Cardamine pensylvanica: Petite Pot Herb

The first time I saw Bittercress I knew it had to be an edible. I just didn’t know which one.

Bittercress

How did I know? Plants are in families and it looked like a lot of wild edible plants in the Brassica family, or Cruciferae:  Scrawny, leggy, skinny little leaves, minute four-petaled flowers, seeds in a pod on stems, peppery leaves.  The only odd element was I found it in very wet soil, next to a stream. Come to find out, it likes rich, damp soil, and a close relative that looks very much alike, likes dry terrain.

Cardamine pensylvanica (yes one “N” in pensylvanica thanks to the dead language of Latin) really isn’t bitter, or at least the ones I’ve had haven’t been. Actually several Cardamines are available in the United States and at least four in Florida, C. pensylvanica, C. parvifolia, C flexuosa and C. concatenata. Other ones found and consumed in the U.S. are C. hirsuta, C. amara, C. oligosperma and C. pratensis, for leaves; and C. rhomboidea and C. diphylla for their leaves and/or roots.

It is not at all unusual for the roots of such plants to be ground up and mixed with vinegar and salt to make a horseradish kind of sauce. I’ve done it often with the roots of the Lepidium virginicum, or Poor Man’s Pepper Grass.

If you find a Cardamine in Florida growing where it is quite dry it is probably the C. parvifolia. If wet, then probably the C. hirsuta (see separate entry.)  Incidentally, there are four endangered species of Cardamine in the U.S.  (C. constancei, C. incisa, C. micranthera and C. pattersonii) so harvest conscientiously.

While C. pensylvanica is the most common locally the only native one is C. concatenata, or Cutleaf Bittercress. The Iroquois used it as food, raw, with salt or cooked. It was also used as a medicine. They mashed the roots and used them to treat headaches, colds, to encourage the appetite, for heart problems and injuries. It was also considered slightly hallucinogenic.

The botanical name, Cardamine pensylvanica, is said kar-DAM-in-ee pen-sil-VAN-ee-ka. You will also see kar-da-MY-neez, which is the British way of saying it. Cardamine is from the Greek word kardamis, for a kind of cress. Contemporary Greeks call cress κάδαμο  (KAR-tha-moe.)  Pensylvanica means “of Pennsylvania, or Eastern North America. Parvifolia (par-vee-FOH-lee-uh) means small leaf.  Concatenata (kon-kan-teh-NAH-tuh) means linked or chained together. Hirsuta means hairy, referring to the lower stems.

Thee are some 150 species in the genus and are found at every location on the rotation except the Antarctic. The leaves vary greatly from plant to plant, species to species, from minute to medium-sized, pinnate to bipinnate, basal to cauline (growing on the upper part of the stem.) The edges of the leaves smooth or toothy. And you have just to got to love those arguing botanists. The genus Dentaria and the genus Cardamine are the same genus, just different egos at conflict.

Under cultivation C. pensylvanica can be coaxed to grow to more than a yard high and wide. A perennial herb, it can be trained into round shrub. Oddly, when raised intentionally it does not like to be wet and one has to water it moderately.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION:

Scraggly plant to two feet, weak taproot, flowers white, tiny, about 1/16 to 1/8 inch across. Silique seed pods, elongate, narrow, middle membrane,  many seeds. Basal leaves and middle leaves long, deeply lobed, with great variation. Leaves have three distinct veins.  Stems  multiple, upright or spreading, branched, green to purplish, round to angled in cross-section, hairy towards base.  Upper stem can be non-hair, lower stem can have fuzz.

TIME OF YEAR:

Flowers April to October, leaves and seed pods for several months

ENVIRONMENT:

C. pensylvanica  prefers wet feet, C. parvifolia likes it dry

METHOD OF PREPARATION:

Young leaves raw, older leaves cooked, seed pods raw or pickled, some roots can make a good horseradish substitute.

Launaea intybacea: Edible Bitter Lettuce

Bitter Lettuce blossom

The plant came first, and it’s anybody’s guess to what its scientific name is.

Every botanical wonderkin thinks his powers of observation and classification are the best and so plants get renamed and shuffled around and the potherb debate rages on. I started out with Launea Intybacea and Launaea intybacea then Brachyrhampus intybaceaus. That lead to

Cicerbita intybacea and Lactuca intybacea, which made some sense as it is called wild lettuce in

Bitter Lettuce leaf

English but it really isn’t a lettuce and there are several wild lettuce already. Lastly there is the Spanish name Achicoria Azul, which means Blue Chicory. Unfortunately the plant has yellow blossoms, though sometimes white. So, taking a hint from its relatives, I’ll go with the original and for a common term call it Bitter Lettuce.

A native of Africa, the Bitter Lettuce has been introduced to Florida, Texas, Mexico, the West Indies, Central America, South America, Oman and the Old World. Edible or not, it is often listed as an invasive weed.  It is very adapted to dry conditions. It starts out as a rosette

Bitter Lettuce basal rosette

then sends up a leafy flowing stalk. After it seeds it develops new growth from the base of the stem and or root and can take on a bushy appearance. The plant can keep producing new rosettes and can send up new shoots from the root for several years.

