The Tulip Tree Sweet Blossom

Not every edible plant has to be a nutritional powerhouse. Some are “edible” by the barest of means. A good example is the Tulip Tree, Liriodendron tulipifera, said leer-ee-oh-DEN-drawn too-lih-PIFF-er-uh.

Note unusual tip of leaf

What if you read that a native plant was “used to make honey.”  What would you think? Probably that the plant was cultivated for bees to make honey. Unfortunately that is not what my reference says. It say the Native Americans made honey from the Tulip Tree. That’s rather doubtful. First people don’t make honey, bees do. And more specifically honey bees are not native to North America. They came with Europeans. It doubtful until perhaps late in the game did Natives cultivate the Tulip Tree for honey. They didn’t have the bees.  However, when the bees got here the flying nectar mavens did discover Tulip Trees.

Some references say Tulip Tree roots were used as a flavoring to take the bitterness out of Spruce Beer. I’ve had Spruce Beer and it does need something to make it more palatable. But one expert on Native Americans lists under “sauces and garnishes” that Tulip Trees were used to make honey. As mentioned above that’s not probable but here’s a possible answer that fits nicely with our foraging interests.

The flower quickly turns to non-edible seeds.

For just a short time while the tree is blossoming there is a small amount of very sweet nectar in each blossom. It is heavy and honey-flavored. You can drink it directly from the blossom. The expert was relying on old reports that probably didn’t describe how the natives used the tree. They weren’t collecting honey, they were collecting nectar. The tree was also called the Sap Poplar, perhaps because its sap is consumable. I don’t know and have not found any reference to said but it wouldn’t surprise me. As a source of nectar the tree also attracts hummingbirds, squirrels and is a host plant for tiger and spicebush swallowtail butterflies.

The genus name is bastardized Greek via Dead Latin. Liriodendron. Lirio is a Greek derivative for Lily, dendron Greek for tree, Lily Tree.  Tulip is the English version of a Turkish word Tuliband. That is bastardized Persian for dulband which means turban. “Ifera” is Latin and means producing. Liriodendron tulipifera thus is “Lily Tree Producing Tulips.” The tree is also called Yellow Poplar, Tulip Poplar, White Poplar, and Whitewood.

Related to the Magnolias, the Tulip Tree can be found in eastern North America plus Texas. To see a good video on the Tulip Tree by my foraging colleague Blanche Derby, click here.

Green Deane’s Itemized Plant Profile: Tulip Tree

IDENTIFICATION: Liriodendron tulipifera, 100-foot tree, sometimes to 150 feet. Leaves alternating, simple, palmately veined, orbicular (circular and flat) 4-lobes, no teeth, 4 to 8 inches long, notched to flat top. Somewhat shaped like a tulip, light green to green. Blossom, monoecious; perfect, showy, resembling a large tulip, but high in the tree, 2.5 inches long, with yellow-green petals and an orange corolla.  Fruit is cone-like with many samaras (2 inches long) falling off at maturity; each samara is 1-winged, 1.5 inches long, and curved upwards resembling the front keel of a boat, maturing August to October and falling through late fall and winter. The base whorls of samaras persist into following spring and resemble wooden flowers high in the tree.

TIME OF YEAR: Flowers appear in late spring to early summer.

ENVIRONMENT: Grows in a wide variety of soil. The effects of temperature and moisture extremes are mitigated some by the lay of the land. At the northern end of its range, yellow-poplar is usually found in valleys and stream bottoms at elevations below 1,000 feet. In southern Appalachia, it can grow on a variety of sites, including stream bottoms, coves, and moist slopes up to an elevation of about 4,500 feet. Toward the southern limit of the range, where high temperatures and soil moisture probably become limiting, the species is usually confined to moist, well-drained, stream bottoms. Optimum development occurs where rainfall is well-distributed over a long growing season.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: The blossom can be tipped and the nectar sipped out.

Edible flowers, tasty and nutritious

Sesbania Grandifolia, Lemon Verbena, Szechaun Buttons, Horseradish, Tea Olive, Tiger Lily, Currants, Honewort, Thyme, Indian Paint Brush

Sesbania grandifolia

Sesbania grandifolia, also called the Vegetable Hummingbird Tree and the Scarlet Wisteria, has managed to work its way into warmer areas of the world. If you have a frost you might be able to pot it but you won’t find it out in the field. Originating in either India or southeast Asia, it grows best in hot, humid areas including south Florida. The shrub’s long narrow pods are eaten as a vegetable dish, similar in use as string beans.  The seeds are fermented into a tempeh turi. Young leaves and shoots are eaten in salads or as a pot herb or in soups and stews. Sesbania grandifolia flowers are eaten raw in salads, boiled, fried or use in curries, stews and soups. They taste like mushrooms and are rich in iron and sugar.

