I recently bought 3 Peterson Field Guides: Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants and Herbs by Steven Foster and James A. Duke, Wildflowers: Northeastern/North-central North America by Roger Tory Peterson/Margaret McKenny and Venomous Animals & Poisonous Plants by Steven Foster/Roger Caras. (Right: Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) by wide eyed lib. Not edible; leaf poultice sometimes used for skin ailments and root used as love charm.)
Medicinal Plant and Herbs has full color photos but the organization doesn't feel intuitive to me, so I won't be taking it on hikes. I also find the authors' efforts to include every possible caution about the plants a little tedious, especially since they don't indicate the dose at which toxicity becomes a problem. As a result, mildly toxic plants that are problematic at high doses are treated the same as plants that are toxic in low doses. That being said, the index that cross-references ailments like rashes or stomachaches with plants that treat them is quite useful.
Covered: redbud & Hercules' club
Pictured: wood sorrel, waterleaf, ramps & fiddleheads
Wildflowers is arranged first by flower color and then by basic flower shape, which makes it easy to find the plant you're looking for. Lots of color illustrations, too. It covers edible and inedible plants and is only useful when a plant is in flower or if you know what the flower looks like, but it's earned a place in my pack. In fact, I used it to ID the Dutchman's breeches above.
Venomous Animals & Poisonous Plants is my least favorite of the 3. I've been interested in learning more about toxic plants for quite some time, but when I researched various books, most of them seemed geared more toward frightening people ("Learn about the plants lurking in your yard before they kill you and your family!") than educating them. I picked this book because it seemed the least interested in scare-mongering. Despite that, it still contains some bizarre statements about plants that have been safely eaten for centuries. For example, here's what it says about common milkweed (Ascelpias syriaca):
The pods and young shoots are included as wild foods in many edible plant guides. While it has been circumstantially implicated in livestock poisoning, the bitter sap in leaves and stems would probably be distasteful to most animals. Sap may cause dermatitis. Not known to cause poisoning in humans, probably because the fresh plant is unlikely to be ingested.
Let's get something straight-- common milkweed does not have a bitter sap. It's actually mild and sweet even when raw. Sam Thayer wrote extensively about the myth of milkweed bitterness in The Forager's Harvest. I've tried several times to read more of Venomous Animals & Poisonous Plants, but because I keep finding "poisonous" plants that I eat regularly, it's a little hard to take it seriously.
Speaking of Sam Thayer, his new book Nature's Garden is out. I've ordered my copy but it hasn't arrived yet. If it's anything like his first book, it should really be great.
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(As always, if you're new to foraging and want to give it a try, please read the first diary in the series for some important information.)
Today's first new plant is redbud (Cercis species). This small native tree has smooth grey bark when young but the trunk develops vertical furrows as it grows older. It has a maximum height of 100 feet but 40 feet is much more common. In early Spring showy clusters of pink and magenta, bilaterally symmetrical, long-stemmed, pea-like flowers cover every inch of the twigs and sometimes grow directly from the trunk as well. When blooming, the trees have a distinctive pinky-purple haze that makes for easy identification even from a distance. Just as the flowers are fading, the heart shaped, red-tinged, toothed leaves unfurl. While fully mature leaves are bright green, their undersides sometimes retain some red coloring. (Above: Redbud Trees by wide eyed lib)
In early Summer, redbuds develop large clusters of green to brown pods that are sometimes tinged pink and resemble snowpeas. These often persist on the tree after the leaves fall off and well into winter, making identification easy. C. canadensis is native to the eastern half of the U.S., and it's western sister C. occidentalis is native to California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. But thanks to their beautiful blossoms, redbud trees are favorites of landscapers across the U.S. and Canada and can be found in parks, yards and manicured areas from coast to coast. It's possible that you'll run into exotic species like Chinese redbud (C. chinenses) or Judas tree (C. siliquastrum), and there are numerous varietals of each species as well, some of which have unusual features like white flowers and variegated leaves. All species prefer well-drained ground with lots of sun. Provided they're not growing in a sprayed area, I'd give any of them a try, although with the wilder garden varieties, I'd exercise some caution and sample sparingly at first. (Above left: Redbud Flowers by wide eyed lib)
The edible parts of redbuds are the flowers and the pods. The flowers have a wonderful sweetness followed by just a touch of tart. They're delicious raw or very briefly cooked. I like them in pancakes, for adding color to salads and as a garnish for drinks. They'd be gorgeous on a white wedding cake or suspended in jello. They'll last about 3-4 days in a well-sealed container in the fridge. But my main eating method is to tug a couple of clusters off as I pass by and munch them as I walk along. If you come upon unopened flower buds, they can be gathered and pickled like capers. The pods taste like you'd expect, given that this tree is a legume, but they must be harvested soon after forming because they quickly grow tough and fiberous. Some varieties create pods that are never tender. If you find tender pods, trim them like snowpeas, after which a quick boiling or steaming is all they need. They can also be added to soups and stirfries toward the end of cooking. (Above right: Redbud Leaves by wide eyed lib)
I haven't tried to preserve the flowers or pods for out of season use, but my guess is that the pods would survive freezing or pressure canning in okay shape. The flowers are pretty fragile, but they could be used in jellies.
