Edible and Medicinal Plants #4

阿克

By: Love Spellcaster
Elderberry
Sambucus canadensis
Description:
Elderberry is a many-stemmed shrub with opposite, compound leaves. It grows to a height of 6
meters. Its flowers are fragrant, white, and borne in large flat-topped clusters up to 30
centimeters across. Its berrylike fruits are dark blue or black when ripe.
Habitat and Distribution:
This plant is found in open, usually wet areas at the margins of marshes, rivers, ditches, and
lakes. It grows throughout much of eastern North America and Canada.
Edible Parts:
The flowers and fruits are edible. You can make a drink by soaking the flower heads for 8 hours,
discarding the flowers, and drinking the liquid. CAUTION: All other parts of the plant are
poisonous and dangerous if eaten.
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Fireweed
Epilobium angustifolium
Description:
This plant grows up to 1.8 meters tall. It has large, showy, pink flowers and lance- shaped leaves.
Its relative, the dwarf fireweed (Epilobium latifolium), grows 30 to 60 centimeters tall.
Habitat and Distribution:
Tall fireweed is found in open woods, on hillsides, on stream banks, and near seashores in arctic
regions. It is especially abundant in burned-over areas. Dwarf fireweed is found along streams,
sandbars, and lakeshores and on alpine and arctic slopes.
Edible Parts:
The leaves, stems, and flowers are edible in the spring but become tough in summer. You can
split open the stems of old plants and eat the pith raw.
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Fishtail palm
Caryota urens
Description:
Fishtail palms are large trees, at least 18 meters tall. Their leaves are unlike those of any other
palm; the leaflets are irregular and toothed on the upper margins. All other palms have either fanshaped
or featherlike leaves. Its massive flowering shoot is borne at the top of the tree and hangs
downward.
Habitat and Distribution:
The fishtail palm is native to the tropics of India, Assam, and Burma. Several related species also
exist in Southeast Asia and the Philippines. These palms are found in open hill country and jungle areas.
Edible Parts:
The chief food in this palm is the starch stored in large quantities in its trunk. The juice from the
fishtail palm is very nourishing and you have to drink it shortly after getting it from the palm flower
shoot. Boil the juice down to get a rich sugar syrup. Use the same method as for the sugar palm
to get the juice. The palm cabbage may be eaten raw or cooked.
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Foxtail grass
Setaria species
Description:
This weedy grass is readily recognized by the narrow, cylindrical head containing long hairs. Its
grains are small, less than 6 millimeters long. The dense heads of grain often droop when ripe.
Habitat and Distribution:
Look for foxtail grasses in open, sunny areas, along roads, and at the margins of fields. Some
species occur in wet, marshy areas. Species of Setaria are found throughout the United States,
Europe, western Asia, and tropical Africa. In some parts of the world, foxtail grasses are grown
as a food crop.
Edible Parts:
The grains are edible raw but are very hard and sometimes bitter. Boiling removes some of the
bitterness and makes them easier to eat.
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Goa bean
Psophocarpus tetragonolobus
Description:
The goa bean is a climbing plant that may cover small shrubs and trees. Its bean pods are 22
centimeters long, its leaves 15 centimeters long, and its flowers are bright blue. The mature pods
are 4-angled, with jagged wings on the pods.
Habitat and Distribution:
This plant grows in tropical Africa, Asia, the East Indies, the Philippines, and Taiwan. This
member of the bean (legume) family serves to illustrate a kind of edible bean common in the
tropics of the Old World. Wild edible beans of this sort are most frequently found in clearings and
around abandoned garden sites. They are more rare in forested areas.
Edible Parts:
You can eat the young pods like string beans. The mature seeds are a valuable source of protein
after parching or roasting them over hot coals. You can germinate the seeds (as you can many
kinds of beans) in damp moss and eat the resultant sprouts. The thickened roots are edible raw.
They are slightly sweet, with the firmness of an apple. You can also eat the young leaves as a
vegetable, raw or steamed.
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Hackberry
Celtis species
Description:
Hackberry trees have smooth, gray bark that often has corky warts or ridges. The tree may reach 39 meters in height. Hackberry trees have long-pointed leaves that grow in two rows. This tree
bears small, round berries that can be eaten when they are ripe and fall from the tree. The wood
of the hackberry is yellowish.
Habitat and Distribution:
This plant is widespread in the United States, especially in and near ponds.
Edible Parts:
Its berries are edible when they are ripe and fall from the tree.
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Hazelnut or wild filbert
Corylus species
Description:
Hazelnuts grow on bushes 1.8 to 3.6 meters high. One species in Turkey and another in China are
large trees. The nut itself grows in a very bristly husk that conspicuously contracts above the nut
into a long neck. The different species vary in this respect as to size and shape.
Habitat and Distribution:
Hazelnuts are found over wide areas in the United States, especially the eastern half of the
country and along the Pacific coast. These nuts are also found in Europe where they are known
as filberts. The hazelnut is common in Asia, especially in eastern Asia from the Himalayas to
China and Japan. The hazelnut usually grows in the dense thickets along stream banks and open
places. They are not plants of the dense forest.
Edible Parts:
Hazelnuts ripen in the autumn when you can crack them open and eat the kernel. The dried nut is
extremely delicious. The nut's high oil content makes it a good survival food. In the unripe stage,
you can crack them open and eat the fresh kernel.
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Horseradish tree
Moringa pterygosperma
Description:
This tree grows from 4.5 to 14 meters tall. Its leaves have a fernlike appearance. Its flowers and
long, pendulous fruits grow on the ends of the branches. Its fruit (pod) looks like a giant bean. Its
25-to 60-centimeter-long pods are triangular in cross section, with strong ribs. Its roots have a
pungent odor.
Habitat and Distribution:
This tree is found in the rain forests and semievergreen seasonal forests of the tropical regions. It
is widespread in India, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central America. Look for it in abandoned
fields and gardens and at the edges of forests.
Edible Parts:
The leaves are edible raw or cooked, depending on their hardness. Cut the young seedpods into
short lengths and cook them like string beans or fry them. You can get oil for frying by boiling the
young fruits of palms and skimming the oil off the surface of the water. You can eat the flowers as
part of a salad. You can chew fresh, young seedpods to eat the pulpy and soft seeds. The roots
may be ground as a substitute for seasoning similar to horseradish.
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Iceland moss