Lemon Verbena

There is hardly an established garden that doesn’t have a Lemon Verbena in it. A native of South America it was “discovered” in 1785 in Buenos Aires. By 1797 it was the rage of England and has been exported around the world since around 1785. It’s in a well-known association with a lot of plants used for seasoning and antioxidants.  The Aloysia triphylla was named to compliment the morganatic wife of Infant Lois Anonio de Borbon, prince of Asturias  and brother to King Carlos III of Spain. The Infant was a supporter of the arts and botany.  Young leaves are eaten as spinach. they are also used to flavor fruit cups, jellies, cold drinks, salads, omelets, salad dressings, and vegetable dishes. The leaves or tiny, citrus-scented flowers, are brewed into a refreshing tea. Tea from just the flowers is sweeter.

Szechaun Buttons

Szechaun Buttons. No, they’re not from China but Brazil. This is an edible flower you will likely want to grow yourself rather than order. Right now a 30-blossom order is selling for $39.95 not including shipping. Why would you order them? Because they are the current party favor but they have other uses as well. Spilanthes acmella, aka, Acmella ocleracea, grow in Brazil. They are peppery like capsaicin, hence their name because of a heat similar to Szechuan peppers… well almost. The active chemical is spilanthol. That used to numb gums for toothaches. It causes a reaction with the trigeminal nerve pathway controlling the control motor and sensory functions of your mouth. The result is a tingling, popping sensation in the mouth. Kind of a cross between Pop Rocks and a 9-volt battery. Besides that, they are cooked and used in salads, sauces, soups, sorbets and as cocktail garnishes. You can add shredded uncooked greens to your salad, sparingly, or sprinkle some uncooked petals on your salad. The taste is herbal and slightly bitter. One high end restaurant uses them in a cheese plate.  At another eatery the tiny petals and some lemon thyme are infuse a small pot of honey that accompanies roasted kabocha squash, sweet peppers and toasted walnuts. A third offers patrons a Concord grape soda float with lemon verbena sorbet into which shreds of Sechuan buttons are dispersed through a soda siphon. Did I mention they use Szechaun Bottons to flavor chewing tobacco in India?

Horseradish blossoms

My cousin in southern Quebec… actually first cousin once removed, Beulah Knudson nee Smith, grew the largest horseradish I ever saw. The winters are harsh thereabouts and that horseradish, Armoracia rusticana,  was making the most of their very short growing season. Here in flat iron Florida it is too hot to grow horseradish except perhaps in the most extreme northern counties. Most everyone knows that horseradish is a hot root. In fact, the root is rather cleaver. The two chemicals that make horseradish hot have to be mixed to be hot but the plant keeps them in separate cells so they don’t bother the plant. Only when the cells are crushed together is a hot chemical created. It’s called “horse” radish because “horse” is also used to describe anything big or rough. Young leaves can be added to salads, pickled or cooked as a potherb. Sprouts can be added to salads, or the roots can be cooked as eaten that way. The flowers are edible, quite mild compared to the root. Sprinkle them on salads, throw them in when pickling or cooking string beans and the like.

Tea Olive, aka Fragrant Olive

If you go to an Asian market and buy “Cassia Blossom Jam” it is not from the Cassia clan at all but rather Osmanthus frangrans, the Tea Olive, also called the Fragrant Olive and Sweet Olive. Its name(s) gives you a good idea what it is used for.  It a glossy evergreen with little white blossoms that bloom almost all year long, making it a favorite landscape plant where it is warm all year. The blossoms smell deliciously fragrant of ripe peaches or apricots. It tends to bloom in autumn, winter and spring. Fruit follows about six months later. The unripe fruit are preserved in brine like olives. The flowers are used to make tea fragrant as well as wine, liqueurs, and confections. The blossoms are either preserved in a salty brine or made into a sugary paste. The Osmanthus americana, the American Olive, is used a similar way.

Lilium lancifolium

Many lilies are called the Tiger Lily but botanists argue there is only one, Lilium landifolium, a native of Asia and Japan but naturalized in the northeast quarter of North America, among other places. Almost all of the Tiger Lily is edible, bulb to flower. In fact it is a cultivated crop in Asia and Japan turnips or parsnips in flavor. Flower buds are eaten raw or cooked, as are the flowers. The pollen is edible as well. Yes, I know there are dire warnings on the Internet that it is poisonous for humans but evidence of that is absent. Dr. François Couplan, author of the Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America told me “…Lilium bulbs and Hemerocallis flowers are commonly sold as food on eastern asian markets. And I’ve had lilium pollen myself, albeit in fairly small quantities, and never suffered any wrong effect…”  It IS toxic to cats. One way to identify this lily from the natives is small black bulbils on the stem. While it is naturalized it usually does not go far from urban areas. When I used to traipse around the countryside in New England I always found these and daylilies near old or abandoned farms. In fact, out in the country they were usually right across the road from the farm house. See full article on site.

