Her name was Zona. She was a grand friend-in-law

She had been a friend of the family for about a century. To be exact, her oldest son married the youngest daughter of my grandmother’s lifelong, met-as-kids, best friend. I went to high school with Zona’s granddaughter, which in a small town was closer than kissing cousins with expectations of marriage. Zona also had weeds, lots of weeds. While visiting relatives, I was asked to take a look at her weeds.

Leaves are crunchy and viscous

She was a spry widow and her house sat on a hill amid fields. The lowest field was also the local alluvial flood plain for the Royal River, which if it had been named for its true size would have been called the Royal Trickle.  Every spring, however, melting snow swelled it to near regal proportions and flooded Zona’s lower field, leaving it with rich, friable soil.  So, I looked at her black-earth garden. What Zona had was the most beautiful and ambitious plot of self-seeded purslane I have ever seen, before or since, truly an incredible bounty; deep green, plump, healthy and about as full of life and happy as any plant or weed ought to be or can to be.

As I stood there in amazement, she asked me if I knew what it was. I said yes, that it was the most nutritious green on earth and how fortunate she was.

“That?” she asked, pointing incredulously at her garden. “You can eat that? It’s a weed!”

“That,” I said, “is esteemed around the world” to which the crust crusty old gal said, “I ain’t goin’ to eat no god damned weed” and that was that.

Too bad. Purslane, sold in produce markets at every location on the rotation except the United States, is a nutritional powerhouse. It has omega 3 fatty acids and antioxidants as well as a Fourth of July parade of vitamins and minerals. I think there’s even an anti-cancer color guard in there as well. According to experts at the University of Texas at San Antonio, purslane contains 10 to 20 times more melatonin, an antioxidant, than any other fruit or vegetable they tested. It’s a fine addition to the dinner table in many forms, and it is truly difficult to understate this plant’s amazing qualities. Let me sing in praise of purslane:

Small blossoms are open only for a day. Portulaca oleracea, (poor-two-LAY-ka oh-ler-AY-see-a) whose name means “milk-bearing cultivated plant” or “little door cultivated plant” is a native of India and the Middle East, but is naturalized throughout the world. Sediment deposits in Canada strongly suggest it came to North American before Columbus, either with Leif Erickson and raiding party, or earlier with humans from Asia to Alaska. It is found as early as 7th century BC in Greece, and Greek texts from the fourth century BC say it’s a plant no respectable Greek kitchen garden, or medicine cabinet, is without. Theophratus called it  “andrákhne” — which might mean “man weed”… any ancient Greek experts can correct me  —  and said April was the best time to plant it.  Slightly sour and mucilaginous — that’s where “milk-bearing” comes in — purslane can be used in salad to soups to omelets. The stems can be pickled. Australian aborigines used the minute seeds to make seed cakes and the Greeks made bread from the seed flour.  Contemporary Greeks call it “Glistritha.”The words “purslane” and “porcelain” have the same source and similar development. Latin for sow (pig) was porca. It was also the Roman slang for the vulva, and the plant was used for uterine complaints.  A diminutive of that, little vulva, became porcillac in Italian to porcellana in old French then to English as purslane. For porcelain, it went from porca to porcella which was the nickname of the cowrie shell because of its vulva-like appearance. In Italian the shell became porcellina. When a glaze was developed for china, it was named after the cowie shell because of its similar shiny appearance and became porcelain then into English as porcelain.Small barrels of edible seeds make the plant extremely prolific

Regardless of what one calls it, purslane contains more omega 3 fatty acids than any other plant source in the solar system, and an extraordinary amount for a plant, some 8.5 mg for every gram of weight.  It has vitamin A, B, C and E — six times more E than spinach — beta carotene — seven times more of that than carrots — magnesium, calcium, potassium, folate, lithium — keep you sane — iron and is 2.5% protein. Two pigments, one in the leaves and one in the yellow blossoms, have been proven anti-mutagenic in lab studies, meaning they help keep human cells from mutating, which is how cancer gets started. And you get all that for about 15 calories per 100 gram (three ounce) serving. As a mild diuretic, it might even lower your blood pressure as well. Mexicans call it Verdolagao and its name in Malawi translates politely as “buttocks of the chief’s wife”, a possible reference to the plump leaves.

