Chinese Elm’s lacy bark and young leaves

Chinese Elm: A tree that doesn’t go Dutch

Sometimes a wild edible can be under your feet and you never notice, or in this case, over your head.

Anyone with any age on them will remember the huge elm trees that used to tower over many city streets in the United States. Then along came Dutch Elm Disease and these giant trees all but disappeared. I remember their demise for two reasons; how naked-looking many a main street looked after they were gone, and how hard it was to split elm wood. The tall graceful elm twisted when it grew– like the hatmatack —  making the sizing and splitting for a wood stove back-straining work. My parents had a wood-fueled kitchen stove and a wood-fed cook stove in the basement. We also had a coal-burning neighbor who lost several large elms to the disease. Guess who got to split all that “free” wood?

Few trees can replace those great elms but a lot of smaller disease-resistant elms were imported from the orient about 80 years ago, among them the Chinese Elm, Ulmus parvifolia  (UL-mus par-vih-FOLE-ee-uh.) Also called the Lacebark Elm, it’s the ornamental landscape tree of choice. It takes a nice shape, can be artistically weepy, and attractively sheds its bark leaving a mottled look making it very easy to identify. That’s good because it’s an edible and in many locales it has become naturalized. It has only one similar look alike, the Siberian Elm, Ulmus pumila,  but the pumila has rough bark and fruits in the spring whereas the U. parvifolia has smooth bark and fruits in the fall. They’re both a tasty addition to the edible realm. The U. parvifolia  is very common where I live with 16 of them less than 500 feet away. They flower about the first week of October here in Central Florida. The Siberian Elm is likewise edible but it flowers in the spring. Both trees are in season for only a couple of weeks to a month.

Chinese Elm Samara

The prime food from them are the seeds, called samaras (SAM-ah-rah.)  They are edible raw or cooked. For prime samaras get them while their wings are still green.   They can be eaten as they are, or tossed into salads or cooked dishes. Once the samara have dried and their wings turned papery the seeds are still edible. Rub them free of the dry wings and eat the seeds raw or cooked.

The small young leaves of each tree are also edible raw or cooked, very mild with a slight hint of bitterness and a texture similar to New Zealand spinach. The inner bark of both is edible cooked as well, if you’re starving. (Incidentally, the inner bark of the Ulmus fulva, the Slippery Elm, not shown, is also edible and very nutritious. The Slippery Elm is also called Ulmus Rubraand prefers cooler climes.) While the Chinese Elm is said to be hardy from zones 5 to 9, it has been spotted growing from Canada to Florida, Maine to California. It’s a common hedgerow and windbreak tree in the midwest and extremely common on college campuses and in city parks as it is disease resistant, fast growing, attractive and essentially care-free.  Ulmus is the ancient Roman name for that tree and parvifolia means small-leaved.  Fulva means orange-yellow and pumila means dwarf.  Rubra means red.

The only issue I have with the Chinese Elm is that nearly every description of the tree says the leaves have small hairs on the underside. I’ve never found any there. There are several varieties so perhaps my local ones do not have that fine fuzz.  The best I’ve been able to find is just a few extremely tiny hairs on the stem of very new young leaves. While U. parvifolia can grow to 80-feet tall it’s also a bonsai favorite producing great results in only 20 years or so. In southern areas it can semi-evergreen or evergreen keeping its leaves all year. In northern climes its leave turn light yellow, red and purple in the fall. It seeds are eaten by purple finch, red-breasted grosbeak and when they can get them, the cottontail rabbit

And now for a bit of elm trivia. As a boy and young man I hated to size up elm for the two wood stoves we had in the house. It’s a hardwood and excellent for heating but the tree twists as it grows. This makes splitting very difficult because a piece will not cleave easily, like ash or pine. Even if it did split there would be snags holding the two pieces together and you’d have to attack it with an ax to finally separate them. Elm was a huge amount of work compared to other woods, except the Hackmatack, which also twisted. However, that same twisting growth made Elm perfect for wagon wheel hubs because they would not split when oak spokes were driven into them. Incidentally, the wooden rim of the wheel before covered with an iron band was made of ash because it is flexible. So a wooden wheel was made from three trees, the hub elm, the spokes oak because of strength, and the rim from ash, all held tight by a metal band put on when red hot which then shrinks as it cooled and holds everything tightly together.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION:

The Chinese Elm is among the easiest trees to identify because of its mottled bark. It exfoliates bark constantly giving it a jigsaw puzzle look of brown, orange and olive.  Has typical elm leave, small, about one inch long, half inch wide, uneven base, dark green on top, rough with usually  a dozen or less pair of veins. Underside light green.