Ribes aureum, the Golden Currant

We used to ride our horses on abandoned roads, of which there were plenty. One was still passable if you had a vehicle with a high suspension because the road went over washed out ledge. It was no problem for the horses. At the top of the ledge were high bush blueberries, some eight feet tall. Just beyond the crest were two fallen-in farms, across the road from each other which usually meant the same family. Still growing at one of the homestead was currants. Currants, gooseberries and Kiwis are related to each other. Currants were made into jellies and jams as well as wine… very good wine. The natives dried them and use them in making pemmican. Some species, perhaps most, have edible flowers. At the top of the flower list is Ribes aureum, or Golden Currant, found in most of North America except the Old South. Another currant noted for flower edibility is Ribes cereum. Wax Currant, found in the western half of North America. Black Currant (Ribes nigrum) flower buds are used in ice cream and liqueurs. I would suspect the open flowers would be usable as well. And of course, the berries have many uses and have antioxidants. Incidentally, R. aureum is not Ribes odorata.

Canadian Honewort, cryptotaenia canadensis,

The Canadian Honewort, Cryptotaenia canadensis, grows all the way down to Florida, and covers the eastern two third of North America. A member of the carrot family, it can be found growing along streams and creeks or in low, wet ground. The entire plant is edible, cooked, root to flowers. Flowering season is May to August and the blossom are small. Also called Wild Chervil, the roots are usually boiled in salted water and served with oil; young leaves and stems are soaked in water to moderate flavor then cooked as a pot herb. Cooked flowers are edible as well.  You can add a small portion to salads for their aromatic quality. Seeds are used for flavoring and the stems candied. Cryptotaenia japonica can be used in a similar way but needs far less cooking, usually just blanching. In warmer areas don’t mistake Tripogandra multiflora for it. The latter has black stems, large flowers, and is not edible.

Thyme blossoms are tiny but flavorful

I went to Crete in the spring once to hike Sanmaria Gorge, said to be the longest gorge in Europe if you count extreme southern Greece as geographically part of Europe proper. There was, however, a late season snow storm and the gorge was closed. So I hiked down Embrose Gorge, much smaller but not without its charms. I remember three things well from the hike. The first was the wonderful scent of wild thyme growing throughout the gorge. Next was literally being run over by a large heard of sheep and goats. And lastly later that evening discovering the local taverna-made rose smelled just like the sheep. Without thyme the chef and the herbalist would be hard pressed to find a suitable substitute. In the kitchen thyme has so many use including the blossoms. Thymus vulgaris, leaves and blossoms are used to flavor stuffing, fish, meat, fowl, cheese vinegar, gravies, sauces, bouquet garni, herbs de Provence, brine for olives, eggs, bread, tea and honey. Shoots are a garnish.  The blossoms are milder than the leaves. And yes, later I got to hike down Sanmaria Gorge, a hike of a lifetime.

Wyoming's Indian Paint Brush

While recreating my foraging instructor page for the new website I considered using the state flower next to each separate state entry. Unfortunately few states have state flowers that are edible. Wyoming is the exception. Its state flower is the Indian Paint Brush though it is found in most western states and has a huge variety of common names including  — no surprise here — the Wyoming Paintbrush. By statute, however, it is officially Indian Paint Brush. It was adopted as the state flower 31 January 1917 beating out columbine and fringed gentian. There was heated debate from the opponents, however. One said the Indian Paint Brush was not common in the state, had too many varieties only an expert could tell apart, was parasitic by feeding on the roots of others, wasn’t generally liked and that the fringe gentian had been already chosen by Wyoming school children as the sentimental favorite. He left out the Indian Paint Brush encourages foraging but no doubt would have if he had known it. This particular paint brush, Castillija linariaefolia, is the best tasting in its genus. Maybe that’s why it won. Flowers are eaten raw. However the plant can accumulate selenium making it toxic to cattle.

See Edible Flowers: Part Fourteen

Acorn flour has fat and protein

A wild flour is different than a starchy root. The Spurge Nettle has a starchy root that tastes like pasta but it does not lend itself to being processed into flour or starch. Below are many sources of flour or starch in five large categories… okay, six categories. Material you can bake by itself is referred to as a flour; material that is usually added to something else is referred to as a starch. While those definitions satisfy culinary needs they are not highly scientific and are used inconsistently. The energy required to get the material to a usable flour/starch stage has also been considered and in fact is a very limiting factor. A food that might be an outstanding wild edible can be listed as “poor” here because of the work required to make a “flour” out of it. This list is not definitive and will be added to and edited from time to time.

