Cogongrass in blossom in winter. Photo by Green Deane

Cogongraass blossoms. Photo by Green Deane

It is perhaps the most invasive grass species in the world, Cogongrass, Imperata cylindrica, and is on the list of the top ten most invasive plants on the planet. Where I live there are fields of the stuff. Florida has a million acres of cogongrass. It infests a billion acres worldwide. Spreading by seed and rhizomes Cogongrass invades 35 different crops including rice, cotton, coffee, tea, oil palm, coconut and rubber plantations. Some animals will eat it but don’t like to because it’s edges are cutting sharp, like saw grass.  Cogongrass is hostile to man and animal alike. Even goats, the garbage disposals of the animal kingdom won’t eat it. Starving cattle will but only when it is young before it develops sharp edges. Pigs, however, relish its roots (60% of its biomass is underground.) Humans can tackle it in various ways. As Cornucopia II says on page 177:

“Immature flower spikes are sucked or eaten They are sometime cooked as a potherb, fried, or put into soups. The slightly sweet rhizomes are chewed or eaten and yield a starch used in making beer. They are often mixed with a purple variety of sugar cane to form a cooling thirst-quenching, digestive beverage which is occasionally available in Asian markets.”

I would add a warning: The blades have small silica crystals which as dust could injure your lungs. Thus if harvesting or destroying a lot of it a mask might be appropriate.

Orseolia javanica, female left, male right.

How Cogongrass got from Eastern Asia to America is a bit of an argument.  Some say by accident in 1912 via Louisiana, others say through Grand Bay, Alabama, that same year as packing material for Satsuma oranges from Japan. What we do know for certain is that the U.S. government imported it intentionally in the 1930s and 1940’s, for fodder and erosion control (like Kudzu). It now infests Florida, Alabama and Mississippi, with pockets from Virginia to Texas. Thus Imperata cylindrica is a Federal Noxious Weed under the Plant Protection Act.  It cannot not be imported or transported between States without first getting a federal permit. It is classified as a noxious weed in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Hawaii. Seventy-five percent of the land in Alabama is infested with it. Around 2017 researchers imported an Indonesian gall-making midge, Orseolia javanica that destroys cogongrass but was a failure. The fly refused to have sex so far from home, and is also food for other insects.

Imperata cylindrica Rubra, aka Rubra. It can revert back to the invasive species.

An ornamental variety,  Rubra (Red Baron, Japanese Blood Grass) left, is shorter and less invasive.  The upper part of each blade of that variety turns dark red in summer, growing darker as the season progresses. ‘Rubra’ may not be legally grown, sold or given away in the State of Alabama.

An aggressive colony-forming perennial grass two to six feet tall, Cogongrass is Round Up resistant. Oddly this invasive species will grow near Black Walnut which chemically usually discourages other plants from growing near it. And like Black Walnut, Australian Pines and Brazilian pepper, Cogongrass has an allelopathic effect on the germination and growth of other plants, readily killing pine seedlings. Cogongrass does not survive deep tilling.

Acres of cogongrass in winter. Photo by Green Deane

Other countries the species is found in include Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Egypt (Sinai), Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russian Federation (Dagestan), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, China, Korea, Japan (Hokkaidô, Honshu, Kyushu, Ryukyu Islands, Shikoku)  Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia (Tasmania, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia (northeast), Northern Territory) Albania, Bulgaria, Greece (including Crete), Croatia, Italy (including Sardinia, Sicily), Slovenia, Spain (including Baleares), France (Corsica), Portugal, Spain (Canarias), Portugal (Madeira Islands), Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Chad, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo, Gabon, Rwanda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte D‘Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini, South Africa (Cape Province, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and Transvaal.)

Other names include Chinese Silver Grass, Nut Grass, India Goosegrass, and pay mao. Speargrass, imperata, cogon grass, alang-alang, kunai grass, lalang, blade grass, blady grass, cottonwool grass, woolly grass, thatch grass, silver spike, Herbe à paillotte, paillotte, impérate, chiendent, paille de dys, Sapé, caminhadora, capin and seno,

Blossom with seeds and blade, the blade has an offset whitish midrib. Photo by Green Deane

Nutrients in Cogongrass include crude fiber, carbohydrates, sugars, fatty acid, and trace elements. The carbohydrates and sugars provide energy and add flavor to plants, revealing the potential of the species as functional food. Calcium, Sodium, Magnesium, Iron, and Potassium are the main trace elements in the plant [3].There also are some coumarins. While food uses for humans are rather limited, that plant has a long history in folk medicine. (Note: I am not an herbalist.) 