TIME OF YEAR:

Samaras in season, spring with the pumila, fall with the parvifolia, later seeds when the wings have drive. Young leaves in season, inner bark any time.

ENVIRONMENT:

Likes sunny areas and moist soil. Usually found in planned landscapes (so make sure the soil and water are wholesome.)

METHOD OF PREPARATION:

Green samaras wings and seed, raw or cooked;  dried samaras winnowed of the dry wings, raw or cooked. Young leaves raw or cooked, inner bark cooked. Small leaves of the American/Florida elm are also edible.

HERB BLURB

This 2006 study was designed to investigate the effect of medicinal herb extract on the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities against Helicobacter pylori, which is known as a ulcerogenic pathogen. The concentration of total phenolic compound of the Ulmus parvifolia was 15.12%), the highest among the ethanol extracts. The antioxidant activity of the ethanol extract of Ulmus parvifolia was 65.03% in DPPH assay. The antioxidant activity of the ethanol extract of Ulmus parvifolia was 27.70% in SOD assay. The antioxidant activity of the ethanol extract of the Ulmus parvifolia  was 2.15in TBARS assay.  Which all means it has antioxidant activity and is antibiotic.

Popcorn Tree, Florida Aspen, Tallow Tree

Chinese Tallow Tree in Fruit

There is a lot of debate whether the white waxy aril of the Chinese Tallow Tree is edible or not, and understandably so. The tree is in a family that has a lot of very poisonous plants. And the seed kernel oil (as opposed to the waxy outer coating around the seed) is toxic. Thus there are many reasons to be cautious.

The most definitive reference I have found is this.  Cheryl M. McCormick, PhD., plant ecologist, authored a report in 2005 from “The Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council’s Chinese Tallow Task Force.” On page 19 she writes:

“The opaque, waxy outer layer of the seeds is used in the production of soaps, cosmetics, candles, wax paper, and as a source of glycerine (Uphof, 1959; Scheld, 1983; Heywood, 1993), and is separated from the seed by emersion in hot water and skimming off the wax as it floats to the surface. The wax is solid at temperatures below 40° C, and has the consistency of lard. Subsequently, it is employed as a lard substitute in cooking and is used in cocoa butter production (Scheld, 1983; Facciola, 1999).”

I have not found McCormick’s Scheld source, which she lists as Scheld, H.W., 1983. Report on a Trip to the Zhejiang Province Science Study Institute, October, 24-31, 1983. Personal notes in holdings at the Rice University Library, Houston, Texas, 21 p.

Her second source is Facciola, S. 1999. Cornucopia II: A Sourcebook of Edible Plants. Second Edition. Kampong Publications, Vista, California, 674 p. I happen to have the 1998 edition of that book and it says on page 101:

“Outer covering of the seed produces a waxy fat sometimes used as a substitute for lard or cacao butter. In Hangzhou, China, it is used in the unique frying processes employed for Longjing or Dragon Well tea, a small amount being rubbed on the inside of the wok firing pan. The wax is absorbed by the leaves and small droplets can be seen on the surface of brewed tea. The flowers yield a light amber, well-flavored honey that is high in enzymes and low in sucrose.”