Outstanding

Puffy amaranth seed

Amaranth is a grain that has been used for some 8,000 years. It’s rich in amino acids and higher in protein than most grains, some 16%. It was one of the staple foods of the Aztecs. Amaranth is usually added to other flours or materials and is gluten free. You can collect your own seeds and process them into flour or buy it at health food stores. The latter is a good idea to see if you like the flavor which is nutty and slightly peppery.  While you can collect seeds from nearly any Amaranth, three species are commonly used: Amaranthus hypochondriacus, Amaranthus cruentus and Amaranthus caudatus. Four ounces of amaranth grain provides 100% of an adult’s daily protein need. It can be combined with wheat flour for yeast breads. Nutritionally 100 grams or about 3.5 ounces of Amaranth grain has 374 calories, 14.45 grams of protein 6.5 grams of fat, 15 grams of fiber, 4.2 mg of vitamin C, 153 mg calcium, 366 mg of potassium, 455 mg phosphorus, and 266 mg magnesium. You can collect it by putting the seed head in a bag and shaking the seed head. Amaranth grain does not have to be soaked before use.

Quinoa flour produces a crumbly texture

Chenopodium, quinoa is another staple used like Amaranth. It is 11.2% moisture, 13.5% crude protein, 9.5% crude fibre, and 58.3% carbohydrate. Quinoa has a high proportion of D-xylose (120.0 mg in 100 gram sample) and maltose (101.0 mg in 100 gram sample) but is low in  glucose (19.0 mg in 100 g sample) and fructose (19.6 mg in 100 g sample.) The protein content is as high as 18% and it contains a balance of amino acids. The seeds are high in saponins. Think of saponins as soap which is why the seeds need to be soaked. After soaking in two changes of water to reduce the saponins, quinoa can be used similar to rice, that is use twice as much water as grains when cooking. It has a light, fluffy texture with a slightly nutty taste. It’s not a true grain but is an excellent substitute for grain flour.

Good

Acorn Waffles

Acorn flour has sustained millions for thousands of years, from the Ancient Greeks to the Japanese. During World War II Nipponese school children collected acorns daily in season to feed the nation. Today oak flour is still a common food in Korea and can be purchased in local markets. The main problem with acorn flour is collecting, shelling, and leaching the acorns. They have varying amounts of tannin which has to be removed though a few species have no tannins. Once the acid is removed and the nuts dried and ground, the flour is tasty and nutritious. It behaves more like corn starch than a cooking flour but can be used as flour. An ounce of acorn flour has 140 calories, 15 grams of carbs, 8 grams of fat (one of those saturated, 1.5 polyunsaturated) and 2 grams of protein. It also provides 1% of your daily need in calcium and 2% of iron, thiamine, riboflavin and zinc, 3% niacin and phosphorus, 5% folate, 5% magnesium, 6% vitamin B6. Acorns are gluten free and their oil can be used for cooking.

Barnyard Grass

Barnyard Grass:  Echinochloa crus-galli, winnowed seeds used as a staple grain. They can be parched, roasted, boiled, or ground into flour. Seeds can be popped like popcorn. In Japan Barnyard Grass seed is used to make macaroni and dumplings. Seeds are also roasted and used as a caffeine-less coffee substitute. In North America the Cocopa, Paiute and Tubatulabal tribes used it for food and stored it for winter use. The Yuma, however, really liked it. They pounded the seeds, winnowed them, ground them and made a meal and mush out of it. They also preferred to cook fish with the grain. It is not emergent but it likes its feet damp. Eastern Gamagrass can also be used.

Chia seeds sans pet

Chia flour is not totally chia flour unless you make it yourself. The commercial version is made from brown rice flour and chia seeds (yes the ones you use for your Chia Pet.) Chia seeds are chock full of nutrition. They contain lots of Omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, fiber, and protein. Commercial chia flour, which is gluten free, can be used as a one to one replacement for wheat flour. Sift chia seed flour before using, use small pans when baking, and increase baking time by five percent.

Crabgrass seeds and hull

Crabgrass would be listed as outstanding if it weren’t a big pain to dehusk. In parts of Africa crabgrass (Fonio) is a staple grain, and under cultivation it can produce a whopping 17 tons per acre. Crabgrass seed can be used as a flour, couscous or as a grain, such as in porridge or fermented for use in beer making. Now that’s another label I’d like to see: Crabgrass Beer. Crabgrass is not only nutritious but one of the world’s fastest growing cereals, producing edible seeds in six to eight weeks (excellent for short-summer northern climes.)  It grows well in dry areas with poor soils and fantastically well in watered lawns. It’s a horrible weed if you own a lawn and a wonderful edible. Husking the small grains can be time-consuming, however. Traditional methods include pounding in a mortar with sand then separating the grain and sand (not advised.) Another method is  “popping” seeds over a flame and then pounding said which produces a toasted grain. If you have a LOT of crabgrass you can even buy a crabgrass husking machine.

Crowfoot Grass browns as it ages

Crowfoot Grass is a staple grain in some areas of Africa used to make unleavened bread — Kisera — and often beer. It’s a very small grain, even smaller than amaranth or quinoa. Indeed, if it were larger it would be an outstanding source of flour. Fortunately it grows in larger colonies and is easy to harvest so from a “calories-in-calories-out” perspective it’s certainly worth your while. You can collect about two quarts an hour. Seed heads that are ready to give up seeds come off easily. I collect a large amount of seed heads then rub them over a colander to dislodge the seeds and sift out larger pieces. Then I winnow the rest. The grain is the size of sand but is fragile so it can easily be ground into grain that has a flavor of buckwheat. I usually mix it 50/50 with regular flour. There are some precautions so read the full article.