Modern pharmacology reports that several substances from I. cylindrica. exhibit a wide range of biological activities such as hemostasis, improvement of urination, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anticancer, and enhancement of the immune system. The flowers and the roots are antibacterial, diuretic, febrifuge, typic and sialagogic (promotes the secretion of saliva.). It is often used in traditional Chinese and African medicine for its diuretic and anti-inflammatory properties.

Cogongrass roots. Photo by Green Deane

The root is astringent, antifebrile, antivinous, diuretic, emollient, haemostatic, and  restorative. It is used in the treatment of nose bleeds, haematuria, haematemesis, oedema and jaundice. The root has antibacterial action against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus dysenteriae et cetera. A decoction of the root is used as an anthelmintic and also to treat digestive disorders such as indigestion, diarrhea and dysentery. The root bark is febrifuge, and restorative. Extracts of the plant have shown viricidal and anticancer activity. A water  extract of stem and leaves has shown some anti-tumor activity against sarcoma and adenocarcinoma in mice. Rhizome extracts significantly inhibited urination in rats. Antiviral, antihepatotoxic, antihypertensive, antihistamine and larvicidal activities are also reported.

Ferrante Imperato

In dead Latin Imperata means imperial, commanding and cylindrica means cylindrical, tubular. The species was named for a 16th century pharmacist in Naples, “Ferrante Imperato” (1550-1625) who wrote an early book on nature, Dell’Historia Naturala, 1599. His motto was. “In dies auctior” (“I improve day by day.”) Among his accomplishments was to be the first to identify how fossils are created.

GREEN DEANE’S ITEMIZATION

Identification

Imperata cylindrica is a perennial growing to six feet at a slow rate.

It is hardy to USA zones 6-9  though is frost tender. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Wind. The leaf blades have a  whitish midvein that is clearly offset to one side, and serrated (toothed) edges. The roots, actually rhizomes, are hard, scaly and cream-colored with sharply pointed tips. Pigs like to eat them. The seed head is fuzzy, white and plume-like 2-8 inches long. The plant does not appear to have a stem, with leaves appearing to rise directly from the ground. Overlapping sheaths give the plant base a rounded appearance. A related species, Brazilian satintail, is native to southern North America, Central America, and South America.

Time of year

In flower from March to mid-June in some areas, August to September in other places, seeds  — some 3,000 per plants — ripen from September to October, usually germinating within three to four weeks after ripening. 

Environment

Can grow in sandy, loamy and heavy clay soils, prefers to be well-drained and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Prefers mildly acidic, neutral and mildly alkaline soils. It cannot grow in the shade and prefers dry or moist soil. It is drought tolerant and can tolerate sea exposure. The species is resistant to fire. Burning while affecting the above-ground parts of the plant, usually does not damage the rhizomes. Will grow up to an elevation of 20,000 feet.

Method of preparation

Young blossoms eaten raw or cooked, rhizomes (roots) boiled or chewed. There can be 17 tons of roots per acre (perhaps a way to fatten hogs.) Seeds edible but tiny. Plant ash is used for a salt substitute.

Also the leaves are woven to make mats, bags and raincoats. Inflorescences are valued for stuffing pillows and cushions,  Stems are used in thatching roofs, fiber from the leaves is used in making paper, brushes and rope.

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False Mastic. Photo by Trade Wind Fruits

On a chance wander this week in south Florida — Pine Island — we happened upon a False Mastic tree (Sideroxylon foetidissimum, Sy-der-oh ZY Lon fet-uh, DISS ih mum) which means “very bad smelling iron wood.” Downwind from a blossoming tree smells like rotting cadavers or intense cheese (which might help you find it before the blossoms turn in to ripe yellow fruit.

The tasty sweet ripe fruit is eaten in moderation and can be gummy if not acidic. Medicinally the sap was used to treat hernias, and in washing the body. It has triterpenoid saponins which might be responsible for its anti-inflammatory action. Eating the fruit of related species might stick your lips together. Identify carefully.

Mastic is from the Greek mastikon and in subsequent Dead Latin masyticus, and in English as masticate, to chew. Sap that can be chewed is often also used for glue, coating, and coloring which was how the natives used the false mastic (“false” as it is not the true mastic (Manilkara chicle) from the Nahuati word for latex, tsictli, meaning sticky stuff. The sub-tropical species now has some three dozen common names often using “mastic” or “Jacuma” Some Caribbean examples include in The French Antilles apricot des bois, tree apricot; in Cuba the almendrillo, little almond; almendro silvestre, wild almond; and, almendron flesh almond in Puerto Rico.

