2 hard black seeds many feet away. Witch-hazel is also one of the only North American plants to feature fruits, flowers and next year's leaf buds on the plant all at the same time. Two varieties of witch-hazel (H. vernalis and H. virginiana) are extremely common in moist woods and along streams in the Eastern half of the U.S. and Canada, with H. virginiana most common on the East Coast and inland to the Great Lakes and H. vernalis being most common in Texas and Louisiana. (Right: Witch-hazel Bark by wide eyed lib)
Witch-hazel may be the single most commonly used herbal preparation in the United States, which is odd considering that many sources say it's only somewhat effective and much of that effectiveness is due to the fact that preparations sold in drugstores contain about 15% rubbing alcohol. I was excited when I first identified witch-hazel because I had visions of preparing my own distillations. However, Euell Gibbon's description of the process in Stalking the Healthful Herbs dissuaded me. I offer it here mostly as a curiosity. Take 2 lbs of dormant twigs and cut into 1/2 inch lengths. Put these in a blender with 8 cups water and blend until the twigs are chopped quite finely. Soak in the water overnight, then put twigs and liquid in a drip still (instructions for making one at home can be found here) over high heat. Allow to boil until you've collected 2 cups of distillate, then discard the spent material. Add 1/2 cup of rubbing alcohol to the distillate and it's ready to use. Bottled and tightly capped, it will last indefinitely. (Left: Witch-hazel Leaves by wide eyed lib)
I can't see risking dull blender blades when a giant bottles of witch-hazel are widely available and usually cost less than $4. Still, in the aftermath of TEOTWAWKI, being able to make a concoction which, in the words of a young friend of Euell Gibbons' "will help nearly everything but not very much" could be useful, especially since it's safe for external use in almost any quantity.
Witch-hazel has been used over time in a dizzying array of ways. It has astringent, tonic, sedative and haemostatic properties. Native Americans used it in poultices, and in modern times it's been added to ointments, suppositories, and cosmetics. It's been used to treat internal and external hemorrhage, bruises, inflammation, hemorrhoids, diarrhea, dysentery, varicose veins, burns, scalds, insect bites and dark circles under the eyes. I personally find the distillation quite effective on painful sunburns, itchy rashes, bug bites and razor burn. In addition to the leaves' use in poultices (where they are said to help relieve pain and staunch bleeding), they can be dried and used to make tea. (Right: Witch-hazel Fruits by wide eyed lib)
@-->-- @-->-- @-->-- @-->--
This series has covered a few different mints (including motherwort, lemon balm, catmint and ground ivy), and I would cover more if I could specifically ID more of the many mints I come across. It seems like every time I walk outside I find a new one. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of species and I've never been able to find a field guide that covers more than a few of them. But every once in a while I get lucky and either come across one that's in my guidebooks or stumble across a picture of a familiar-looking mint on the web. (Left: Wild Mint by wide eyed lib)
I'm reasonably certain the mint pictured here is wild mint (Mentha arvensis), also known as field mint or corn mint. It tends to grow about a foot high but can sometimes reach 2 feet, with hairy stems and leaves that are oval to lance-shaped and finely toothed. The flowers are white to purple and bilaterally symmetrical, with an elongated lower petal and long, pink-tinged stamens. They form circles around the stem in the leaf axils of the upper half of the plant. Wild mint favors slightly damp, sunny fields, roadsides and waste areas throughout most of the U.S. (excluding certain sections of the South) and all Canadian provinces except Nunavut. (Right: Wild Mint Leaf by wide eyed lib)
Wild mint is amazingly aromatic. Up until I found it, spearmint had been my favorite because of its clear, refreshing taste and scent. Wild mint is like spearmint, but even better. The flavor seemed familiar to me, so I wasn't surprised to learn that a cultivated variety of wild mint is used in commercial mint flavoring. It makes an outstanding herbal tea and can easily be dried for out of season use. Wild mint can be used in any recipe calling for peppermint or spearmint, though it brings its own distinct, superior flavor. I like it chopped and sprinkled over melon and in fruit salads, and I've also made a wonderful mint chocolate chip ice cream.
Medicinally, most mints have similar stomach-soothing properties, and wild mint is no exception. Here's what Plants for a Future has to say about other uses:
Corn mint, like many other members of this genus, is often used as a domestic herbal remedy, being valued especially for its antiseptic properties and its beneficial effect on the digestion. Like other members of the genus, it is best not used by pregnant women because large doses can cause an abortion. The whole plant is anaesthetic, antiphlogistic, antispasmodic, antiseptic, aromatic, carminative, diaphoretic, emmenagogue, galactofuge, refrigerant, stimulant and stomachic. A tea made from the leaves has traditionally been used in the treatment of fevers, headaches, digestive disorders and various minor ailments. The leaves are a classical remedy for stomach cancer. Another report says that this species is not very valuable medicinally. The leaves are harvested as the plant comes into flower and can be dried for later use. The essential oil in the leaves is antiseptic, though it is toxic in large doses.
(Above Left: Wild Mint in Flower by wide eyed lib)
@-->-- @-->-- @-->-- @-->--
I have plans next weekend to visit the seashore. If all goes well, the next couple of diaries in this series will feature edible seaweeds and other salt-loving plants.
See you next Sunday!
_______________________________________________________
If you're interested in foraging and missed the earlier diaries in the series, you can click here for the previous 23 installments. As always, please feel free to post photos in the comments and I'll do my best to help identify what you've found. (And if you find any errors, let me know.)
Here are some helpful foraging resources:
"Wildman" Steve Brill's site covers many edibles and includes nice drawings.
"Green" Deane Jordan's site is quite comprehensive and has color photos and stories about many plants.
Green Deane's foraging how-to clips on youtube each cover a single plant in reassuring detail.
Linda Runyon's site features only a few plants but has great deals on her dvd, wild cards and books (check out the package deals in particular).
Steve Brill's book, Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places is my primary foraging guide. (Read reviews here, but if you're feeling generous, please buy from Steve's website.)
Linda Runyon's book The Essential Wild Food Survival Guide contains especially detailed information about nutritional content and how to store and preserve wild foods.
Samuel Thayer’s book The Forager's Harvest is perhaps the finest resource out there for the 32 plants covered. The color photos and detailed harvest and preparation information are top-notch.
Steve Brill also offers guided foraging tours in NYC-area parks. Details and contact info are on his website.
Don Wiss’s website is a treasure trove featuring hundreds of photos of common northeastern edibles.
Finally, the USDA plants database is a great place to look up info on all sorts of plants.
<-- Previous Diary in Series
Next Diary in Series -->