Wild rice requires long cooking

Wild Rice (Zizania aquatica) is not really a rice. It’s an aquatic grass seed which can be cooked and eaten as is. Wild Rice was important to the survival of many Native American tribes. A subsistence food, it’s very dark brown to black in color and is tan when ground into flour. It does require some collecting technique and a canoe or the like but from an energy in/out perspective it is certainly worth ones while. Wild rice flour is usually added to other flours or used to thicken dishes.

Yam flour (Dioscorea alata) is made from yams dried and ground. Yam flour works great in cookies and pie crusts. It is not good for sticky or doughy applications. As a flour it stores very well and is more than 5% fiber.

Acceptable

Arrowroot flour is closely related to Canna, below, and is used in similar ways. It is easy to digest and is one of the few wild flours with calcium ash in it. Most people know it know as a thickener for gravies and it’s neutral flavor and color when used as a thickener. Like Canna it’s from warm region plants whose roots have to be ground to release the non-gluten starch. Read work.

Canna Root

Canna flour has more starch in it than grain flours and has the highest swelling point, good for thickening. It is high in amylose and is slowly digested so it doesn’t spike blood glucose levels. Canna, however, suffers the same problem as cattails; it requires a lot of work to get the flour. Roots have to be dug up before the plant flowers, ground up, the starch settled out then dried. It is just easier to cook the root though that takes about 12 hours.

No plant produces more starch per acre than cattails.

Cattail flour has long history, from feeding primitive man to armies. The starch is trapped in fibers much like kudzu but is easier to get out than kudzu but still requires processing. There are several ways to extract it. Chopped roots (rhizomes actually) can be pounded in a mortar with some water, the fiber removed and the gloop dried. You can also hand crush the roots in a lot of water, let the starch settle and pour the water off slowly drying the starch.  This essentially produces flour but requires time and many hands such as one would find in a camp or village. A different way is to just rub the rhizome with the back of a knife and eat the starch off the knife. However, it’s like eating plain flour. If I am on the move I prefer to take the rhizome with me. Later I will roast the root on coals then pull the cooked starch off the fibers with my teeth. It tastes like chestnut. Cattail, or as the Brits call it, the greater reed mace, is certainly prime as it is nearly impossible to misidentify, is very common, and an excellent source or calories. The down side is it grows in water so harvesting can be an issue. That water can also be polluted. Cleaning the muck off roots can be a long, smelly chore, and the rhizome requires processing. Bulrush has similar uses as cattails.

Chestnut flour is popular in Italy. Like many foods that can be prepared simply. First roast the chestnuts then shell, dry, and grind. That takes time and energy for a food that can be eaten after simple roasting. The flour is gluten-free, low in fat (1%) but high on the glycemic index, for a nut (78% carbs.)  Chestnut flour can be used by itself but is usually mixed with other flours.

Lotus Root

Lotus Root:  The lotus root is not really a root but a stem swelling and the flour isn’t a flour, but neither are several “flours” listed here. Think starch. Lotus root doesn’t need much processing. Simply slice, dry, then grind into a powder. If you add hot water you have a gelatinous paste. Like many root starches it is added to wheat flour or used in cooking. Often it is used to make batter for frying. The problem is the “root” is often several feet underwater and hard to locate. While it is tasty and full of energy and nutrition it can take a lot of energy and time to harvest. Indeed, lotus seeds require less work and are nutritious as well. Lotus roots tend to be buried in deep mud. Getting them can be foul and smelly.

Mesquite flour is sweet and used as sugar

Mesquite flour is made from mesquite pods by milling and sieving the grind. The flavor is rich and deep, often compared to chocolate or coffee. Sounds good but the pods have to be cleaned, usually with chlorinated water then dried at 125° F for at least 6 hours, including the “dry” ones you pick up off the ground. Lastly they have to be milled into a powder. It is sweet with a pleasant aroma and often is used like sugar than flour. Normally up to 17% of regular flour can be substituted with Mesquite flour in recipes.

Peanut flour is made by grinding up peanuts. They have to be shelled first. Whether one roasts the peanuts first or not depends on how quickly you are going to use the “flour” and whether the peanuts will be squeezed of oil first. Roasting the peanuts first creates a stronger peanut taste to the final product. Another method is to dip raw peanuts in boiling water for 10 seconds before drying and grinding. Don’t use salted peanuts. In its raw state a peanut contains 18 different amino acids, including 8 essential amino acids. I had to debate whether to include peanuts because one doesn’t find them in the wild much. I did grow them one year, however.