Herny David Thoreau

Over the centuries, many have written about purslane. Even the original Back-to-Nature Guy, Henry David Thoreau, knew of it, penning in 1854 at Walden Pond: “I learned from my two years’ experience that it would cost incredibly little trouble to obtain one’s necessary food, even in this latitude; that a man may use as simple a diet as the animals, and yet retain health and strength. I have made a satisfactory dinner . . . simply off a dish of purslane … which I gathered in my cornfield, boiled and salted. . . . Yet men have come to such a pass that they frequently starve, not for want of necessaries but for want of luxuries.”

This fantastic “weed” is virtually underfoot everywhere, including Walden Pond, apparently. One can even find it surviving in places like inner New York City. The strain I grow in my garden came some eleven years ago from a sidewalk crack in Tarpon Springs, FL., a coastal Greek community. There had been a freezing cold snap and it had survived nestled next to a restaurant. I thought something that hardy would be a good addition to my garden. Now I don’t have to plant it. When it comes up I just move to a convenient spot and it re-seeds itself.  I have tried cultivated versions and they simply are not as tasty or prolific as my survivor purslane. By the way, the seeds have a 30-year viable shelf life.

Crete, an island I have come to enjoy and traipse around, is well-known for this purslane salad, flavored with locally-grown capers. The yogurt dressing makes this a cooling repast in hot weather.

* 2 1/2 cups of strained, thick yogurt

* 1 cup of purslane, coarsely chopped

* 1 cup of romaine lettuce, chopped in chunks

* 1 teaspoon of mashed or minced garlic, about one

* 1/4 cup of olive oil

* 3 1/2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

* 2 tablespoons of capers

* salt

* freshly ground pepper

Combine all ingredients in a salad bowl and refrigerate for a half hour to an hour

The following recipe is from Diane Kochilas, a well-known Greek chef and writer. She has several publications including “The Greek Vegetarian” for those of you who are. She’s an attractive lass… I wonder if she’s single?

Potato-Purslane Salad

Ingredients

3 medium waxy potatoes, such as Yukon golds or fingerlings, sliced into chunks, about ½ inch thick

salt to taste

1/3 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons lemon juice (from about 1 ½ lemons); alternatively use red wine vinegar

About 1 cup purslane, thoroughly washed, torn or chopped (stems are tangier than leaves, taste first to see if you like)

½ cup red onion, thinly sliced (alternatively, use a few chopped scallions)

Other options:

½ cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced, into half moon shapes

1 large tomato, roughly chopped

½ cup fresh herbs – mint, parsley, chervil – whatever suits you

Method

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and add salt and potatoes. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly and then pour into a serving bowl, spreading even to cover bottom surface. Combine olive oil and lemon juice in a small dish, whisking until well emulsified, then pour over potatoes. In a layered fashion, add purslane, onion, plus any additional ingredients. With a wooden spoon, stir to combine, and taste for salt. Makes enough for two or three as a side dish.

This recipe from Florida’s Incredible Wild Edibles by Dick Deuerling and Peggy S. Lantz

Purslane leaves and stems may be boiled well with just enough water to cover the herbs then discard the first water and pour a smaller amount of hot water over the greens and again boil them. Reduce heat and simmer until tender. Finely chop the herbs and add salt, pepper, vinegar, cinnamon or nutmeg. You can add oil, butter, or bacon fat, and mix with diced hard boiled eggs and put them in a casserole with cheese and bread crumb topping, then bake until cheese melts. Pickled Purslane

1 quart purslane stems and leaves

3 garlic cloves, sliced

1 quart apple cider vinegar

10 peppercorns

Clean the purslane stems and leaves by rinsing with fresh water. Cut into 1″ pieces and place in clean jars with lids. Add the spices and pour the vinegar over the purslane. Keep this in the refrigerator and wait at least two weeks before using. Serve as a side dish with omelets and sandwiches. You can pickle the purslane raw or blanche it for two minutes in boiling water first, but cool off quickly in ice water.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION: Smooth, reddish, mostly low-growing stems, alternate spatula leaves clustered at stem joints and ends, yellow flowers, capsule seed pods. Very fleshy. NOT HAIRY. CLEAR SAP. Those are important, not hairy, and clear sap.