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa says:

The fruit of the Triadica sebifera

contains two types of fat: the white, fleshy outer seed coat (sarcotesta) yields a fat known as ‘Chinese vegetable tallow’ or ‘pi-yu’ in trade, while the seed kernel yields a drying oil called ‘stillingia oil’ or ‘ting-yu’ in trade. Chinese vegetable tallow is widely used in China for edible purposes, as a substitute for animal tallow and for lighting. Candles made by mixing 10 parts Chinese vegetable tallow with 3 parts white insect wax are reputed to remain pure white for any length of time and to burn with a clear bright flame without smell or smoke. Elsewhere, Chinese vegetable tallow is used to make soap, as a substitute for cocoa butter and to increase the consistence of soft edible fats. Stillingia oil is used in paints and varnishes, for illumination and to waterproof umbrellas. Both Chinese vegetable tallow and stillingia oil are used as fuel extenders on a small scale. The presscake remaining after tallow and oil extraction is unsuitable as feed for livestock because it contains saponins, but can be used as fuel or as manure. However, the presscake can be detoxified. The leaves contain a dye, used in Indo-China and China to dye silk black. Triadica sebifera is also an agroforestry species and an ornamental. It is a good soil binder and contributes to nutrient recycling. In tea plantations, it is planted as a shade tree. Its wood has been used to make various implements, toys, furniture and Chinese printing blocks. Because Triadica sebifera tolerates many unfavourable soil conditions and some frost, interest in it has grown again since the 1980s as a potential fuel and biomass producer on marginal soils, particularly in the south-eastern United States, but there it is now considered a noxious invasive weed. In traditional medicine in China, the root bark is utilized for its diuretic properties and is said to be effective in the treatment of schistosomiasis. The leaves are applied to cure shingles.

Despite all that I’d still like to find a first-hand account. Why? Because so I have not been able to melt the saturated fat around the seed. I put them in a frying pan. No melting, just burning. I boiled them in water. I had clean seeds but no melting. Steam is next, or perhaps it is late season fruit.  There is no shortage of professional journal articles on Triadica sebifera aka Sapium sebiferum aka Stillingia sebiferum. It is perhaps the solution to the United States oil problem being able to produce 10,000 pounds of oil per acre or more.

The white seed coat — the aril — is essentially a triglyceride wax, very saturated, whereas the kernel seed oil is already a commercial drying oil, stillingia, which is not edible. It, like the bark, contains a poisonous alkaloid. Either oil can also be used for lubrication and fuel.

Used for 15 centuries, the Chinese Tallow Tree is native to southern China along the Yantgtze River Valley. It was introduced into the U.S. by Benjamin Franklin in 1772. He forwarded some seeds he got from (now) southern Vietnam and sent them to Mr. Noble Wimberly Jones, a horticultural enthusiast and gentleman farmer in Darien Georgia. In a letter dated 7 October 1772 Franklin wrote: “I send also a few seeds of the Chinese Tallow Tree, which will I believe grow and thrive with you. Tis a most useful plant.”

The famous botanist Andre Michaux in 1803 said the tree had been “cultivated in Charleston and Savannah, but was then spreading spontaneously into the coastal forests.”  In 1826 legislator and botanist Stephen Elliot (1771-1830) wrote the tree “bears fruit in great abundance, but though they contain much oil, no use is yet made of them.”

By 1906 the (very misguided) Foreign Plant Introduction Division of the United States Department of Agriculture advocated extensive cultivation of the tree in coastal Louisiana and Texas again to use the triglyceride aril wax in the soap making industry. The tree is now naturalized from North Carolina west to Arkansas south to Florida and Texas. It has also escaped ornamental cultivation in California and various locations around the world. Older references say nothing about using the aril as a source of cooking or edible oil.

In 1983 Dr. James Duke, a friend of foragers, wrote about this tree extensively in the Handbook of Energy Crops. He does not mention, however, the arils as a source of edible oil though they are composed mainly of palmitic and oleic acids, what we find in palm oil, olive oil, many animals fats and in our own body fat.  It would be out of character for Duke to skip over such a fact.

Then we get to what the US database says: (http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/triseb/all.html) The waxy seed coating is used in candles, soaps, and cosmetics in China and Japan. It is also edible and may replace animal tallow when processed properly. 51, 174, 191

Darn, I wish they hadn’t said that. What is processed properly? More so, reference 51 is the Duke study I mentioned earlier just above. He does not mention aril processing. How can the government reference Duke on aril processing when he doesn’t mention aril processing? I think there a bit of government cut and paste going on.

