To Field Test or Not To Field Test

I ruffle some foraging feathers with this position but I am dead set against field testing of edibility because it can kill you.

“Field testing” is running through a procedure to purportedly learn if a wild plant is edible. It’s found on a lot of survival sites and is popular with young men who don’t want to bother to learn how to forage for wild plants. In their survivalist scenario they will head for the hills with all the guns and ammo they can carry and after shooting a zoo full of animals will field test plants for edibility should they want to eat greenery now and then.

You can live a month without food, easily two weeks with little threat to life or health even under harsh conditions. That’s part of our design. Under good conditions, if you have water, you should be able to easily live three or even four weeks without food. Under medical care you can go twice as long without food.

Food is good while in the field but it is not an immediate necessity. Why after only one day or three would you risk your life over a plant you know nothing about? Several fatal plants taste great: Hemlock (leaf and root)  the rosary pea get thumbs up from the deceased. Yew nuts are described as extremely delicious, just before they stop your heart. And we all know of some tasty mushrooms that will liquefy your liver. I know of at least one plant that readily passes the “field test of edibility” yet can make you permanently sick and or kill you. As they say, pick your poison. Taste is not a good indicator of toxicity. Some of these plants can kill you in 15 minutes, some will take a week, others longer. It would be ironic to survive the crisis only to die later from eating a plant you really didn’t need to eat. Some of these plants can be eaten in the emergency room and you will still die. Some have no antidote. You’re on  your way out and it will not be pleasant.  One mushroom makes you deathly ill then cruelly make you feel almost as good as new just before you die. In fact the clinical sign of impending death via that mushroom is after several days of illness the victim is suddenly feeling let-me-go-home better.

Even if we take death off the field testing table, you can still get sick from field testing. More so, since one can go quite a while without food why introduce illness into a situation? Plant poisoning can range from a mild headache to having your stomach ache for months, or having bloody diarrhea for weeks, or burning your throat and mouth which will make you give up food. Pick the wrong berry and your kidneys will fail and you will be on dialysis the rest of your life, if you survive. Field testing in the field is the last resort after cannibalism. You should know every plant you put in your mouth. No exceptions. Now, is there a small argument for field testing? Yes.

I did field test the controversial S. americanum, which had professional reports of edibility and toxicity. But it would be more accurate to say I kitchen tested it, and not over a few days but a few weeks. After extensive research and positive identification of the plant (and having health insurance, a hospital nearby, and no emergency to contend with) I consumed one quarter of one ripe berry. The berries are slightly bigger than a BB. The next day it was one-half a berry and so forth. I knew the plant  well, had absolute identification, and over an extended period consumed incrementally larger amounts. The plant is edible and I had to prove it to myself. That is far different than eating a leaf off a plant you don’t know out in the middle of no where. That is exactly how a forest ranger in Idaho died in 1975. He sat down for a lunch with a homemade sandwich. He saw a nice looking plant nearby and put a leaf of it in his sandwich. He was dead in just over two hours. Socrates was executed by a member of the same plant family.

Plants are very powerful chemical factories. A quarter square inch piece of some flower petals can make you sick for weeks. A grain, read a speck no bigger than this asterisk   *  of the rosary pea can kill you. It is 1,000 times more toxic than arsenic.  If you field test, never field test a plant you do not know absolutely, as well as all the warnings.

I had a reader write me and say his method of deciding if a plant was edible or not was if it tasted good he ate it and if it didn’t he didn’t. He asked me what I thought of that. I said I hoped he had good life insurance. If you do field testing in the field I hope you not only have life insurance at the time but are also not responsible for others as well.

What do you do when the description of a plant doesn’t fit? The answer depends on how far off the description is: You might have the wrong plant.

If it is supposed to have five-petaled yellow flowers and you have white flowers with three petals, it is probably the wrong plant. What if it is the right plant but still off a little? What you come to learn is you subconsciously put together a picture of a particular plant that takes variations into consideration once you know the plant. That picture will serve you well.