TIME OF YEAR: Any time in season, spring and summer in northern climes, year round in warmer areas.

ENVIRONMENT: Nearly any disturbed grass, likes full sun, often grows two crops in Florida, spring and fall, tolerates the summer heat.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Leaves and stems raw in salads, cooked in soups, thick stems pickled. Wild version invariably tasted better than cultivated versions.  Has a slightly sour/salty taste.

Mitchella repens: Madder Berry

The Partridgeberry will not save you from starving but it can make your salad prettier and might keep you alive or ease your pain.

Two-dimpled berries

Partridgeberry, Mitchella repens (mit-CHELL-ah REP-enz) has its supporters and detractors, some call it insipid, others call it sour like a cranberry. My friend, forager Dick Deuerling, liked to use them to garnish salads. I found them juicy, if not messy, and very mild in flavor, nearly none. It has up to eight seeds and is nearly impossible to misidentify. There is also a version that grows in Japan. Besides a distinctive leaf, green with a yellow mid-vein, all partridge berries have two dimples because each berry grows from two hairy flowers. Not only does one berry come from two flowers but one flower has a short pistil and long stamens and the other a long pistil and short stamens. They should have called it the Mirror Berry. The plant flowers between April and June and sometimes again in the fall. The berries ripen from July to October and because they are low in fat often persist for several months if not snatched by woodland creatures.

Double flowers are not identical

By far the greater calling of the Partridgeberry in North America has been medicinal. A tea from the leaves has a very long and extensive history for easing childbirth and menstrual cramps. That tea is also diuretic, which can lower blood pressure. In the Madder family, the genus Mitchella honors John Mitchell, 1711-1768, a Virginia botanist who actually misidentified the M. repens. Repens means low growing.  M. repens is a vine that does not climb. It does make an excellent ground cover. The berry is favored by the ruffed grouse hence the name Partridgeberry. It was also called Squaw Vine for its use by women.

Green Deane’s “Itemizing” plant profile

IDENTIFICATION: A low-growing non-climbing vine often found under leaf litter in deciduous forests.  The fruit is a bright red berry, oval, 1/4 to 3/8 inches across, persist through the winter if not eaten. Never abundant. Flower half- inch long, four or five white to faint pink fuzzy petals, appearing mid-summer.  Leaves opposite, evergreen, oval to heart-shaped, half inch across, parallel veined, dark green above with a paler yellow-green midrib, pale yellow below.

TIME OF YEAR: Depending upon climate, July to October

ENVIRONMENT: Moist woods, usually among trees that lose their leaves in winter.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Trail side nibble, salad garnish, sauces, pies and jams. Use like cranberries. Leaves and berries make herbal teas of various applications.

A good reputation is hard to maintain when your closest relative has a reputation for killing people. That’s the public relation situation for the Natal Plum.

There are few foraged fruits that can match the Natal Plum in sheer deliciousness. Yet, it is a member of one of the most deadly plant families along side its cousin the Oleander, which makes headlines by fatally poisoning the unknowing and the suicidal.

Fruit is flecked with bits of latex

Officially known as Carissa macrocarpa (kuh-RISS-uh mack-roe-KAR-puh) the Natal Plum is part of the Dogbane family. The botanical name for that family is Apocynaceae which is Greek for “keep it away from the dog” meaning it kills them easily. It does us, too. Nearly all parts of the Natal Plum are poisonous, like the Oleander, except for the red-ripe fruit. They taste like a slightly sweet cranberry with the texture of a ripe strawberry — some say like a sightly unripe cherry. It’s surprising that someone hasn’t concocted a commercial fruit juice that tastes like the Natal Plum. If they mixed it with some orange juice it could be Natal Naval… lot of marketing possibilities there.