Processing Sago Palm Pith

Sago palm trunks are used to make a flour. Ancient plants, the Sago Palm saves up starch for many years in anticipation of reproducing. When around 15 years old they are cut down, the trunk/stem/bole is ground and the starch washed out. It take time and many hands but production is large. The flour is commonly used in Indonesia and Malaysia to make noodles and bread. Don’t confuse the Sago Palm with the common ornamental also called Sago. The latter is a cycad is very toxic. The cycad can kill you, or perhaps, give you Alzheimer’s Disease decades from now. Very old books say cycad seeds are edible but research into folks who ate said during WWII shows high rates of various dementia later in life.

Poor

Coconut flour should be defatted

Coconut flour is mildly sweet and commonly used in quickbread recipes and some desserts. It contains a high amount of fiber, protein and fat. In fact it is some 19 percent protein, very nutritious. The main problem is the energy and time required processing the nut meat into flour when the nut is readily edible without processing. One has to separate the oil from the nut’s meat, usually by pressing, then dry and grind it. Coconut “flour” is usually added to grain flour in a 3 to 7 ratio. It takes a lot of work to get the flour. Eating the coconut takes far less energy.

Groundnuts have latex

Groundnuts, Apios americana, can be made into flour. Like the coconut above it is high in protein. But, they have to be cooked, dried, and ground. It is easier to just dig up the roots, cook them and eat them. More so, groundnuts as a vegetable taste great when warm but are tasteless when cold.  When warm the flavor is slightly like a turnip, not exactly a flour flavor.

Hickory Nuts

Hickory, pecans, walnuts:  Most nuts can be made into “flour” depending upon the oil content; the less oil the better for storage. Again while these nuts can be eaten out of hand getting enough nutmeat to grind into flour would be very time consuming and require much energy. What Native Americans did was crush the entire nut, add water, pick off the floating woody bits, and drink the milky liquid they called ee-koh-RAH which got changed into Hickory.

Indian Rice Grass

Indian Rice Grass, Oryzopsis hymenoides, is nutritious and at the right time and place is easy to harvest. It was a staple of many tribes of Native Americans. What the down side? The seed is very tough and often the plant loses its seed so easily it falls on the ground before you get a chance to harvest it. Also the seed often needs to after-ripen one to five years. It’s found in the western half of North America almost as if it has been planned that way. A commercial version has been grown in Montana since 2000 and is sold under the name “Montina.” The botanical name means “rice like.”

Sunchoke flour does not store well

Jerusalem artichoke flour takes some processing, does not store well, and usually has to be mixed with some other flour. Why bother? Peel the roots, slice them into chips and dry. Then grind and use. It make as bread that is as heavy as a brick. The flour has inulin which the human body cannot digest but the bacteria in your gut can. That explains the gas production you could fill a blimp with. Stored for any length of time it takes on a dusty, musty taste. That’s a lot of work for a root that can be eaten raw right out of the ground.

Konjac roots and shoots

Konjac. What can one expect of a plant whose botanical name means poorly-formed penis, Amorphophallus konjac. The corms of this tropical plant have a lot of edible starch. However, to get the starch the corms are washed, peeled, grated, rinsed many times then boiled. The starch is settled out, dried, then treated with dissolved lime, much like corn. Then it can be used. Lot of nutrition and food value but a lot of work as well.

Kudzu root is very tough

Kudzu roots are full of starch but getting the starch out is a caloric- or energy-intensive chore. They either have to be pounded for hours or ground then steamed. If you have a water wheel and volcanic heat for energy then you could craft mechanical means to get the starch out. Either way, by hand requires much time and energy. By hand extracting Kudzu starch is a calorie deficit proposition. Want to lose weight? Eat only kudzu starch you process yourself.

Macadamia flour is very soft and has the same feel and look as white flour but has a high oil content and should be used immediately. It is made from ground up raw macadamias. It works well in recipes that do not require the mixture to rise. Sunflower seed flour is similar.

Pine cambium is nearly flavorless

Pine cambium is actually quite nutritious. A pound of it is the equivalent of nine cups of whole milk. It’s not too difficult to get. It is, however, surprise, nearly flavorless. Frying improves the flavor some. Boiling does not. Pine cambium can be dried and ground into a “flour.” It is added to other flours or to soups and stews and the like.

Pumpkin seeds make a poor flour

Pumpkin Seeds are 61% protein and most of the rest is fat. As a flour it does not play well with others in the oven. Low on carbohydrates as a flour it is used sparingly, usually added to other things or as a protein drink. As pumpkins seeds are quite edible roasted one is not sure why some folks are compelled to make seeds into flour.

Burn off the spines or dehull

Sandspur seeds are nutritious and easy to find. They are nutty and tasty and make a good porridge. The problem, as with several foods in this class, is making them into flour. Like any grain they have to be dehulled, dried, then ground. Whereas the grass itself can be held over an open fire to burn the spines off and then consumed then and there. Very little energy expended. The cooked seeds do make a good source of starch for making beer, or sake.

