View Full Version : Wild Edibles & Medicinal Plants
How often do you "if at all" use trail plants for medicinal or edible purposes? My favorite is mint , birch, sassafrass, pine, greenbrier and hemlock...
napster
.....................Hemlock?
greenbriar ??? what in the world do you do with greenbriar?
hemlock (the tree and not the poisonous plant) makes a half way decent cuppa tea or so I have been told
garlic mustard is common and can add a bit of flavor to many dishes
ramps of course, also chives
dandelion greens, other mustard greens can be good with enough oil and seasoning
I've used ramps... those are tasty in ramen.
I've also tripped a few times and "eatten dirt", but I don't recommend it. ;)
Ginsing is all over in the South but many states don't like for you to dig it up. But the root is great in tea or just to chew on by it's self.
timhines
02-15-2006, 15:49
....just make sure you are digging Ginsing. ;-)
Cheesewhiz
02-15-2006, 15:58
Leeks, Sassafrass, I made beer from dandiloins once.
greenbriar ??? what in the world do you do with greenbriar?
Greenbriar leaves and the new vine are a good trail side nibble thats edible in the spring and much of the summer it is also used as a soup thickener and good for burns when crushed just like jewelweed. Jewelweed or "spotted touch me nots" stem, if you harvest it before it reaches 6 inches and strip the leaves are edible IF you boil it twice.Great with some melted cheeze.
Napster
Pennsylvania Rose
02-15-2006, 16:31
In addition to those mentioned above: poke (very young or else boil it in several changes of water to remove toxicity), chickweed, old field bacon, indian cucumber, violets, sorrell (not too much, though - the oxalic acid in it is mildly toxic), slippery elm bark (stomach/digestive troubles)... I could go on. I was originally trained as a botanist, and have at some point tried just about everything in the Appalachians that isn't terribly toxic. Let me give you some pepper root sometime :)
Please don't dig up rare/endangered plants. Also, even if a plant is normally abundant if there are only a few in the immediate vicinity leave them and harvest in an area where there is a larger population.
plantain on cuts... ramps/chives in dinner... that's about all while hiking.
the goat
02-15-2006, 16:58
morrell mushrooms are the greatest find....almost a sin to spoil 'em by putting 'em in trail food.
morrell mushrooms are the greatest find....almost a sin to spoil 'em by putting 'em in trail food.
Chicken of the woods is another good fungus to add to dinners.
One note about garlic mustard - the stuff is an invasive exotic that is taking over the trailside ecosystem - eat all of it that you want - the more you eat the better for the native plants.
Another plant that is good if _cooked_ is stinging nettles - you will however need gloves to harvest it.
mweinstone
02-15-2006, 17:12
sassafrass tea and jewel weed salve are one and two for the thru hiker who wants to.then its imature milkweed pods boiled for 5 min with salt and butter and spirmint dip. if you learn and use just these four you will have a good start. next try some unopened day ,or tiger lilly flowers raw for a spicy taste. and if your lucky you can find acorns that are sweet and need no leaching out of extra tanic acid.a long prosses. i sink my tooth into an acorn and lick my tooth to find out how bitter it is or isnt.and roasted they mahe hard little nuts with a great taste.finally if you want,try dandilion greens at any time of year at any stage of groth. more boiling and changes of water for older late season greans. new young ones are okay raw with oil and salt or fried in buter.i study wild plants and wish more folks did. the most interesting thing i ever learned is that acorns have been the main food of humans still ,since we were created. if you make a timeline of man,only in the most recent 200 years of industrial life ,have men stopped using acorns .you could say we were raised on them.
White & black pine and hemlock and almost all pine family are full of vitamin C.When the whiteman came over to America and died in hoards from scurrvy it was then the natives introduced them to the pines.One closed handful of pine needles are equal to eating one orange.
Dandelion flowers are edible year round and the green leafy part is rich in iron and good for the heart as also violets and sorrell but the latter two only in moderation.
Plantain can be eaten raw or steamed and are abundant in most everyones lawn.Plantain chewed then ductaped to any kind of wound or burn will always take the burn out and speed the healing process.
Acorns can be ate raw but usually need boiled to remove the tannic acid which is good for posin ivy or rash.They can be baked then crushed finely and used for flour.The Natives would soak acorns in mud for months to remove the bitterness then wash and use as needed
This list was posted by Nube on another thread a while back:
http://www.troutworld.com/plants/index.htm
Very nice list with decriptions and pics.