As for the Oleander, it is one of the deadliest shrubs in Florida, not the deadliest plant but certainly in the top three. It’s commonly used in landscaping along highways because it can tolerate heat and all the heavy metals and exhaust and other transportational effluvia vehicles spew such as rubber, asbestos, motor oil, grease, paint et cetera. Accidental and intentional deaths from Oleander poisoning are common. When you have a toxic relative like that, you can see how good side of the Natal Plum tends to get lost.

Double thorns help identification

Natal Plum copes well with salty winds, making it a good choice for coastal areas. It grows in mounds two to seven high and as wide. It’s tolerant of various lighting conditions and is a popular landscaping plant. Because of its double spines —a good identification characteristic —it makes a popular security hedge. The Natal Plum in the accompanying pictures came from a vacant commercial lot in Orlando. I drove past it often in the distance and curiosity upon seeing red prompted its discovery.  I’ve also seen it as a landscape plant inside the national Canaveral Seashore Park — across the road from the rangers’ headquarters on a sand dune — and in the dry hills of San Diego, California.

Natal Plums are often used in landscaping

Natal Plums have shiny, deep green leaves and snowy white flowers. Their scent intensifies at night and they bloom for months at a time. The fruit appears in summer and fall, or fall and winter in warmer climates, and at the same time as it blooms. In moderate climates the fruits can appear throughout the year and the ones shown were picked in Orlando, Fl., in early January. But I’ve also picked them in July. The fruit can be eaten off the bush or made into pies, jams, jellies, or even sauces. It is rich in Vitamin C, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. An analyses shows the fruit’s moisture is 78.45%; protein, 0.56%; fat, 1.03%; sugar, 12%; fiber, 0.91%; ash, 0.43%, and ascorbic acid 1 mg per 10 mg in weight…. meaning it is 10% vitamin C. That makes citrus look anemic.

Natal Plum seeds

There are  6 to 16 seeds in each fruit and each is about the size of one flat instant Quaker oat. Some references say they are toxic, but Professor Julia Morton — the first and final authority in Florida — says they are “not objectionable when eaten” and she writes the entire ripe fruit can be eaten as is. I eat them seeds and all and seem to be no worse for it.  A ripe fruit is one that is plum red and slightly soft to the touch. No peeling is necessary. Halved or quartered and seeded, it is suitable for fruit salads, gelatins and as topping for cakes, puddings and ice cream. One word of caution: Don’t cook the fruit in an aluminum pot. Stewing or boiling causes flakes of edible latex to leave the fruit and adhere to pots. It can be removed by rubbing with oil. Don’t like eating plant-made latex? Then also avoid fresh figs because they have it as well.

Carissa edulis, only ripe fruit is edible

There are at least three other Carissas with edible fruit. C. bispinosa grows to 10 feet and has repeatedly forked spines.  One to two seeds, native to South Africa. Carissa carandas is a native of India, a sprawling or climbing shrub. Ripe fruit turns from wine red to black, lots of latex. Carissa edulis is often spineless, or with a few simple spines. Fruit red to reddish purple.

Carissa comes from the Sanskrit word “corissa” the local name of one the the species. Macrocarpa is Greek for large fruit. Carissa macrocarpa is called the Natal Plum because it is native to the Natal area of South Africa north to Mozambique.  The most common name for the plant outside of English is ‘num-num.’ The Zulu call it amatungulu —a marketing nightmare. Among others Africans, the fruit is called noem-noem, with the pronunciation starting with a clicking sound on the ‘N’.