 Nine Sideroxylons are commonly mentioned as edible, or chewable at least: S. celastrina, S. foetidissimum, S.  laetevirens, S. lanuginosa, S. lyciodes,  S. reclinatum S. salicifolium, and  S. tenax. The S. tenax is rather rare in the wild but a native landscape plant. One used to grow not 2.5 miles west from me where the land abutted an overpass over Interstate 4. A road crew dutifully took it down and the road since widened. However, I recently spotted one inside a locked cemetery about a mile north of me.

Miracleberry, Miracle fruit

The ninth Sideroxylon, see Saffron Plum, received a lot attention in the 1970s and has occasional revivials. The red fruited Sideroxylon dulcificum is now called  Synsepalum dulcificum. You may not recognize the name but if you eat the berries — the Miracle Berry — for about a half an hour afterwards you cannot taste anything sour. You can eat a lemon after the berries and the lemon will taste sweet. It also counters a metallic taste some experience while undergoing chemotherapy.  The ability of the berries to alter taste perception was noted as early as 1725. It was touted as a possible “sweetener” in the 70’s and the role of the sugar industry — if any — in its demise is controversial. Tablets of the berries can be bought over the Internet. How they work is not known but one theory is that it temporarily alters the physical shape of the taste receptors on the tongue.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

Identification: A fast-growing evergreen tree with a dense, irregular crown, generally growing around 45 feet tall, occasionally up to 100 feet. Wind resistant. The yellow fruit  is ellipsoid, about an inch long and three-quarters of an inch wide, containing a single large seed, grows along branches. The trunk and bark can have warty looking growths and the bark flakey. Leaves yellowish green to dark green, shiny, elliptical to oblong. The toothless leaves can be wavy and cluster toward the end of branches.

False Mastic Blossom. Photo by Levy Preserve.org

Time of year: Dense yellow flowers in early summer, fruit ripens in winter or spring. (I snacked on mine in early January.)

Environment: Sandy or rock lime, tolerates some salty wind but not brackish water. Can tolerate moist to long dry conditions once established. Full sun, prefers elevation under 2000 feet. Common to Central America – Belize, Guatemala to southern Mexico; in the Caribbean – Trinidad to Cuba, and the Bahamas; Southeast North America particularly Florida.

Method of preparation: Ripe fruit out of hand. The durable wood was used by the native for mortars, pestles, food paddles and war tools. Settlers later use it in cabinets and boats.

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Sedum with mild-flavored leaves. Photo by Green Deane

Edible Ice Plant, Carpobrotus edulis, is a common ornamental and popular on the Greek Island of Santorini. Photo by Green Deane

Confessions of  forager: In a general sense I have known for many years that “Stonecrops” were edible. I avoided them as they were usually associated by writers with cactus (In that they grow well where it is warm and dry and rocky. Where I live it is hot, wet and no rocks.) So I ignored “stonecrops” for decades except for two:  a distant edible relative I stumble across in Florida, Ice Plant, Carpobrotus edulis,  and Sedum ternatum (now (Hylotelephium telephium.) which I played with as a kid in Maine. 

I grew up on a dirt road out in the country, five miles west of the famous L.L.Bean store in Freeport Maine. Of course back then it was a relatively small store over the post office. Now it’s the entire town. My grandfather printed catalogues for L.L. himself and invented their one-wheel deer carrier.

Down the road from our house in Pownal was a seasonal pond with alder trees and pollywogs and what we called Frog Bellies growing right beside the road. It was Hylotelephium telephium. As kids we didn’t know what it was but we would suck on the leaves. The upper layer of the leaf would separate and balloon up, filled with air which to a kid looked close enough to a frog’s puffy belly. There are between 400 and 475 different species of Sedum.    Several species of stonecrop have a history of edibility, the genus is native to Europe, Northern Africa and Asia where varieties grow in rock crevices, on ravine edges and in scrubby areas. It’s among the few plants that can survive in the very-common rocky Greek landscape.

Among the edibles are: Sedum, sarmentosum (which is high in vitamin C) S. roseum, S. rhodanthum, S. reflexum, S. telephium var. purpureum, and S. acre. Roots of Sedum roseum are eaten after being cooked. The roots of S. roseum are also a common supplement sold under the name Rhodiola rosea. The roots of S. telephium var. purpureum have also been eaten. Sedum telephium var telephium is a cultivated salad plant in Europe, the leaves are used. S. acre has pungent leaves and is used as a condiment. Native Americans used S. divergens, and S. laxum for food, the latter rolled with salt grass. The red tops of  Sedum integriforlim ssp. integrifolium  were used to make a tea, or the leaves eaten fresh or with fat, the root was also eaten. S. rosea (The rhodiola) was eaten fresh, cooked or fermented. Roots eaten with fat or fermented.  Interestingly kalanchoe is in the wider stonecrop group though I have never heard of any of them being edible. Avoid Sedum alfredii which is known to accumulate cadmium.

