EDIBLE WILD PLANTS
(misc articles)
-- Coon, N. The Dictionary of Useful Pllants.
Emmaus, Pennsylvania:
Rodale Press, 1974, pages 10-11.
Basically all food comes from wild or once-wild plants. Primarily this is true, whether one gathers and uses the foliage, roots, seeds, and nuts from the wild, or whether one is considering the fact that wheat, soybeans, rice, corn, and other grains, which are "staples," are really improved and hybridized forms of quite primitive plants. Even our Indians of several thousand years ago were dependent on corn, beans, squash, and potatoes, which, although crudely cultivated, were much improved forms of wayside plants.
To a great extent the basic knowledge of the values and uses of wild and unimproved plants was somewhat forgotten in the days of the great advances in food production, and of prosperity, around the turn of this century. One didn't need to go out and pick fruits and nuts when grocery shelves were bulging with a great variety of foods. When the living is easy and even blackberries can be bought in supermarkets, who is going to bother scrambling amongst the thorns for misshapen fruits of small size! But today, as common knowledge of the potentially dangerous chemicals used in sowing and processing food and of the known health values in eating raw or unprocessed foods is much better understood, many of the understanding oldsters and inquiring younger people, want to go "back to nature'' in at least small ways.
Without question, it is true that some of our wild plants aren't eaten any more, for the very good reason that their cultivated descendants are better in every respect. No one who has ever tried them could prefer wild celery, parsnips, or cabbage to their commercial varieties. But what about wild roadside strawberries or raspberries for flavor.
And is there any food with as much valuable vitamin C as the rose hips, which can often and easily be gathered from the wild? Naturally, not all the plants of one species are found in every state because of the great climatic and geological zones of which our country is made.
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--Hall, A. The Wild Food Trail Guide, nnew and expanded edition.
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976, pages 3-21.
There are readily available wild plants that can provide for almost any food need short of the meat course. . . .
SALADS
These are tender plants that can be eaten without cooking. Included here are salad greens that may be used in place of lettuce and a smaller number of roots, tubers, shoots, and stems that can be eaten raw by themselves or added to salads in the manner or radishes, cucumbers, celery, etc. Since these plants are not cooked, their nutritional value is at its maximum, particularly when they are eaten very soon after being picked. While some of these salad greens are mild, others have strong flavors ranging from peppery to bitter and are best when mixed with blander greens. It's a good idea to sample a leaf and decide how much you want to use before you begin picking. A good mild green is Purslane. Chickweed is extremely mild, in fact too mild for many tastes, but is excellent when mixed with stronger greens like Chicory or Dandelion, which are bitter, or with Water Cress or Winter Cress, which have a peppery character. Plants that grow in water; that may be polluted should be disinfected before use (especially Water Cress and Cat-tail). The best method is to carry a few water purification tablets, such as Halazone, which can be bought in most camping supply stores. Mix 1 tablet with 1 pint of water, wait 30 minutes, wash the greens in the water, and rinse in fresh water to remove the chlorine taste. This treatment should be sufficient to remove any pathogenic bacteria that may be clinging to the items or leaves.
Edible Wild Pants and Their Uses
Brooklime (leaves, stems) Spring and summer
Burdock (leaves, leaf stalks, stems) Spring and summer
Calamus (shoots) Spring
Catbrier (shoots) Spring and summer
Cat-tail (stems, sprouts) Spring
Chickweed (leaves) Spring through fall
Chicory (leaves) Spring
Chufa (tubers) Spring through fall
Cleavers (shoots) Spring
Dandelion (leaves) Spring
Day Lily (tubers) All year
Evening Primrose (shoots) Spring
Horseradish (young leaves) Spring
Indian Cucumber (roots) Spring through fall
Jerusalem Artichoke (tubers) Fall through spring
Milkweed (shoots) Spring
Mint (leaves) Spring and summer
Mustard (leaves) Spring
Ostrich Fern (fiddleheads) Spring
Pasture Brake (young fronds) Spring
Purslane (leaves) Summer to fall
Sheep Sorrel (leaves) Spring
Shepherd's Purse (leaves) Spring and summer
Thistle (leaves) Spring and summer
Violet (leaves) Spring and early summer
Water Cress (leaves) All year
Winter Cress (leaves) Fall through spring
Wood Sorrel (leaves) Early summer through fall
TRAIL NIBBLES
This group includes a few plants that are also listed under salads but that are chewed on the trail by hikers and mountain climbers. They have a moist, thirst-quenching quality and, in the case of Sheep Sorrel and Wood Sorrel, a pleasant acidity. Chewed on the trail, they alleviate that dry-mouth feeling that seems to plague walkers no matter how often they rinse their mouths out with water.