I have not been able to locate the other two references (174: Sharma, Subrat; Rikhari, Hem C.; Palni, Lok Man S. 1996. Adoption of a potential plantation tree crop as an agroforestry species but for the wrong reasons: a case study of the Chinese tallow tree from central Himalaya. International Tree Crops Journal. 9(1): 37-45)  and reference 191:  Singh, Kuldeep; Kapur, S. K.; Sarin, Y. K. 1993. Domestication of Sapium sebiferum under Jammu conditions. Indian Forester. 119(1): 36-42.

Thus we do have some degreed botanists saying the white fat coating is edible and yet we have other experts who make the picture fuzzy by exclusion or the mentioning of processing.

Modern research has shown the Chinese Tallow Tree has strong anti-viral and anti-carcinogen properties and also eases high blood pressure. Conversely the toxic oil of the seed kernel is deadly in modest amounts and in small amounts can promote tumor formation and inflammation. Fortunately the hard seed coating keeps the two oils apart. Oddly, once processed and rid of the oil the protein rich seed meal (76%) can be used as livestock feed or even to enrich baking flour for human consumption.

Sapium (SAY-pee-um) is an ancient Latin name for pine sap that lathers like soap. Sebiferum (seb-EE-fer-um) means wax bearing. Triadica (try-uh-DEE-kuh) is Greek meaning three-locular capsules with three seeds. Sebifera (seb-EE-fer-uh) wax bearing. Stillingia (stil-LING-ee-uh) was named after Dr. Benjamin Stillingfleet, botanist and raconteur, 1702-1771.  Lastly the leaves and seeds crushed and tossed into water will kill fish.  The leaves can externally be used to draw infection from wounds.

Francis Porcher, MD, U.S. Civil War, wrote:

Chinese Tallow catkins

In my report on the Medical Botany of South Carolina to the American Medical Association, in 1849, I had, as above, reported the fact of this tree being already naturalized. I have recommended it particularly to the soap manufacturers of Charleston and the Confederate States, as a rich material for oil. The seeds, when burned, give out a great deal of light. It could be planted with profit. In the Patent Office Report, 1851, p. 54, there is also a paper on the uses of the S. sebifera, with a notice of the Pe-la, or Insect Wax of China. By D. J. Macgowan, M. D., dated Ningpo, August, 1850. In this article, it is stated that the Encyclopædia Americana refers to its being grown along our coast. “Analytical chemistry shows animal tallow to consist of two proximate principles–stearine and elaine. Now, what renders the fruit of this tree peculiarly interesting, is the fact that both these principles exist in it separately, in nearly a pure state.” “Nor is the tree prized merely for the stearine and elaine it yields, though these products constitute its chief value: its leaves are employed as a black dye; its wood, being hard and durable, may be easily used for printing-blocks, and various other articles; and, finally, the refuse of the nut is employed as fuel and manure.” Dr. Roxburgh, in his Flora Indica, had condemned the plant as of little value, because, in simply crushing and boiling the seeds, the two principles referred to as existing together are not properly separated. I had myself, long since, in my report, published in 1849, and also in my paper in DeBow’s Review, August, 1861, recommended this plant to the candle and soap manufacturers for the large amount of oil it contained, and because of its abundance around Charleston. I also gave some of the seeds to a manufacturer of castor oil, to experiment with, in 1851. I will now quote from the paper mentioned, and also refer the reader to a paper on the subject in the Charleston Medical Journal, by H. W. Ravenel.