Trianthema portulacastrum, maybe edible, maybe not

I’ve noticed a plant nearby that looks like purslane. Now I have foraged purslane and I’ve grown it. This plant is similar but it is not quite purslane and it is very tempting to make it fit. You must avoid that.  The look of purslane that I have in my head lets me see similar pattens in this new plant but also told me it is not purslane. I think it might be Trianthema portulacastrum, a possible edible.

A few days ago I was keying out a different plant, that is, comparing what I had in front of me to a very exact botanical description. Everything fit except minute papillons.  Papillons are tiny nipple-like structures.  This plant was supposed to have them at the nodes and on the back of its sepals. Look as I may I could not find any papillons on the plant anywhere but I was reasonably sure I had the right plant and not a relative. What were the possibilities?

1) Perhaps I had the wrong plant and this minute difference was the only difference between related plants. That happens a lot. That’s how we get variations in species or a new botanical name altogether (after the discoverer of that minute difference.) 2) Another possibility was the plant the person was describing had a disease that created little papillons. 3) And yet another possibility was the describer saw papillons whether they were there or not. That, too, is not unheard of.  What to do?

With most plants that is easy: Find a couple of more descriptions. I did, and neither of those mentioned papillons. I had the right plant.  I was not so lucky with the Chinese Elm.

Ulmus parvifloia, Chinese Elm

There are several Chinese Elms near here, Ulma parvifolia. Every description I have read of them on-line says they have tiny hairs on the leaf stem, or underside of the leaves. I have never seen such hair on any of them. Ever. Never. No way. Yet they are Chinese Elms and quite edible. What to do?

First it was rather a moot point since I was already consuming the tree. But more to the point, it is also in a family of no known toxicity so these missing little hairs were a mystery — still are a mystery — but not a party spoiler. These particular trees have been cultivated for centuries and there are many varieties and the ones near me, all planted at the same time long ago, maybe of a hairless variety.  More so, this is a common landscape plant so there are a lot of them around and none of them that I can see have such tiny hairs. Maybe I need a microscope. At any rate, they certainly taste good, and I’m still here to relate the mystery.

Plants can’t run. That’s why the vast majority of them are unpalatable or lethal. Guesstimates range from 5 to 10 percent of plants are edible. Let’s split the difference at 7.5%, with a higher percentage towards the poles and lesser percentage towards the equator (percentage of overall edibles, not sheer numbers. Most plants in the tundra are edible, most plants at the equator are not. )

Through trial and error both animals and people have learned which ones are dinner and which ones are death. In fact, many of our “edible” plants are toxic at some time or in some way. The seeds of most plants in the Prunus clan (apples, cherries, peaches, plums) et cetera are toxic, though many peoples have discovered ways to eat them, which suggest to me a lot of hunger. You don’t figure out how to eat something with cyanide in it unless you’re hungry.

It is wildly reported that a man saved up a cup of apple seeds, ate them and died.  It was reported in Poisonous Plants of the United States and Canada, by John M. Kingsbury, 1964. But he got that from a farm bulletin in 1942 which said it happened but did not say who, when or where (see my article on wild apples.)  My mother always eats the entire apple, seeds and all, but it’s a few seeds at a time. And my grandmother ate the pit of every northern fruit seed she ever ate, but only one at a time.  Many grains have toxins and a lot of legumes in the pea family are only edible when young. Tapioca, cassava, and cashews start out non-edible. Even potatoes can be toxic.

Deadly Death Cap Mushroom

No one wants to eat a toxic plant. But how often does it happen? In today’s society serious poisoning by accidental ingestion of plants is extremely rare in both adults and children. However, many plants can make you ill. Mushrooms, of course, get a lot of headlines. But that’s something of a distortion with the large majority of them being Asian immigrants collecting a toxic look-alike to a mushroom back home. Still, there is an occasional amateur mycologist or mushroom expert who gets it fatally wrong. Statistically oleander kills more adults than any other plant, but that’s because it is the suicide plant of choice in Sri Lanka, tallying several thousand a year. It was unheard of 30 years ago but two girls had a suicide pact and used oleander seeds. The resulting publicity spread the practice.