Burberry (leaves) Spring
Blackberry (shoots) Spring
Calamus (shoots) Fall to spring
Dewberry (shoots) Spring
Great Bulrush (shoots) Fall to spring
Indian Cucumber (roots)) Spring through fall
Purslane (leaves) Spring to fall
Raspberry (shoots) Spring
Rose (flowers) Summer
Sheep Sorrel (leaves) Spring and summer
Violet (flowers) Spring
Wood Sorrel (leaves) Early summer through fall
POTHERBS
Potherbs are leaves that are boiled and served as greens like spinach; Since many of these plants are obtainable in the spring, identifying characteristics such as flowers and fruits have not yet appeared. For this reason, care should be taken not to include the young foliage of other nearby plants. which could be poisonous. Only small, lender young leaves should be collected; as they mature, they rapidly become tough and bitter. In the case of plants that are listed for summer and even all, the young leaves at the top of the stems are always the most tender and mild.
The potherbs included here are listed in two groups. Those in the first group are tender and require little cooking. They should be prepared just like spinach: rinsed in cold water and boiled in the barest amount of salted water until they are tender. Don't overcook. They may be eaten as they are or with vinegar. Some potherbs have a coarse, dry texture and are improved by adding bacon during cooking or by pouring bacon fat, butter, or oil over them after draining. The potherbs requiring a minimum of cooking include:
Brooklime Spring and summer
Catbrier Spring and summer
Chickweed Spring through fall
Cleavers Spring
Coltsfoot Spring and summer
Dock Spring and summer
Green Amaranth Spring
Horseradish Spring
Lamb's Quarters Spring and summer
Mallow Spring and summer
Pruslane Summer to fall
Sheep Sorrel Spring and summer
Thistle Spring and summer
Violet Spring and summer
Water Cress All year
While the leaves of the plants in the second group provide good potherbs, more care in preparation is required. Some are bitter and strongly flavored; others contain poisonous substances that are soluble in the cooking water and are thrown away with it or are destroyed by cooking. Plants listed below that are not listed under salads should never be eaten raw. The difference between cooking these and the plants in the first group is that long cooking in two or more changes of water is necessary. The initial cooking waters are drained off and thrown away. To speed preparation, it's a good idea to keep a large pot of water boiling and use to to replace the first cooking water as soon as that stage is completed. Plants with tough, stringy fibers, such as Burdock, can be tenderized by adding a pinch of bicarbonate of soda to the first cooking water. While such rigorous cooking certainly doesn't improve the vitamin content any, essential and equally important minerals do remain. If nor cooked in this manner, these plants are often unpalatable, but with proper preparation, they are worth the effort to the camper.
Burdock Spring
Chicory Spring
Dandelion Spring
Jewelweed Spring and summer
Marsh Marigold Spring
Milkweed Spring and summer
Mustard Spring
Nettle Spring and summer
Pokeweed Spring
Shepherd's Purse Spring and summer
Winter Cress All year
COOKED GREEN VEGETABLES
Included here are wild plants that are cooked and served like a number of familiar garden vegetables. Young shoots are used like asparagus, several roots could be compared to turnips or beets, and other parts to green beans, peas, celery. or broccoli. As with young potherbs, those shoots that are used for food are collected at a stage when they are extremely difficult to identify. Unless you are absolutely confident that you are getting the right plant, don't eat it. However, many -- including Ostrich Fern and Pasture Brake -- are distinctive and easily identified.