Nice list, Thanks i had to bookmark that one. ... BTW I got a free ride from Pisgah NF to Brevads Finest Hilton one time cuz the DumA barney fife igget mistook sweetfern for maryjane.
LostInSpace
02-15-2006, 22:43
You might want to check out the wild plants in the Cornell University Poisonous Plants Database (http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/index.html) before you decide to eat them. That might preclude some pain and agony.
LostInSpace
02-15-2006, 22:45
As the site says:
IMPORTANT:Just because something is on the poisonous plants list doesn't mean it can't be a good food or feed, and just because it is absent from the list doesn't mean it is safe!
AbeHikes
02-15-2006, 22:59
Tom Brown's Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425100634/qid=1140058725/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/104-5337807-9218329?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
mweinstone
02-15-2006, 23:14
heat up bayberries in water and skim off wax.heat wax in double boiler and pour or dip candles.only plant source of wax.
I love it all. If you pick dandelion greens, plantain, onion, garlic mustard and Thistle you can have a salad 5 times a day.
I wrote a simple guide garnered from internet sources last year...it's here
http://troutworld.com/plants/index.htm
This is what sweetfern looks
http://www.freewebtown.com/njbotany/Comptonia_peregrina.html
and why the dumbutt officer took me to jail in brevard cause he thought it was marijuana.Its makes a strong tea and its good if you got the squirts.
Ginsing is all over in the South but many states don't like for you to dig it up. But the root is great in tea or just to chew on by it's self.Tsali don't tell em to eat that they'll but cutting flips up the trail and them not use to it.:o
Tha Wookie
02-16-2006, 01:54
Some of the best wild edibles I've ever seen are along the West Coast. Huckleberries, salmon berries, thinbleberries, sorrel, pine tea, seaweed ...it's all good!
I'm suprised that for the AT no one has mentioned may apples. When I was on my thru, I met this old local man with his wife who told me they were edible. Then he said, "but if it's may they'll kill you." Then he shook hiw head a bit and looked to the side. "Or maybe they'll kill you when it's NOT may..."
By the way, we are teaching wild southern edibles at the upcoming ancient wilderness skills courses , Feb 25 & 26, in Georgia. PM me if you want to join us anyone!
LostInSpace
02-16-2006, 02:27
Love those huckleberries and thimbleberries, but you have to beat the bears to them. It's terrible when bears act like hogs!
Tree-girl
02-16-2006, 13:14
The Peterson's field guide to edible plants is a really great book. I recommend it! Some of my favorite edibles... mushrooms! They are one of the best foods for you, and taste great. Morels, hen of the woods, sulfur shelfs, giant puff balls, and aborted entalomas are all perfect b/c they are very hard to mistake.
Also, lamb's quarter's and purslane make delicious salad greens. Wild garlic can be found year-round. Rosehips are great sources of vitamin C, and I think they taste wonderful. Stinging nettle is excellent when cooked, and it's also good for allergies, which is great for me. I chew up plantain and put it on bug bites, and put jewel weed on poison ivy and other rashes.
Wookie, I agree about the may apples. Those would be all over the AT, and alot of people are hiking right when they'd be ripe. I've heard they're poisonous when they're green, but as long as you pick them when the leaves are brown they're fine and a real treat.
Whoops, I can get carried away with this topic. Edibles/medicinals are one of my hobbies. :-)
Tha Wookie
02-16-2006, 19:07
The Peterson's field guide to edible plants is a really great book. I recommend it! Some of my favorite edibles... mushrooms! They are one of the best foods for you, and taste great. Morels, hen of the woods, sulfur shelfs, giant puff balls, and aborted entalomas are all perfect b/c they are very hard to mistake.
Also, lamb's quarter's and purslane make delicious salad greens. Wild garlic can be found year-round. Rosehips are great sources of vitamin C, and I think they taste wonderful. Stinging nettle is excellent when cooked, and it's also good for allergies, which is great for me. I chew up plantain and put it on bug bites, and put jewel weed on poison ivy and other rashes.
Wookie, I agree about the may apples. Those would be all over the AT, and alot of people are hiking right when they'd be ripe. I've heard they're poisonous when they're green, but as long as you pick them when the leaves are brown they're fine and a real treat.
Whoops, I can get carried away with this topic. Edibles/medicinals are one of my hobbies. :-)
keep going sister. Good stuff