In the United States children are the most common victims of plant poisonings. Three quarters of those happen in their own yard. If you add your neighbor’s yard that covers most of the accident plant poisonings. This is specially true of toddlers (and young pets) who will chew anything regardless of taste. It is also a liability of slightly older children who see mom and dad foraging and just assume they can to, which brings up two issues.

First, if you are going to forage and you have children they have to be told the limits. They can’t just pick plants on their own. The other is in the past man’s knowledge of plants was vast because they were extremely important to day to day life. People knew the plants around them and children grew up knowing which plants were edible and which ones were not. Now most don’t know, and worse, when we moved to suburbia we surrounded our homes with ornamental plants, most of which are very toxic. That adds up to an increase in poisonings. And in one case out of nine with kids, the offending plant is never identified.

Toxic Air Potato

What about poisonings among foragers? I do not know anyone who was seriously ill from eating toxic plants though I know of two, both of whom tried eating the bulbils of the Dioscorea bulbifera which in some varieties are edible and in others toxic. Preparation is also an element. In fact, the last time I was writing about those bulbils and saying don’t eat them I had a visitor from Brazil. He told me his mother cooks them all the time. This is one of the problems with that genus, and a few others. I have research on my desk right now about a nightshade that the state of Florida says is toxic and the state of Louisiana says is edible. That the plant has seven very close toxic look alikes does not help. This is when my faith in state botanists isn’t rock solid.

Deadly in minutes

Frankly, I think there will be more poisoning of foragers. I get a lot of email about foraging, much of it from people who prefer to watch videos about plants rather than study them and get it right. One is particularly chillling. Every plant one fellow has asked me about eating has been poisonous. Every one. No exceptions. He’s been 100 percent wrong so far. It is difficult to imaging anyone being that wrong so much. If he’s planning on eating wild foods he is certainly won’t be doing it for long. Another wrote to tell me saying if a plant tastes good he eats it, if not he doesn’t. He asked me what I thought of that. I said I hoped he had good life insurance and a will made out. Several lethal plants taste good, the yew seed perhaps the best tasting of all. It will stop your heart.  Poison hemlock root is reported to be very delicious. It can also kill you in 15 minutes.

As far as lethality goes, there are three local plants — not counting mushrooms — that will not only kill you but do so quickly, painfully and with no antidote. There is one report that one of them is edible if prepared correctly. Unless starving I ain’t volunteering, and maybe not then.

As for expert and medical opinion… Some states list wild strawberries as toxic. I have no idea why. But I certainly have eaten more than my fair share. Acorns make the list, too, though they sustained native populations for thousands of years and Japan during WWII. The tannins in them are hard on your kidneys if you can manage to eat the bitter ones.

It is also now recommended that one not administer syrup of ipecac if you or someone has eaten something toxic. Ipecac will make you throw up inside of 20 minutes. The rationale behind this is shaky and I carry ipecac in all my backpacks and vehicles. Not for me per se but for accidental others I might meet. The view of not administering ipecac rests on the assumption the victim can be gotten to a hospital quickly (the same view is held about treating snake bites. The “medical advice” is get them to the hospital. Not helpful in the field.) The attitude is, ‘don’t you amateurs do anything. We doctors will take care of it.’ Personally, I like to be prepared as if I am several days from medical help. In that case, ipecac can be a life saver, just like knowing how to treat a snake bite.

The coloring screams toxic. Listen to that.