Don’t be surprised if you have to boil leaves 40 minutes or so in a lot of water to make it edible.

As for the name, Launaea intybacea — I had to pick one — it is said law-NEE-ah in-ti-BAY-see-ah. (With thanks to Latin expert Peter Ommundsen for this and other help.) Launaea probably honors French botanist Jean Claude Michel Mordant de Launay (c.1750-1816). Intybacea is Dean Latin for endive/chicory. That came from Egyptian “tybi” (January), referring to the month Endive was customarily eaten

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

Bitter Lettuce Blossom

IDENTIFICATION:

Annual herb one to five feet tall, succulent branching stems and milky juice. Leaves four to 12 inches long, in a basal rosette and alternating on the stem, lettuce green, lobed, toothed with soft, red-tipped spines on the edges. Flowers yellow, sometimes white, in erect heads in branched clusters. Seeds 1/8 inch wide, ribbed, spiny

TIME OF YEAR:

Flowers year round

ENVIRONMENT:

Roadsides, coastal strands, agricultural lands

METHOD OF PREPARATION:

Occasionally used as food. Young plants and young leaves palatable when cooked as greens. Does not taste good raw.

Cardiospermum halicacabum: Edible Leaves

Photo by Rob’s Plants

For a tropical plant, the Balloon Vine can take cold weather, growing from west Texas north to Montana, Florida north to Massachusetts and most points in between. In fact, in Texas, Alabama, South Carolina and Arkansas it is a noxious and invasive weed… all the more to eat though few know it is edible. It’s not a plant found in most foraging books.

Here in Florida if you see a vine covering other plants it will usually be the Bitter Gourd or the Balloon Vine. The latter’s fruit is quite eye-catching and distinctive, looking like little balloons, albeit with seams. There are three edibles, by the way. The Cardiospermum halicacabum, C. microcarpum and C. corindum.  The C. microcarpum is found in Florida, Puerto Rico and Washington DC. The C. corindum is found in Florida, Texas, Arizona and Puerto Rico.

While not naturalized on the west coast there are several reports it grows well there, from lower California to Washington State. It also grows in Central America, South America, (cultivated in Brazil) Hawaii, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Polynesia, India, Sri Lanka, Africa, Malta, Europe, window boxes in Brooklyn et cetera. In cooler areas it is an annual, in warmer, a perennial.

© Photos by Central Texas Plants

As mentioned, the Balloon Vine is found all around the world and is used for food and medicine. It is also popular with the butterflies , locally the Amethyst Hairstreak, the Silver-Banded Hairstreak, and Miami Blue. Almost all of the fruit on the Balloon Vine will have frass inside from where the caterpillars dined. Fortunately we eat the young leaves and shoots.

C. halicacabum is a problem plant for soybean seed growers because the  seed size and shape are similar. Because of C. halicacabum can form thick mats, it’s a problem in Southern United States where it can smother and kill native vegetation. Aboriginal people used Balloon Vine in the treatment of rheumatism, nervous diseases, stiffness of the limbs and snakebite. Leaves were crushed and made into a tea for itchy skin. Salted leaves are used as a poultice on swellings. Young leaves can be cooked as vegetables. The leaf juice has been used as a treatment for earache.

© Photos by Central Texas Plants

What Cardiospermum (kar-dee-oh-SPER-mum) means is not in any dispute, it is “heart seed” referring to the tiny image of a heart on the seed. Halicacabum (hal-ee-KAY-ka-bum) is not so clear. In Greek it means “salt barrel” and goes back to perhaps to Xalo (ha-LOW) with means to spoil or to break. Such barrels were short and squat, and the Greeks called some plant by the same name. The Romans stole the plant name from the Greek but thought it kind of looked like a bladder so they used it with a plant that had inflated fruits.   Microcarpum (mye-crow-KARP-um, though in Greek it would be mee-krow-KARP-um)  means small seed and corindum can mean “heart of India” or more likely “heart of Indian Ivory.”  In the Soapberry family, the Balloon Vine is also called “Love In A Puff.”

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION:

C. halicacabum: A woody, perennial vine native to Tropical America. They are fast growing to 10 feet (3 m) with twice 3-parted leaves that will reach 4 inches (10 cm) long. The plants climb with tendrils and need some form of support. They are used as annuals in USDA zones 5-8 and are perennial in zones 9-11. The small white flowers bloom from summer through the fall, flowers are not very showy. The fruit from which the plant gets its common name is a brown, thin-shelled, inflated angled capsule up to 1 1/8 inch (3 cm) in diameter containing 3 black seeds each, with a white heart-shaped scar.

TIME OF YEAR:

All year in warmer climates, seasonal in cooler climates

ENVIRONMENT:

Waste places and cultivated ground

METHOD OF PREPARATION:

Young leaves and shoots cooked.

