Edible and Medicinal Plants #8

阿克

By: Love Spellcaster
Wild caper
Capparis aphylla
Description:
This is a thorny shrub that loses its leaves during the dry season. Its stems are gray-green and its
flowers pink.
Habitat and Distribution:
These shrubs form large stands in scrub and thorn forests and in desert scrub and waste. They
are common throughout North Africa and the Middle East.
Edible Parts:
The fruit and the buds of young shoots are edible raw.
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Wild crab apple or wild apple
Malus species
Description:
Most wild apples look enough like domestic apples that the survivor can easily recognize them.
Wild apple varieties are much smaller than cultivated kinds; the largest kinds usually do not
exceed 5 to 7.5 centimeters in diameter, and most often less. They have small, alternate, simple
leaves and often have thorns. Their flowers are white or pink and their fruits reddish or yellowish.
Habitat and Distribution:
They are found in the savanna regions of the tropics. In temperate areas, wild apple varieties are
found mainly in forested areas. Most frequently, they are found on the edge of woods or in fields.
They are found throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
Edible Parts:
Prepare wild apples for eating in the same manner as cultivated kinds. Eat them fresh, when ripe,
or cooked. Should you need to store food, cut the apples into thin slices and dry them. They are a
good source of vitamins. CAUTION: Apple seeds contain cyanide compounds. Do not eat.
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Wild desert gourd or colocynth
Citrullus colocynthis
Description:
The wild desert gourd, a member of the watermelon family, produces an 2.4- to 3- meter-long
ground-trailing vine. The perfectly round gourds are as large as an orange. They are yellow when
ripe.
Habitat and Distribution:
This creeping plant can be found in any climatic zone, generally in desert scrub and waste areas.
It grows abundantly in the Sahara, in many Arab countries, on the southeastern coast of India,
and on some of the islands of the Aegean Sea. The wild desert gourd will grow in the hottest
localities.
Edible Parts:
The seeds inside the ripe gourd are edible after they are completely separated from the very
bitter pulp. Roast or boil the seeds--their kernels are rich in oil. The flowers are edible. The
succulent stem tips can be chewed to obtain water.
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cooking them. Roast the mature seeds a little and eat them like peanuts.
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Wild grape vine
Vitis species
Description:
The wild grape vine climbs with the aid of tendrils. Most grape vines produce deeply lobed leaves
similar to the cultivated grape. Wild grapes grow in pyramidal, hanging bunches and are blackblue
to amber, or white when ripe.
Habitat and Distribution:
Wild grapes are distributed worldwide. Some kinds are found in deserts, others in temperate
forests, and others in tropical areas. Wild grapes are commonly found throughout the eastern
United States as well as in the southwestern desert areas. Most kinds are rampant climbers over
other vegetation. The best place to look for wild grapes is on the edges of forested areas. Wild
grapes are also found in Mexico. In the Old World, wild grapes are found from the Mediterranean
region eastward through Asia, the East Indies, and to Australia. Africa also has several kinds of
wild grapes.
Edible Parts:
The ripe grape is the portion eaten. Grapes are rich in natural sugars and, for this reason, are
much sought after as a source of energy-giving wild food. None are poisonous. Other Uses: You
can obtain water from severed grape vine stems. Cut off the vine at the bottom and place the cut
end in a container. Make a slant-wise cut into the vine about 1.8 meters upon the hanging part.
This cut will allow water to flow from the bottom end. As water diminishes in volume, make
additional cuts further down the vine. CAUTION: To avoid poisoning, do not eat grapelike fruits
with only a single seed (moonseed).
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Wild onion and garlic Allium species
Description:
Allium cernuum is an example of the many species of wild onions and garlics, all easily
recognized by their distinctive odor.
Habitat and Distribution:
Wild onions and garlics are found in open, sunny areas throughout the temperate regions.
Cultivated varieties are found anywhere in the world.
Edible Parts:
The bulbs and young leaves are edible raw or cooked. Use in soup or to flavor meat. CAUTION:
There are several plants with onionlike bulbs that are extremely poisonous. Be certain that the
plant you are using is a true onion or garlic. Do not eat bulbs with no onion smell.Other Uses:
Eating large quantities of onions will give your body an odor that will help to repel insects. Garlic
juice works as an antibiotic on wounds
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Wild pistachio
Pistacia species