Burdock (roots, stems. leaf stalks) Spring and summer
Cat-tail (sprouts. stems, flowers) Spring and summer
Chufa (tubers) Spring through fall
Dandelion (roots, leaves) Spring
Day Lily (tubers, flowers) All year
Evening Primrose (rood Fall through spring
Goat's Beard (roots, leaf crowns) Spring through fall
Groundnut (seed pods) Summer
Hog Peanut (seeds) Fall to early spring
Japanese Knotweed (shoots) Spring
Mallow (fruits) Late spring and summer
Milkweed (shoots, pods, flowers) Spring and summer
Ostrich Fern (fiddleheads) Spring
Pasture Brake (young fronds) Spring
Pokeweed (shoots) Spring
Salsify (roots, leaf crowns) Spring through fall
Thistle (stems, roots) Spring thorough fall
Wild Onion (bulbs) Spring through fall
POTATO SUBSTITUTES
Roots, tubers, and corms that are rich in starch and have a mild flavor can be used as a substitute for potatoes. All those listed here are tender and can be treated just like potatoes: baked, boiled, fried, etc. In many cases where root vegetables are cited, the season of availability is given as "Fall to spring." This is because the starch is stored food for the next year's growth and is most abundant during the winter months. During the cold months the storage organs are usually firm and crisp; when the plant is using the starch in the spring and summer, it gets mushy. Developing storage organs can be found in the summer although they are smaller and less abundant, and, as a result, more work is required to gather enough for a meal.
Arrowhead (tubers) Fall to spring
Cat-tail (roots) Fall to spring
Great Bulrush (roots) Fall to spring
Groundnut (tubers) All year
Jerusalem artichoke (tubers) Fall to spring
Spring Beauty (corms) Spring
Wild Potato (roots) All year
Yellow Pond Lily (roots) Fall to spring
FLOURS AND CEREALS
A large number of plants can be used as breadstuffs or ground into flour. While a goodly number are sufficient only for emergency use, others provide nutritious, flavorful products that can be used to prepare excellent pancakes, muffins, breads, etc.
Among the best wild flours are those prepared from nut meats. All flour require some preparation, but nut meats are among the easiest, particularly acorns. Acorns can usually be collected in great abundance, the shells are easily opened. and the meat is one large piece. And while the bitter tannin must be removed, you can let a stream or faucet do the work. Other nuts have the advantage of providing flour and cooking oils at the same time smashing the nut and boiling it to separate the nut meat (which is subsequently ground into flour) from the oil and shells is often easier than picking out pieces of nut meal for immediate eating.
Those flours that are obtained from roots or tubers are probably the easiest to use in the field, and Cat-tail, Arrowhead, and Chufa are all very good in this respect. Two preparation techniques can be used. The first is best if you are preparing flour for immediate use. Free the roots of clinging mud and small rootlets and crush them with a hammer or between rocks. Then rinse them vigorously in a container of cold water to free the starchy material from the fibers. Strain out the fibers and allow the water to settle until a whitish sediment collects on the bottom and the rest of the water is fairly clear. Pour off the water, add fresh water, stir, and repeat the settling process. Repeat this until the water ceases to feel slimy. Finally, drain off all the water. The flour may be used while still wet if recipes are modified to allow for the extra liquid present. For storage or transportation, it can be dried and then ground into a powder. In the second technique, the roots are first dried, then ground into a powder, and the fibers finally sifted out.