Bamboo: The Most Versatile Grass In The World. Photo by Green Deane

Bambusa

Do not tell me you don’t live near bamboo.  I grew up in 50-below-zero Maine and we had bamboo in front of the house for decades.  In fact, the cooler the climate the bamboo comes from the better tasting are its shoots.

There are over 100 edible species of bamboo, and perhaps nearly all of the shoots of 1500-plus species are edible. No one really knows for sure. Most of them, even the edible ones, are bitter raw and that bitterness can vary. A few have some or no bitterness. Usually cooking the shoots in one or more changes of water reduces or gets rid of that bitterness. To prepare them remove the protective sheath, slice and boil, or chop and boil, or just boil.  Incidentally, the size of the dentrocalamus shoot when it comes out of the ground will be the diameter it will be when full grown.

Bamboo shoot

Actually there tends to be two kinds of bamboo, clumpers and runnners. Clumpers tend to be tropical and runners tend to be temperate. The temperate Phyllostachys bamboos are a leading source of shoots, among them Phyllostachys nuda, P. platyglossa, P. nidularia, P. hindsii, P. dulcis, and P. vivax. Other temperate bamboos are  Semiarundinaria fastuosa and Qiongzhuea tumidissinoda. The most common shoots harvested for food in China are P. heterocycla f. pubescens, P. praecox, P. dulcis and P. iridescens.

The following may seem worth knowing but really isn’t: The seed grain of the flowering bamboo is also edible. Boil the seeds like rice or pulverize them, mix with water, and make into cakes. Why isn’t that good to know? The bamboo, depending on the species, flowers only once every 7 to 120 years.

The bamboo, which is really a grass, is so useful several books could be written about it and have.  It’s food and building material. Without it several million people could not get by. It is probably only second to the palm in usefulness, or may even exceed palms. However, in many parts of the world it has become an invasive weed, Australia is a good example. It’s banned there in many places. The genus name, Bambusa, comes from the Malayan name for the plant.

Other Uses: Bamboo is used to build structures or to make containers (one section alone can carry water or serve as cooking pot. ) It also makes ladles, spoons, and various other cooking utensils. Bamboo is used to make tools, weapons, even a friction fire saw. You can make a strong bow by splitting the bamboo and putting several pieces together.  Through technology, it is also made into plywood, composite beams and paper. You can also wrap food in the leaves.

When I shopped around for bamboo for my backyard (Phyllostachys viridis)  I specifically bought one that was mild enough to eat raw, but I don’t make it a habit of it and here’s why. Most foraging books and various websites fail to mention that bamboo shoots have a cyanogenic glycoside, specifically taxiphyllin which is mostly responsible for the bitter taste.  In your gut that can change to hydrogen cyanid also called prussic acid. Not good. However, taxiphyllin degrades readily in boiling water so I recommend boiling any bamboo shoots you try. And if you cannot boil the bitterness out, don’t eat it.

The only problem I had raising the bamboo is that it took a few years for the stand to get established. It spent a lot of time sending up underground runners, but when it did sprout, it grew incredibly fast. Indeed, it is the fastest growing renewable resource known to man. Some can grow four feet a day. Here are a few of the more desirable edible species:

Bambusa multiplex, one of the hardiest clumping bamboos often used for a hedge or windbreak. Bambusa oldhamii , another clumping bamboo with straight stems, also used for hedges and windbreaks. Bambusa tuidoides ‘Ventricosa’ also called  Buddha’s Belly. It has pot belly type internodes. It’s a clumping bamboo or can be grown in a pot.

Bambusa Vuigaris ‘Vittata’ the Painted Bamboo, has golden stems with green stripes that vary in width. It can be grown in a pot indoors. Phyllostachys edulis, Moso, the largest of the hardy bamboos. It makes a hedge or windbreak and is used in bamboo crafts. Phyllostachys vivax, has stems with thin walls  and white powdery bands below the nodes. It is cold hardy. Phyllostachys atrovaginata, edible raw, little bite, cold hardy. Makes a good hedge or windbreak. Phyllostachys nidularia, also edible raw, makes a good hedge or windbreak, cold hardy. Phyllostachys rubromarginata, high cold tolerance, good eating quality, can be used for hedge or windbreak or in bamboo craft.

Lastly, bamboo is tough. One stand was at ground zero at the 1945 Herioshima atomic blast. Within days it sent up new shoots.

With 70 genera and 1,575 species it is difficult to identify.  Stems have nodes that are hollow in between. Growth is columnar. No branches first year, can grow up to 39 inches a day.

Pictured above is “Emerald Bamboo” or Bambusa textilis mutabilis, growing happily in Leu Gardens in Orlando, Florida.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

TIME OF YEAR:

Seasonal and year round depending upon climate

ENVIRONMENT:

Bamboo can be found from cold mountains to hot deserts.

METHOD OF PREPARATION:

Many bamboo shoots have to be cooked to rid them of cyanide. The sap and shoots can be fermented. Pith of young shoots can be pickled. The seeds are edible but some bamboos only flower once every 120 years.