The recipes are from  *The Rare Fruit and Vegetable Council Cookbook, by the Rare Fruit and Vegetable Council of Broward County, Inc., Davie, Florida (out of print) and

**Caloosa Rare Fruit Exchange Cookbook, Lois Sharpe. (The exchange still exists but their cookbook may not.)

Carissa Fruit Soup*

1¾ cups apple juice or cider

¼ cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

4 inch stick cinnamon, broken

4 whole cloves

Stir the above ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until boiling. Reduce heat and cook until clear, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add:

¾ cup orange sections

¾ cup grapefruit sections

½ cup seedless grapes

1 cup seeded, halved Carissa

Cover and chill overnight. Remove spices and stir well before serving cold. Makes 6 servings.

Carissa Pie*

1 pint Carissa (sliced crosswise)

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon margarine

½ cup sugar

½ cup water

pastry

Slice well-ripened Carissa into a deep, buttered, baking dish. Mix flour with sugar and sprinkle over the fruit. Dot lightly with margarine. Pour water over the mixture. Top with pastry, slit to allow steam to escape and bake at 450° for ten minutes, then at 425° for 20 minutes until fruit is cooked and pastry is brown. Serve hot with Carissa Sauce flavored with lemon juice or with vanilla.

Carissa Sauce*

Rinse fruit, cut in quarters. Take out seeds retaining pulp. Measure ½ cup sugar or sugar substitute to each cup cut carissas. Over low heat, cook the Carissa and sugar (no water added) until fruit is soft. Use as a sauce similar to cranberry sauce. For jellied sauce, add 2 tablespoons of water for each cup of Carissa. Cook until fruit is tender. Strain juice through jelly bag or a double layer of cheesecloth. Add to ½ cup sugar for each ¾ cup juice. Cook until thickened.

 Carissa Bread**

2 cups flour

1½ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 egg, well beaten

½ cup orange juice

2 tablespoons shortening, melted

2 tablespoons hot water

1½ cups carissa, seeded and chopped

1 orange rind, grated

½ cup chopped nuts

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and soda. Add egg, orange juice, shortening, and hot water. Stir only until flour is moistened. Fold in Carissa, orange rind and nuts. Bake at 350° in greased and floured loaf pan for 45 minutes. Yield: 20 servings.

Carissa Hors D’oeuvres

Wash and drain fresh, ripe fruit. Split, remove seeds, and put on ice until shortly before serving. Stuff cavities with low-fat cottage cheese or light cream cheese. Place on a bed of shredded lettuce.

Jellied Carissa Salad*

1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin

½ cup cold water

1½ cups boiling Carissa juice or juice and pulp

½ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1½ cups chopped celery

Sprinkle gelatin on cold water and let stand 5 minutes. Dissolve sugar, salt, and softened gelatin in boiling Carissa juice. Allow to cool and add lemon juice. When mixture begins to thicken, add chopped celery. Turn into a mold and chill. When firm, turn the mold onto a bed of shredded lettuce and garnish with light mayonnaise, if desired.

 Carissa Salad*

1 pound Carissa

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

4 teaspoons gelatin

½ cup cold water

½ cup chopped celery

½ cup diced apples

½ cup pecans

Cook Carissa in one of cup water until tender, strain and add sugar. Moisten gelatin in cold water. Add to sugar and Carissa. Stir until dissolved, then add celery, apples and nuts. Chill in the refrigerator and serve on lettuce.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION: Much branched evergreens, dense and rounded, wide canopy, sharp, branched spines, broken stem produces milky sap. Thick, glossy, dark green, opposite leaves, leathery texture. up to three inches. Waxy white, star-shaped blooms, two inches in diameter, five petals, borne in dense sprays, very aromatic.

TIME OF YEAR: In the right climate, it blooms and fruits all year. Heaviest fruiting in spring and summer.

ENVIRONMENT: Drought tolerant, can endure salty soil, salty winds and heat. Likes full sun but can tolerate some shade. Because of these qualities it is used — despite it spines and toxic foliage — as a landscaping plant, most often for for businesses.

METHOD OF PREPARATION:  Only the ripe fruit is edible, raw or cooked. The rest of the plant is very toxic. Watch out for the spines.

Lunch Landscaping: Hibiscus