Closer to conventional wheat flour are those prepared from wild cereals or seeds. But the similarity ends with the preparation technique; they taste very different, although they are not necessarily unpleasant. Before they can be ground into flour, the seeds must first be both threshed and winnowed. Threshing removes the husks from the seeds and winnowing separates the seeds from the husks and other trash. Some seeds have loose husks that can be freed from the seed simply by rubbing the seed between the hands, but others call for more rigorous treatment. A good way is to rub the seeds between two boards or flattened pieces of wood. Flat rocks can also be used, or the seeds can be spread on a flat surface and crushed beneath the feet. The best way to winnow grains is to pour them back and forth between two tin cans or similar containers in slowly moving air. The trash, being lighter, will blow away and the seeds will fall into the receiving can. The only real problem is the slowly moving air: if the air is moving too slowly, The trash will go right along with the seed, and if it's moving too fast, the seed will go right along with the trash. However, this method does work, and with a little practice at judging wind currents it is almost easy.
Grinding is another problem. In the field, about the only way it can be accomplished is between two rocks. The quality of the flour depends on its fineness, and no small amount of grinding: is required, particularly when small, hard seeds insist on popping out from between the stones. In the home, grinding is much easier. A knife-type kitchen blender works well for small quantities and hand flour mills may be used.
While seeds can be used to make flour, they can also be used as cereals and boiled into mush. The only seed that is of excellent quality when boiled is Wild Rice, but many others are palatable and nourishing, which counts most in the wilderness. The addition of sugar, honey, maple syrup, or bacon fat improves them greatly. The seeds of several species are easily collected in great abundance (Dock and Lamb's Quarters, in particular) and even if it seems like too much trouble to use them for flour, they could be extremely important in an emergency.
The only source of flour that needs absolutely no preparation is the bright yellow pollen of Cat-tail, which is already finer than you could ever hope to grind it. Its extreme fineness, however, makes it exceedingly hard to wet and it is much easier to use if it is mixed with wheat flour. The baking qualities of other wild flours are often improved by blending with wheat flour and they can be used to advantage to extend dwindling supplies of flour in the wild.
Arrowhead (tubers) Fall to Spring
Beech (nuts) Fall
Black Walnut (nuts) Fall
Butternut (nuts) Fall
Cat-tail (pollen, roots) All year
Chufa (tubers) Spring through fall
Dock (seeds) Summer and fall
Great Bulrush (roots. pollen, seeds) All year
Green Amaranth (seeds) Late summer and fall
Hazelnut (nuts) Fall
Hickory (nuts) Fall
Lamb's Quarter (seeds) Fall and winter
Oak (acorns) Fall
Purslane (seeds) Fall
Shepherd's Purse (seeds) Fall
Sunflower (seeds) Fall
Wild Rice (seeds) Summer or fall
Yellow Pond Lily (seeds) Fall
NUTS AND LARGE SEEDS
Acorns and sunflower seeds should be roasted before use and are not good when added to baked goods. Also, the bitterness of acorns varies from species to species and even from tree to tree, so try one out and if it's too bitter, forget it or use it for something else, like flour.
Beech (nuts) Fall
Black Walnut (nuts) Fall
Butternut (nuts) Fall
Hazelnut (nuts) Fall
Hog Peanut (seeds) Fall to spring:
Oak (acorns) Fall
Sunflower (seeds) Fall
COOKING OILS AND BUTTERS
A very limited number of North American plants have sufficient extractable oil to be worth bothering with. Still, cooking oils and butters are an important staple food, and, while early colonists relied on animal fats for this purpose, the Indians made use of the nuts and seeds listed here One of the oils most highly valued by the Indians was extracted from the Shagbark Hickory. Oils can be extracted from nuts by crushing and then boiling them. The oil will rise to the top of the water and can be skimmed off. Skimming is easier if the liquid is poured into a narrow container; this will give the oil greater depth and reduce the likelihood of getting a lot of water mixed in with the oil
Beech (nuts) Fall
Black Walnut (nuts) Fall
Butternut (nuts) Fall
Hickory (nuts) Fall
Sunflower (seeds) Fall
FRESH FRUITS
While some wild fruits are palatable only after cooking, the vast majority can be eaten as they are picked. In the wilderness or in the absence of a freezer, wild fruits, particularly berries, can be preserved by drying. Herbs, such as Mint and some tea substitutes can also be dried in the same manner as fruits, or bunches of stems and leaves can be hung upside down in a warm room or near the kitchen stove.