Sea Club Rush is tough

Sea Club Rush, Scirpus maritimus, has a bit of disconnect. We are told by those who study such things they were widely eaten in the past. Yet the work required to make them edible is excessive.  They have to be collected, pounded to remove the bark, then crushed into flaky bits or ground into powder. You can however, peel them and eat them raw. Has a flavor similar to coconut. The seeds can be parched and ground into “flour” as well, but they are tiny.

Smilax roots can pound nails

Smilax roots suffers the same fate as Kudzu. The root is 10% pink starch but it requires much pounding or grinding to get the starch out, which is washed out then settles in water. A better choice is to find the roots when finger size and cook them for eating. Better still, eat the growing tips in the spring. They are among the best spring vegetables.

Sorghum: The flour is gluten free. It’s mildly sweet with an aftertaste many don’t care for. It’s used to make beer and animal feed… One out of two isn’t bad.

Famine

Black medic seeds are very tiny and unless cultivated it might be difficult to find enough plants to get enough seed to make flour. There is also some reports it can stimulate or make worse auto-immune diseases.

Tough cabbage palm seeds

Cabbage Palm:  The prune-flavored fruit have pea-size kernels of starch. If you put them in your coffee grinder raw they will destroy it… I warned you…  They can be ground but they are exceptionally hard and require much work. Better to roast them. They grind easily then and have a flavor similar to coffee. The inner core, the heart, is edible but it, too, requires much work by hand. A chain saw is better.

Cactus/prickly pear:  The seeds are very nutritious and also extremely hard. Do to try to eat them whole. If they don’t ruin your teeth they will strafe your hemorrhoids. Cactus fruit seeds have to be milled and that takes time and energy.

Reindeer Moss is really a lichen

Lichen is a well-known famine food. There are around 20,000 lichen of which only two, or two families are near toxic; Wolf Lichen — which looks like a lime green beard — and Sunshine Powder lichen that is yellow like a school bus. The rest have to be thoroughly soaked in water to remove stomach-upsetting acids. Then when dried they can be turned into an edible “flour” that is usually used to thicken soups and stews or to extend bread.

Minute Purslane Seeds

Purslane seeds are quite edible and can be dried and ground into a flour. But they are so tiny it is difficult to find them in quantities large enough to make a flour out of them. It’s better to just throw the seeds pods into the salad and enjoy. Think of them as bland poppy seeds.

Truly Desperate

Golden club, Orontium aquaticum,  Native Americans pounded the root into flour.

Buck Beans, Menyanthes trifoliata, dry, crushed, leeched, settled starch makes an edible but disgusting flour.

Wild Calla, Calla palustris, thoroughly dried roots and seeds can be ground into an unpalatable flour.

Blue vervain, Verbena hastata, seeds soaked in several changes of water then roasted and ground make a bitter but edible flour.

Wild Rice: Male flowers droop, the female flowers are erect.

Love and marriage, horse and carriage, Zizania and canoe… not exactly lyrical but you get the idea. If you want Wild Rice you have to go where the Wild Rice is, and that’s in water, not greatly deep water, but water nonetheless. Emergent is the word.

Truth be known Wild Rice, Zizania aquatica, is not rice and often not wild particularly if you buy it in a store. But those are quibbling points. It’s a popular and delicious grass grain, fairly easy to collect — if you know the technique — and nutritious as well. It was the staple of many Native America tribes, particularly in northern climates.  They fought wars over it. Wild Rice is one of my favorite wild foods though locally we are on the very end of its range.

Zizania palustris

There are at least three species of Zizania maybe four. Botanists argue over that (think of it as a swamp turf war.)  Z. aquatica is along the Atlantic Coastal plain from right here — Central Florida — to the northeast end of North America. From that same northeast land’s end west and southwest along the Great Lakes one finds Zizania palustris (which is either a separate species or a variation of Z. aquatica.)  Both of those are annuals. Zizania texana is found only in Hays County, Texas, in the San Marcos River area, and is a perennial. There’s also a perennial Wild Rice in Japan, Taiwan, China and much of eastern Eurasia called Zizania latifolia. Incidently the latter becomes infected with  Ustilago esculenta which causes the lower stem to swell. The Chinese parboil the stem then saute it with meat or other vegetables.

The entire flower on Giant Cut Grass Droops

Locally the object de forage is Zizania aquatica, see top photo, not to be confused with Zizaniopsis miliacea, Giant Cut Grass, left, which also grows here. Z. aquatica is a very large grass to ten feet tall. Its stems are thick and spongy. Leaves are strap-like up to four feet long and two inches wide, smooth. The leaf’s edge is sharply toothed. The inflorescence is erect, very large up to two feet long and a foot across with spreading branches. The lower branchlets (male) droop, upper branchlets (female) are stiff and upright. Numerous spikelets and flowers, grain ovoid, yellow to reddish, up to an inch long. The flower is the quick key to separating the Zizania from the Zizaniopsis which resembles Wild Rice. The entire inflorescence — male and female parts — droop on the Zizaniopsis. The female parts of the flower on Wild Rice are stiff and point up.