“The Stillingia sebifera is chiefly cultivated in the provinces of Brangsi, Kongnain, and Chekkiang. In some districts near Hangchan, the inhabitants defray all their taxes with its produce. It grows alike on low, alluvial plains, and on granite hills, on the rich mould, at the margin of canals, and on the sandy sea-beach. The sandy estuary of Hangchan yields little else. Some of the trees are known to be several hundred years old, and, though prostrated, still send forth branches and bear fruit. Some are made to fall over rivulets, forming convenient bridges. They are seldom planted where anything else can be conveniently cultivated–in detached places, in corners about houses, roads, canals, and fields. Grafting is performed at the close of March, or early in April, when the trees are about three inches in diameter, and also when they attain their growth. The Fragrant Herbal recommends for trial the practice of an old gardener, who, instead of grafting, preferred breaking the small branches and twigs, taking care not to tear or wound the bark. In midwinter, when the nuts are ripe, they are cut off, with their twigs, by a sharp, crescentic knife, attached to the extremity of a long pole, which is held in the hand, and pushed upward against the twigs, removing at the same time such as are fruitless. The capsules are gently pounded in a mortar, to loosen the seeds from their shells, from which they are separated by sifting. To facilitate the separation of the white, sebaceous matter enveloping the seeds, they are steamed in tubs having convex open wicker bottoms, placed over caldrons of boiling water. When thoroughly heated, they are reduced to a mash in the mortar, and thence transferred to bamboo sieves, kept at a uniform temperature over hot ashes. A single operation does not suffice to deprive them of all their tallow; the steaming and sifting are therefore repeated. The article thus procured becomes a solid mass on falling through the sieve, and, to purify it, is melted and formed into cakes for the press. These receive their form in bamboo hoops, a foot in diameter, and three inches deep, which are laid on the ground over a little straw. On being filled with the hot liquid, the buds of the straw are drawn up and spread over the top, and when of sufficient consistence, are placed with their rings in the press. This apparatus, which is of the rudest description, is constructed of two large beams, placed horizontally, so as to form a through capable of containing about fifty of the rings, with their sebaceous cakes. At one end it is closed, and at the other it is used for receiving wedges, which are successively driven into it by ponderous sledge-hammers, wielded by athletic men. The tallow oozes in a melted state into a receptacle below, where it cools. It is again melted, and poured into tubs smeared with mud, to prevent its adhering. It is now marketable, in masses of about eighty pounds each, hard, brittle, white, opaque, tasteless, and without the odor of animal tallow. Under high pressure it scarcely stains bibulous paper; melts at 104° Fahrenheit. It may be regarded as nearly pure stearine; the slight difference is doubtless owing to the admixture of oil expressed from the seeds in the process just described. The seeds yield about eight per cent. of tallow, which sells for about five cents per pound. The process for pressing the oil, which is carried on at the same time, remains to be noticed. It is contained in the kernel of the nut–the sebaceous matter which lies between the shell and the husk having been removed in the manner described. The kernel, and the husk covering it, are ground between two stones, which are heated to prevent clogging from the sebaceous matter still adhering. The mass is then placed in a winnowing machine, precisely like those in use in western countries. The chaff being separated, exposes the white, oleaginous kernels, which, after being strained, are placed in a mill to be mashed. This machine is formed of a circular stone groove, twelve feet in diameter, three inches deep, and about as many wide, into which a thick, solid stone wheel, eight feet in diameter, tapering at the edge, is made to revolve perpendicularly by an ox harnessed to the outer end of its axle, the inner turning on a pivot in the centre of the machine. Under this perpendicular weight the seeds are reduced to a mealy state, steamed in the tubs, formed into cakes, and pressed by wedges in the manner above described; the process of mashing, steaming, and dressing being repeated with the kernels likewise. The kernels yield about thirty per cent. of oil. It is called ising-yu, sells for about three cents a pound, answers well for lamps, though inferior for this purpose to some other vegetable oils in use. It is also employed for various purposes in the arts, and has a place in the Chinese pharmacopoeia because of its quality of changing gray hair black, and other imaginary virtues. The husk which envelops the kernel, and the shell which encloses them and their sebaceous covering, are used to feed the furnaces–scarcely any other fuel being needed for this purpose. The residuary tallow cakes are also employed for fuel, as a small quantity of it remains ignited a whole day. It is in great demand for chafing-dishes during the cold season, and, finally, the cakes which remain after the oil has been pressed out are much valued as a manure, particularly for tobacco fields, the soil of which is rapidly impoverished by the Virginia weed. Artificial illumination in China is generally procured by vegetable oils; but candles are also employed by those who can afford it, and for lanterns. In religious ceremonies no other material is used. As no one ventures out after dark without a lantern, and as the gods cannot be acceptably worshipped without candles, the quantity consumed is very great. With an unimportant exception, the candles are made of what I beg to designate as vegetable stearine. When the candles, which are made by dipping, are of the required diameter, they receive a final dip into a mixture of the same material and insect wax, by which their consistency is preserved in the hottest weather. They are generally colored red, which is done by throwing a minute quantity of alkanet root (Anchusa tinctoria), brought from Shangtung, into the mixture. Verdigris is sometimes employed to dye them green. The wicks are made of rush coiled round a stem of coarse grass, the lower part of which is slit to receive the pin of the candlestick, which is more economical than if put into a socket. Tested in the mode recommended by Count Rumford, these candles compare favorably with those made from spermaceti, but not when the clumsy wick of the Chinese is employed. Stearine candles cost about eight cents per pound.