Bearberry (in an emergency) Fall
Blackberry Summer
Black Cherry Late summer to early fall
Blueberry Summer
Currant Summer
Dewberry Summer
Gooseberry Summer
Grape Fall
Ground Cherry Late summer or fall
Huckleberry Summer
Juneberry Summer
May Apple Late Summer
Mountain Ash (in an emergency) Fall and winter
Pawpaw Fall
Persimmon Fall and winter
Raspberry Summer
Strawberry Early summer
Wild Plum Summer
Wintergreen Fall through spring
COFFEE SUBSTITUTES
Comparatively few plants can be used as substitutes for coffee; while several have achieved wide use, they lack caffeine and fail to provide that slight "eye opening" stimulation coffee drinkers usually look forward to in the morning. Nonetheless, there are people who prefer the roasted root of Chicory to coffee and it has had a long history as a choice adulterant. Cleavers is the only North American plant that is actually related to coffee and its flavor most closely resembles the real thing.
Beech (nuts) Fall
Chicory (roots) All year
Chufa (tubers) All year
Clcavers (fruits) Early summer
Dandelion (roots) All year
Goat's Beard (roots) All year
Salsify (roots) All year
TEAS
Many of the plants that can be seeped in hot water and drunk as tea have had a long history of medicinal use and in some cases they do have mild medicinal properties. Others, though, owe their fame to nothing more than a pleasant flavor and several came into use during the American Revolution when Oriental tea was under embargo. One wild tea plant, Cassina, has the distinction of containing caffeine.
Birch (twigs and bark) All year
Blackberry (leaves) Summer
Cassina (leaves) All year
Coltsfoot (leaves) Spring and summer
Dewberry (leaves) Summer
Elder (flowers) Summer
Labrador Tea (leaves) All year
Mint (leaves) Spring and summer
New Jersey Tea (leaves) Spring and summer
Persimmon (leaves) Summer
Raspberry (leaves) Summer
Rose (leaves) Spring and summer
Sassafras (roots) All year
Strawberry (leaves) Summer
Sweet Goldenrod (leaves) Summer and early fall
Wintergreen (leaves) All year
WINES AND BEERS
There are few plants that have not been made into wine at some point. Wines made from Elder and Dandelions are well known to most people, but a fairly respectable number of wild plants make good wines. Wild plants from which wine can be made are:
Blackberry (fruits) Summer
Black Cherry (fruits) Later summer to early fall
Choke Cherry (fruits) Late summer to early fall
Currant (fruits) Summer
Dandelion (flowers) Late spring
Dewberry (fruits) Summer
Elder (fruits. flowers) Summer
Goose berry (fruits) Summer
Grape (fruits) Fall
Highbush Cranberry (fruits) Fall and winter
Mountain Ash (fruits) Fall and winter
Raspberry (fruits) Summer
Wild Plum (fruits) Summer
Wintergreen (leaves) All year
The flavorings of such popular carbonated beverages as birch beer and sarsaparilla were originally obtained from plants, although they are generally prepared synthetically today. Both of these beverages can be made at home and are every bit as good as the commercial varieties. The plants that can be used to make beers are:
Birch (twigs and bark) All year
Catbrier (roots) All year
Persimmon (fruits) Fall and winter
Wintergreen (leaves) All year
VINEGAR'S
Sweet tree saps are a prime source of vinegar, although unwanted experience with the manufacture of vinegar is often gained when homemade hard cider or wine inexplicably turns. What has happened is that it has become contaminated with a common airborne bacterium that feeds on the alcohol produced by the yeasts and turns it into acetic acid. But despite the loss of a certain quantity of alcohol, vinegar is very useful stuff in its own right. The simplest way to make your own vinegar is to start a yeast fermentation in sweet tree saps, but (leave them open to the air; they are almost certain to turn to vinegar. Vinegars can also be made from any of the plants listed under wine, but less sugar should be added because sugar raises the alcohol level and when it gets high enough, the vinegar-producing bacteria can't survive.