Description:
Some kinds of pistachio trees are evergreen, while others lose their leaves during the dry season.
The leaves alternate on the stem and have either three large leaves or a number of leaflets. The
fruits or nuts are usually hard and dry at maturity.
Habitat and Distribution:
About seven kinds of wild pistachio nuts are found in desert, or semidesert areas surrounding the
Mediterranean Sea to Turkey and Afghanistan. It is generally found in evergreen scrub forests or
scrub and thorn forests.
Edible Parts:
You can eat the oil nut kernels after parching them over coals.
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Wild rice
Zizania aquatica
Description:
Wild rice is a tall grass that averages 1 to 1.5 meters in height, but may reach 4.5 meters. Its grain
grows in very loose heads at the top of the plant and is dark brown or blackish when ripe.
Habitat and Distribution:
Wild rice grows only in very wet areas in tropical and temperate regions.
Edible Parts:
During the spring and summer, the central portion of the lower sterns and root shoots are edible.
Remove the tough covering before eating. During the late summer and fail, collect the strawcovered
husks. Dry and parch the husks, break them, and remove the rice. Boil or roast the rice
and then beat it into flour.
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Wild rose
Rosa species
Description:
This shrub grows 60 centimeters to 2.5 meters high. It has alternate leaves and sharp prickles. Its
flowers may be red, pink, or yellow. Its fruit, called rose hip, stays on the shrub year-round.
Habitat and Distribution:
Look for wild roses in dry fields and open woods throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
Edible Parts:
The flowers and buds are edible raw or boiled. In an emergency, you can peel and eat the young
shoots. You can boil fresh, young leaves in water to make a tea. After the flower petals fall, eat
the rose hips; the pulp is highly nutritious and an excellent source of vitamin C. Crush or grind
dried rose hips to make flour. CAUTION: Eat only the outer portion of the fruit as the seeds of
some species are quite prickly and can cause internal distress.
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Wood sorrel
Oxalis species
Description:
Wood sorrel resembles shamrock or four-leaf clover, with a bell-shaped pink, yellow, or white
flower.

Habitat and Distribution:
Wood sorrel is found in Temperate Zones worldwide, in lawns, open areas, and sunny woods.
Edible Parts:
Cook the entire plant. CAUTION: Eat only small amounts of this plant as it contains a fairly high
concentration of oxalic acid that can be harmful.
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Yam
Dioscorea species
Description:
These plants are vines that creep along the ground. They have alternate, heart-or arrow-shaped
leaves. Their rootstock may be very large and weigh many kilograms.
Habitat and Distribution:
True yams are restricted to tropical regions where they are an important food crop. Look for
yams in fields, clearings, and abandoned gardens. They are found in rain forests, semievergreen
seasonal forests, and scrub and thorn forests in the tropics. In warm temperate areas, they are
found in seasonal hardwood or mixed hardwood-coniferous forests, as well as some mountainous
areas.
Edible Parts:
Boil the rootstock and eat it as a vegetable.
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Yam bean
Pachyrhizus erosus
Description:
The yam bean is a climbing plant of the bean family, with alternate, three-parted leaves and a
turniplike root. The bluish or purplish flowers are pealike in shape. The plants are often so
rampant that they cover the vegetation upon which they are growing.
Habitat and Distribution:
The yam bean is native to the American tropics, but it was carried by man years ago to Asia and
the Pacific islands. Now it is commonly cultivated in these places, and is also found growing wild
in forested areas. This plant grows in wet areas of tropical regions.
Edible Parts:
The tubers are about the size of a turnip and they are crisp, sweet, and juicy and have a nutty
flavor. They are nourishing and at the same time quench the thirst. Eat them raw or boiled. To
make flour, slice the raw tubers, let them dry in the sun, and grind into a flour that is high in starch
and may be used to thicken soup. CAUTION: The raw seeds are poisonous.
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