Are there some plant warning signs we should keep in mind as foragers? Absolutely. Like some creatures, colorful plants or parts can be a warning to stay away. Modern landscape plants are almost always toxic. Avoid all plants with white berries as 99.999999 of them are toxic and the rest don’t taste good. Avoid plants with white sap, 98% of them are toxic, with some notable exceptions: Learn them. I can think of four prime ones. Bitter tasting plants are often toxic. Purple or red shoots should be avoided. View every mature legume or pea as toxic. There is no taste test for edibility. And the so called field edibility test is more dangerous than helpful.

I am not a mushroom hunter but this I can tell you: Never eat little brown mushrooms. Burn that into your memory: NEVER EAT LITTLE BROWN MUSHROOMS. Yes, I know they are cute and fresh and everywhere and tempting. Just don’t do it. No exceptions. Even experts can’t tell them apart. White mushrooms with gills are more toxic than not. Avoid them. Mushrooms without gills and mushrooms on trees may make you very sick but probably won’t kill you. That is not too comforting when you are in the hospital. If you are going to eat any mushroom, study with an old expert, a very old expert.

Over the years I have added a few items to my back pack that can make foraging more easier.  You might want to add one or two of these items.

The handiest thing I take foraging with me is an ultra fine point permanent marker. It will write on anything. If I need to make a note I just grab a good leaf and write on it. Why carry paper?  I can also write on leaves I’m interested in. I write the date on them and place them collected as well as identify them if I know.

Recently I decided to make a video of a plant I came across while out hiking. I had my little video camera with me. I don’t need a script per se but I did write down the items I wanted to cover on the back of a leaf.  And I carry two cameras, a digital still and a digital video camera, plus batteries.  Neither are expensive and are among the simplest of designs… less to go wrong. One hint is to make sure your still picture digital has a good close up function. My little Lumex is excellent but a NiKon I was given is very poor with close ups even though it has a close up function. Try the camera first. Can you take a picture of a dime that fills the view finder? A close look at small difference many times makes the difference between identifying a species or not.

I also carry an excellent pair of waterproof binoculars, and I usually wear them around my neck for three reasons. First,  no one is afraid of anyone wearing binoculars, from hikers to the police. (You would be surprised how many times I’ve been looking at plants around a mall only to be approached by the police. As soon as they see the binoculars I am dismissed as some bird lover. If an officer does inquire further I tell him looking at the flora as a hobby and that usually convinces him I’m a harmless tree hugger.)

With the binoculars I can look at a lot of leaves a long ways away or up, which is often quite handy. And quite a few conversations have started over the binoculars. It usually begins with “out bird watching, eh?” Answered by, “no, leaf watching…” And truth be known I do look at a bird or two now and then, and other fauna.

The next items of importance are a few baggies and plastic bags. I am always finding something I want to take home to eat or investigate. Plus the baggies can be used to protect the cameras should I get caught in the rain.

In my pocket are always three things. A 10-powered loop, very handy for some identification issues, a pocket knife, and a fire steel. The latter just in case I get stranded and need to spend the night in the woods.  Might as well be comfortable. Surprisingly I use the pocket knife quite a lot, usually to show cross sections or to cut up some edible for students to taste.

Many years ago I also bought a six-inch trowel, heat bent the end two inches to a 45 degree angle. It makes a fine digging tool, light but strong. Painting the handle flourescent orange helps to find it after you put it down.  If I know I am going to do a lot of digging I also take along a digging/walking stick made from an ash shovel handle.

Last on my must-carry list is part of a bar of Fels Naptha soap. It can be found in most grocery stores in the laundry section near the floor. It’s inexpensive and can stop such things as poison ivy if washed off in a few minutes.

The grand dame of toxic and edible plants, Dr. Julia Morton, said she would have gotten a lot less calls on topical irritations if folks carried a few latex gloves with them when handling plants they didn’t know. I carry them, they weight nothing and take no space, but I rarely use them.  The soap I do use because one forgets about the latex gloves but remembers one should have but didn’t. The soap saves the day.