Birch Spring
Black Walnut Spring
Butternut Spring
Maple Spring
Persimmon Fall and winter
SUGARS
The best source of sugar is the Maple tree, but several other trees produce sap with a high enough sugar content to be worth boiling it down. The roots of the Great Bulrush also contain considerable amounts of sugar. It comes nowhere near tree sugars in quality, but it is useful in a pinch.
Birch (sap) Spring
Black Walnut (sap) Spring
Butternut (sap) Spring
Great Bulrush (roots) Spring
Hickory (sap) Spring
Maple (sap) Spring
Persimmon ((fruits) Fall and winter
SEASONINGS AND FLAVORINGS
The seasonings and flavorings in everyday use include spices such as Mustard, herbs like bay and tarragon, and flavorings like ginger or chocolate. Wild plants provide an equally broad and varied range. many of which are familiar, some of which are nor. With unfamiliar ingredients, only experimentation will tell how much to use and where to use it. A fairly good indication can be had by tasting a small quantity before adding it to other foods.
Catbrier (roots) All year
Coltsfoot (leaves) Spring and summer
Day Lily (flowers) Summer
Elder (flowers) Summer
Horseradish (roots) All year
Mint (leaves) Spring and summer
Mustard (seeds) Summer
Purple Avens (roots) All year
Rose (flowers) Summer
Sassafras (leaves) All year
Sheep Sorrel (leaves)!: Spring and summer
Shepherd's Purse (seeds) Fall
Wild Onion (bulb, leaves) Spring through fall
CONDIMENTS
Several wild plants can be used to prepare condiments. Sassafras root bark makes a good chutney, Ground Cherries an excellent relish, and Mustard seeds a prepared mustard comparable to that sold in the stores.
Ground Cherry (fruits) Late summer or fall
Horseradish (roots) All year
Mustard (seeds) Summer
Sassafras (roots) All year
CONFECTIONS
When chocolate had not yet become widely available, candied plants were the popular confections. The flavors of Oak, Calamus, and Wild Ginger were utilized as candies by boiling them in a sugar syrup until they were thoroughly saturated, allowing the sugar to harden. And rolling in granulated sugar to cover the sticky surface. A different kind of confection can be made from Mallow. This was the original source of marshmallow. which is now made from corn syrup, egg albumin, and starch.
Calamus (rhizome) Spring through fall
Mallow (fruits and roots) Spring and summer
Oak (acorns) Fall
Strawberry (fruits) Early summer
Violet (flowers) Spring
Wild Ginger (roots) Spring and summer
THICKENERS
Materials that impart body to soups, gravies, stews, etc., are important to cooking. A large number of plants have a mucilaginous quality and act as thickeners when they are cooked with other foods. For example, powdered leaves of Sassafras can be used in anything and are the equal of corn starch or flour.
Day Lily (flowers) Summer
Mallow (leaves) Spring and summer
Pasture Brake (young fronds) Spring
Purslane (leaves) Summer and fall
Sassafras (leaves) Spring and summer
Sheep Sorrel (leaves) Spring and summer
Violet (leaves) Spring and early summer
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--McPherson, A. and S. "A Seasonable Guuide to Wild Food Plants," in Wild Food Plants of Indiana and Adjacent States.
Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1977, pages 16-18.