Cetraria islandica
Description:
This moss grows only a few inches high. Its color may be gray, white, or even reddish.
Habitat and Distribution:
Look for it in open areas. It is found only in the arctic.
Edible Parts:
All parts of the Iceland moss are edible. During the winter or dry season, it is dry and crunchy but
softens when soaked. Boil the moss to remove the bitterness. After boiling, eat by itself or add to
milk or grains as a thickening agent. Dried plants store well.
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Indian potato or Eskimo potato
Claytonia species
Description:
All Claytonia species are somewhat fleshy plants only a few centimeters tall, with showy flowers
about 2.5 centimeters across.
Habitat and Distribution:
Some species are found in rich forests where they are conspicuous before the leaves develop.
Western species are found throughout most of the northern United States and in Canada.
Edible Parts:
The tubers are edible but you should boil them before eating.
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Juniper
Juniperus species
Description:
Junipers, sometimes called cedars, are trees or shrubs with very small, scalelike leaves densely
crowded around the branches. Each leaf is less than 1.2 centimeters long. All species have a
distinct aroma resembling the well-known cedar. The berrylike cones are usually blue and
covered with a whitish wax.
Habitat and Distribution:
Look for junipers in open, dry, sunny areas throughout North America and northern Europe.
Some species are found in southeastern Europe, across Asia to Japan, and in the mountains of
North Africa.
Edible Parts:
The berries and twigs are edible. Eat the berries raw or roast the seeds to use as a coffee
substitute. Use dried and crushed berries as a seasoning for meat. Gather young twigs to make a
tea. CAUTION: Many plants may be called cedars but are not related to junipers and may be
harmful. Always look for the berrylike structures, needle leaves, and resinous, fragrant sap to be
sure the plant you have is a juniper.
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Lotus
Nelumbo species
Description:

There are two species of lotus: one has yellow flowers and the other pink flowers. The flowers are
large and showy. The leaves, which may float on or rise above the surface of the water, often
reach 1.5 meters in radius. The fruit has a distinctive flattened shape and contains up to 20 hard
seeds.
Habitat and Distribution:
The yellow-flowered lotus is native to North America. The pink-flowered species, which is
widespread in the Orient, is planted in many other areas of the world. Lotuses are found in quiet
fresh water.
Edible Parts:
All parts of the plant are edible raw or cooked. The underwater parts contain large quantities of
starch. Dig the fleshy portions from the mud and bake or boil them. Boil the young leaves and eat
them as a vegetable. The seeds have a pleasant flavor and are nutritious. Eat them raw, or parch
and grind them into flour.
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