Zizania texana

Several first foragers use the Zizania species. Captain John Smith of Pocahontas fame said of the Wild Rice that it “groweth as our bents do in meadows…. seed is not much unlike rye, though much smaller… this they use for dainty bread buttered with dear suet.”  Most folks don’t realize that Smith was a close friend of the king’s gardener and was in North America to basically find plants. His prowess with the barely pubertic Pocahontas seems to have captured historical fame more than his penchants for pokeweed. Smith was a swashbuckling kind of guy and probably the most famous of men who share his common name. He’s the first among John Smiths and was going to be executed when the ship he was on landed. However, papers labeled ‘only open in North America’ put him in charge of everyone including the captain who was going to execute him. That has to be the world’s sweetest reprieve.  The “bent” he was referring to is probably some speices of Agrostis.

As for the Wild Rice, the Menominee, who take their name from the plant in Ojibwan, manoomin, cooked the grain with deer broth, pork, or butter and seasoned it with maple syrup. The Ojibwa used it to make muffins as well as stuffing for duck and other birds. They steamed it to fluff it up and had it for breakfast with sugar and cream. Popping it was common. And… prepare yourself for this… No, I really mean it. Steel thyself, ’cause this ain’t pretty: TheOjibwa also boiled it with rabbit excrement and considered the concoction a delicious luxury. Other tribes that consumed the grain included the Dakota, Meskwaki, Omaha, Ponca, Thompson, and Winnebago.

Several early writers mentioned how the grain was harvested with the use of two sticks and a canoe. Basically the plant is leaned over the canoe with one stick and brushed with the other. After parching some tribes trod on the grain to winnow it. Not the best method as even just a little grit makes the grain difficult to consume. Sand is not an edible. Incidentally, the Zizaniopsis miliacea has edible seeds as well and the growing tips of its white rhizomes are edible cooked . Zizaniopsis means looks like Zizania. Miliacea is millet-like.

Aquatica means in the water, palustris means in the swamp, texana in Texas and latifolia wide leaf. Zizania is a bit more involved. It’s from the Greek word ζιζάνια  (zee-ZAH- nee-ah) or singular in modern Greek  ζιζάνιο (zee-ZAH-nee-oh.)  It was a weed that inflitrated wheat fields. In Dead Latin it is said zye-ZAY-nee-ah. The word in modern Greek also means dissension or a mischievous person or tare (said tear which is a vetch.) Linguistically you have a choice: You can use Dead Latin and say zye-ZAY-nee-ah or use Living Greek and call it zee-ZAH-nee-ah. I’ve made my choice…

Nutrionally Wild Rice is about 77% carbohydrates and between 15 and 17% protein. The grains are rich in glutelins and essential amino acids, especially lysine and methionine. It is a good source of B vitamins and is low in amylose, only 2%.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile: Wild Rice

IDENTIFICATION: Zizania aquatica: Annual, erect, aquatic grass  to ten feet. Stems hollow; leaves flat, to four feet long, two inches wide, leaf-markings purple with thick midrib often nearer one leaf side than the other. Flowers cross-fertilized and wind-pollinated, large, open, terminal panicles, two-feet long a foot wide. Male flowers on lower portion of the flower droop; female parts of the flowers are stiff and erect, twisted barbed awns; kernels (seed) closely adhering to thin brown hull, shallow-grooved the entire length of one surface, long, nearly cylindrical, purplish-black when ripe. Roots slender, fibrous, penetrating shallowly.

TIME OF YEAR: Late summer, mid-August into mid-September. Grains are collected by using two sticks the length of your arm. One is used to bend the plant over the canoe. The other stick is used to gently brush the plant to knock off ripe seeds. Successive visits to the same plant are possible as not all the seeds ripen at the same time. Harvesting can start as early as after 4.5 months of growth. Grain is harvested when the plants are still green. If they are brown, you’re too late. Collected grains should be sun dried for at least a couple of days. An alternative is parching the grains which is heating them in an open pan, stiring until they are dry. Hull parched rice immedately or they will remoisten. Keep away from sand. A little grit goes a long ways.

ENVIRONMENT: Wild Rice is completely absent from strongly alkaline waters and avoids stagnant water. The current must not be perceptible but a constant change of water is desirable. Fresh water plant, not growing successfully in water with a salty taste, thrives in brackish water in low marshes bordering tidal rivers, and in no more than two feet of water, and where the annual change of water level is not more than two feet. Grows wild in shallow freshwater lakes and edges of lakes and streams. It requires slow-flowing water through the rice bed or field, with depth of water from one to four feet with constant or slightly declining water levels through the growing season. Raising water uproots the plant.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Cleaned grains are usually boiled. They can also be popped or ground into a flour used with other flours or added to stews as a thickener.