SPRING
Alfalfa and clovers (leaves)
Arrowheads (early: tubers)
Asparagus (shoots)
Basswoods (flowers)
Bulrush (early: roots) (shoots, sprouts)
Cattails (early: roots) (shoots, sprouts, spikes)
Chickweed (leaves)
Chicory (leaves, crowns)
Chufa (early: tubers)
Dandelion (leaves, crowns, flowers, roots)
Day lily (shoots, flowers buds, bulbs)
Dock (leaves)
Evening primrose (leaves, shoots, roots)
False Solomon's seal (shoots, roots)
Ferns (fiddleheads)
Grapes (tendrils, leaves)
Greenbriar (shoots, roots)
Jerusalem artichoke (early: tubers)
Lamb's quarters (leaves)
Milkweed (shoots, young leaves)
Mints (leaves)
Morels
Mustards (leaves, flower buds)
Nettles (leaves)
Onion, garlic, leek (bulbs)
Pines (needles, bark)
Pokeweed (sprouts)
Puffballs
Purslane (leaves, stems)
Roses (buds, petals)
Sassafras (leaves, roots)
Shaggymane
Skunk cabbage (early: shoots) (leaves)
Solomon's seal (shoots, roots)
Sorrels (leaves)
Spicebush (leaves, twigs,: bark)
Spring beauty (corms)
Strawberry (late: fruits)
Sugar Maple (early: sap)
Violets (leaves, flowers)
SUMMER
Alfalfa and clover (greens and flowers)
Asparagus (seeds)
Bulrush (pollen)
Cattails (sprouts, pollen)
Cherries (fruit)
Chickweed (leaves)
Chicory (roots)
Day lily (flowers, bulbs)
Dock (leaves)
Elderberry (flowers, fruits)
False Solomon's seal (berries)
Grapes (leaves, fruit)
Hazelnuts (nuts)
Juneberry (fruit)
Lamb's quarters (leaves)
Mayapple (fruit)
Spicebush (leaves, twigs, bark, berries)
Strawberry (early: fruit)
Sulphur shelf (late)
Milkweed (flower buds, young pods)
Mints (leaves)
Mulberries (fruit)
Mustard (seeds)
Nettles (leaves)
New Jersey tea (leaves)
Onion, garlic, leek (early bulbs)
Pawpaw (fruit)
Persimmon (leaves)
Plum (fruit)
Puffballs
Purslane (leaves, stem)
Raspberry, blackberry, dewberry (fruit)
Roses (petals)
Sorrels (leaves)
Sumac (fruit)
Walnuts (early: immature nuts)
FALL
American chestnut (nuts)
Arrowhead (tubers)
Bulrush (roots)
Cattails (roots, shoots)
Chickweed (leaves)
Chufa (tubers)
Crab apple (fruit)
Day lily (bulbs)
Dock (leaves)
Elderberry (fruit)
Evening primrose (early: roots)
False Solomon's seal (roots)
Ginger (underground stem)
Grapes (early: leaves, fruit)
Greenbriar (roots)
Hawthorns (fruit)
Hazelnut (nuts)
Hickories (nuts)
Jerusalem artichoke (tubers)
Lamb's quarters (leaves, seeds)
Mints (leaves)
Oaks (nuts)
Persimmon (fruit)
Pines (seeds)
Puffballs
Roses (fruit)
Shaggymane
Skunk cabbage (roots)
Solomon's seal (roots)
Sorrels (leaves)
Spicebush (berries)
Sugar maple (fruit)
Sulphur shelf
Sumac (fruit)
Walnuts (nuts)
Wild rice (grain)
WINTER
Cattails (roots)
Pines(bark)
Sugar maple (late: sap)
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SUPPLEMENTARY READING
Clarke, C. B. Edible and Useful Plants of California.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977.
Kirk, D. R. Wild Edible Plants of the Western United States.
Happy Camp, California: Naturegraph Publishers, 1975.
Knap, A. H. Wild Harvest.
Toronto: Pagurian Press, Ltd., 1975.
Sweet, M. Common Edibles and Useful Plants of the West.
Happy Camp, California: Naturegraph Publishers , 1976.
Tatum, B. J. Billy Joe Tatum's Wild Foods Cookbook and Field Guide.
New York: Workman Publishing Company, Inc., 1976.