Again the fat is used to make candles and the clear seed oil for lamps. At the 35 minutes mark this video shows a process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akbnkc8PfFk

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION:

Chinese tallow is a quick-growing, deciduous tree typically growing from 24 to 35 feet but  up to 65 feet all and over 3 feet in diameter. Leaves alternate, simple, typically oval to round, may also be rhombic, 1.4 to 3.3 inches long,  1.4 to 3.5 inches wide, resembles an aspen. Trunks can be gnarled with fissured bark which thickens as the tree grows. Tiny flowers in terminal spikes 2.4 to 7.9 inches. Fruits are capsules contain 3 wax-coated seeds.

TIME OF YEAR:

Fruit ripens August to November

ENVIRONMENT:

Nearly any environment but road sides, low lands, trashy sites, borders are common.

METHOD OF PREPARATION:

Waxy outer coating of seed can be melted off, used for edible oil, according to experts. I have not tired it and do not yet recommend it. Do not open the seed because the inner seed oil is toxic.

Chinese Box-Orange, Tsau Ping Lak

Atalantia buxifolia: Wine-Cake Thorn

The Chinese Box-Orange is one of my botanical mysteries. For a long time I thought it was an edible but…

If you Google the Atalantia buxifolia (formerly Severinia buxifolia) you will find several credentialed sites and publications with degreed authors saying the tree has an edible part. That makes sense. It’s in the greater citrus family. Most if not almost all the experts say the leaves are used to make a yeast roll in Chinese cooking. At least one book says the berries are used to make the yeast rolls. So I decided to ask some experts. I have a friend who’s Chinese and owns a Chinese restaurant and has several Chinese chefs. They have no idea. The leaves may be fermented, the berries may be fermented, or they may use one or the other totally differently. Or, it is not edible at all.

The problem might be language. The characters for the plant are similar to the characters for the spring roll, or so a linguist told me. Therein lies the problem which is the assumption based on characters (by linguists) that the plant has something to do with the spring roll.  But in the culinary world it does not appear to be used at all. Instead of guilt by associate it is edibility by association. Thus I cannot recommend it as an edible. If someone has some good evidence otherwise I’d like to hear from you.

The Chinese box-orange is native to Southeast Asia, Taiwan and southern China. In Cantonese know it as Tsau Ping Lak because they use some part of it to make a yeast cake. So, how did it get from there to here? It’s resistant to many of the diseases that attack citrus so it makes good root stock. It is also an ornamental. You’ll find it where citrus grows. A close relative, A. monophylla, has a lot of medicinal uses in India including using berry oil for relief of rheumatism and paralysis, a root preparation as an antiseptic and stimulant, and the leaves are used against snake bite.  A. buxifolia has two close look alikes, the Japanese Box (Buxus microphylla var. japonica) except the Buxus has no thorns, and the Bumelia retusa, which looks very similar but has red hair on the bottom of young leaves and not all the leaves are notched at the end.