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Our second new plant is the rather formidable Hercules' club (Aralia spinosa), also known as Devil's walking stick. This native shrub or small tree has a single, spiny trunk from which spring enormous alternate, twice-compounded leaves. The paired leaflets and leading leaflet are lightly toothed and shaped like teardrops. If you draw a diagonal line from the westernmost point in Texas to the northernmost point in Maine, the natural habitat of Hercules' club would fall almost entirely to the south and east of it. This plant likes moist woods with partial shade. (Left: Hercules' Club; Above: Hercules' Club Flowers and Leaves, both by wide eyed lib)
In late Summer, Hercules' club develops a cloud of tiny whitish-yellow flowers which are closely followed by clusters of tiny, highly poisonous black berries. In addition to spreading via seeds in the berries, it also spreads by sending up new shoots from its rhizomes, thus creating dense stands. Each year Hercules' club dies back to a single trunk only to restart the process the next year. (Right: Hercules' Club Shoots by wide eyed lib)
For a brief time in the Spring, the shoots and unfurling leaves can be gathered (with gloves because of the spines and a tendency for some folks to develop a rash from the bark and roots) and lightly cooked. At this point the spines on the shoots will be non-existent or quite soft. Until the shoots reach about a foot long, they can still be gathered, but at that point the leaves will need to be snipped off and the stems carefully scrapped of spines. I find the back of a knife to be the most efficient tool for the job. A brief steam renders the shoots tender and tasty-- they remind me a bit of asparagus. They can also be simmered in soups, boiled or stirfried. In Japan the shoots are pickled and served over rice. Although Plants for a Future does cite some medicinal uses for the roots and berries, between the toxicity of the latter and the chance of contracting a rash from the former, I'd experiment with other plants first.
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Finally, here are a few shots of plants I covered previously with links to the full discussion. If you're tempted to forage any of the plants pictured below, please follow the link to read more about the plant before getting started.
Common yellow wood sorrel (Oxalis stricta) is just making an appearance. The leaves and flowers have a delicious lemony flavor. To learn more about this and other species of wood sorrel, click here.
Tender Virgina waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum) leaves are now at the perfect time for harvest. Their mild herbiness mixes well with any salad or stirfry. For a new twist on old recipes, try using them as a parsley substitute. Read more here.
Ramps (Allium tricoccum) or wild leeks are delicious Spring ephemerals that rapidly grow leaves, send up flowers and go to seed before dying back by early Summer. Learn more about ramps here.
Fiddleheads of the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) are truly one of the wonders of Spring. Although they can be canned or pickled and enjoyed year round, I've never bothered. Somehow I just can't imagine eating them at any other time of year. More info on how to identify, harvest and prepare them here.
See you next week!
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If you'd like to learn more about foraging but missed the earlier diaries in the series, you can click here for the previous 39 installments, and here for RonV's 4 part mini-series on medicinal plants and how to use them. 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.
For well-sourced info on the medicinal uses of plants, Plants for a Future is a site I turn to time and time again.
Finally, the USDA plants database is a great place to look up info on all sorts of plants.
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