Atalantia (at-uh-LAN-tee-uh) is from Greek mythology. She was daughter of King Schoeneus of Scyros and one of the Hesperides, the nymphs who guarded the garden where grew the golden apples Gaea gave to Hera as a wedding gift.  Buxifolia (buks-siff-FOH-lee-uh) means foliage like the box wood which is a Buxus (BUK-sus) the Roman name for the Box Wood. The Chinese Box-Orange is still called Severinia buxifolia (sev-ver-RIN-nee-uh buks-siff-FOH-lee-uh) which honored M. A. Severino (1580-1656) an anatomy lecturer at Naples.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION:

A low growing, irregular spreading shrub that grows to about four feet high and around. It’s dense and compact, with small, glossy, rounded dark green leaves about a half inch across and an inch long, indented at the tip. Young leaves are bronze. Older leaves are covered with glans on the underside. When crushed the leaf smells of oranges. Flowers are clusters of small, white, fragrant citrus-like flowers that appear near the end of the branch. Blooms all year. Fruit is a small black 1/4 inch berry, one or two seeds.

Cyperus esculentus, C. rotundus: Serious Sedges

There are two edible Cyperus locally: One that tastes like hazelnuts and one that smells and tastes to me exactly like Vic’s Vapor Rub. Guess which one I happen to find more often?

Chufa, Yellow Nut Sedge, Cyperus esculentus

Cyperus esculentus, the yellow nut sedge, is native to warmer parts of the Northern Hemisphere. It has been in use since ancient Egyptian times and is cultivated around the Mediterranean. The roots reach the size of hazelnuts and have a similar taste. They are excellent raw right out of the ground, boiled or roasted. Its tops are yellowish.

Cyperus rotundus, the purple nut sedge, is also edible raw but is laced with the VIC’s aroma which lessen on drying. However, before that they can be used as an insect repellant, a case of wear outside this week and eat inside next week. Its tops are purplish.

Chufa with nutlets

Chufa (CHOO-fah) Cyperus esculentus, the yellow nut sedge, is listed as a noxious weed in many places and difficult to control. It can produce hundreds of thousands of seeds per plant per season. Researchers say a single nutsedge can produce 1900 plants and 7000 tubers in a year. That’s a lot of food. And remember sedges have edges and these sedges have three sides, like a triangle. All sedge seeds are edible, according to Ray Mears and Gordon Brown.

In Egypt and the Mediterranean nut sedges were used as sources for food, medicine and perfumes. The tubers were usually roasted. Dried ground tubers were used to extend coffee and chocolate. Chufa oil was an ingredient in perfumed soap and a lubricant for fine machinery. The leafy parts were  fed to livestock. A relative, Cyperus papyrus in Egypt, was the first source for paper there and is an escaped weed in many warm states. Here in Florida it is a common ornamental in water gardens. Interestingly, Chufas are very similar to olives in nutrition. The boiled nutlets are also good carp bait.

The genus name Cyperus (sye-PEER-us) is from Cypeirus which was the ancient Greek name for the plant. Esculentus (es-kyew-LEN-tus) means “edible” referring to the tubers.  Rotundus (roh-TUHN-duh) means round.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile: Chufa

IDENTIFICATION: Cyperus esculentus: Annual monocot to three feet tall, solitary stems growing from a tuber, stems triangular bearing slender leaves one to three inches wide, flowers a cluster of flat oval seeds surrounded by four hanging leaf bracts at 90 degrees. Tough, fibrous, mistaken for a grass.  It can be distinguished from other New World nutsedge by linear brown spiklets with overlapping scales

TIME OF YEAR: August to November

ENVIRONMENT: Old fields, cultivated ground, upland prairies, pond margins, stream edges, pastures, roadsides, railroads.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Rub nutlet to loosen husk. C. esculentus edible raw or cooked. C. rotundus edible raw but better if allowed to dry a few days then consumed raw or cooked. Nutlets can be hard. Soaking in water eases that problem. All sedge seeds (on top) around the world are edible.

HERB BLURB

C. rotundus is used in Chinese medicine, especially pain associated with menstruation. It is also used for stomach aches and diarrhea, to treat impotence, bacterial infections, and dry or tired eyes. C. rotundus is also used as a diuretic and for high blood pressure. A paste of the plant is also spread on the skin as a bactericide and a fungicide to prevent infection of wounds. In two studies, compounds found in extracts from the root of C. rotundus were isolated and several have anti-malarial properties.