Internet references ( a cesspool unto itslef)say Sedum means “House Leek” in Dead Latin. Merritt Fernald, the Big Botanical Man at Harvard from 1900 to 1950, author of Gray’s Manual of Botany 1950 (the year he died) says the: “Name [is] from sedire, to sit, alluding to the manner in which many species affix themselves to rocks or walls. Hylo is the Greek word meaning forest or woodland. The genus honors Telephus, King of Mysia, who was the son of Hercules. 

Green Dean’s Itemized Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION:  Sedum acre,  tuberous-rooted, carpet-forming, evergreen succulent  to  3” tall spreads moss-like along the ground to often making an impressive ground cover. Plants are thickly clothed with blunt, conical, pale green leaves. Leaves overlap in shingle-like fashion. Small, terminal clusters of tiny, star-shaped, five-petaled, yellow flowers to half an inch  blooms most of the summer.

TIME OF YEAR: warm weather, most like it sunny and dry

ENVIRONMENT: Sunny locations, Varies. Some like to cling to rock faces and well-drained gravely soil others like lawns. Like Ice Plant a good plant to cultivate near the sea. Can tolerate some shade, rarely needs to be watered

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Varies with species, some just the young and tender  leaves, others the entire plant, often roots are eaten with fat. Or dried and powdered and use for tea. The sap of S acre, can irritate the skin of some people and the leaves, eaten in quantity, can cause stomach upsets.

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Self-seeded Moon Plant in North Carolina forest. Photo by Green Deane

It looks like a fake plant created for a low-budget space movie. It even has a good name: Lunaria annua, Annual Moon. It’s also edible. I first saw them in mile-high Beech Mountain, a city near Boone North Carolina. Then later I saw them growing on my cousin’s property in upstate South Carolina. 

The blossom tell you it’s in the mustard family.

Lunaria annua (loo-NAIR-ee-uh AN-yoo-uh) is a purple-flowered native of southeastern Europe* — the Balkans — and western Asia. Its unconventional seed pods (silicles  SILL-ah-cle) prompted the species to be used as a garden ornamental. It’s been widely planted in the United States and Canada. It’s also widely scattered in Great Britain — introduced there 400 years ago, it was popular in the Victorian era. The species is listed as invasive in Australia (and the U.S.)  As you might also presume it is a popular in flower arranging. A relative, Lunaria annua var. alba, has white flowers, L. alba var. albiflora ‘Alba Variegata, is variegated with white trimming on its leaves. There is also a Lunaria rediviva which has oval seed pods and likes to be slightly damp. There are about a dozen plants in the genus. Lunaria is sometimes confused with Dame’s Rocket, Hesperis matronalis, which is also edible (young leaves, seedpods, flowers and seeds sprouted.) 

Lunaria annua seeds.

Other common names for Lunaria annua include Honesty, Silver Dollar, Dollar Plant, Money Plant, Moneywort, Moonwort, Satin Flower, and Kuuruoho (yes, that is spelled correctly.)  It was also once known as Lunaria biennis. The plant attracts butterflies, long-tongued bees and is disease/pest resistant. 

It was one of the first European flowers introduce into the American colonies where it was value for its striking seedpods and edible roots. Thomas Jefferson was growing them in 1767.  

Green Deane’s Itemized Plant Profile

Identification:  Two to three feet tall with alternate to opposite, oval to heart-shaped leaves. They are toothy, medium green and slightly fuzzy, pointed at the tip, upper leaves are stemless. Four-petaled purple flowers are in racemes above the leaves in spring. Flowers are replaced with flattened, paper-thin, silver-dollar sized fruit which become translucent. Several seeds are in the fruit and are easy to winnow. 

Time of year. As the plant has a long juvenile stage it should be planted in very early spring for a late summer or fall harvest. They can take a frost and temperatures down to 10.6 F. Biannual, it produces only leaves the first year and is a small plant that year; as a tall plant flowers and seeds the second year. As it reseeds you only have to plant it once. Soak the seeds in water a day hours before planting. 

Environment:  Edges and transition zones. Open woodlands, naturalized areas such as permaculture lots with native and non-native species, semi-shady gardens. It likes well-drained, rich soil, full sun in cooler climates, afternoon shade in warmer areas. It needs six hours of sunlight a day, an is hardy in zones 5a, 5b, 6b, 6a, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9b, and. 9a

Method of Preparation: The thick root is edible raw or cooked before blossoming. When the energy in the root is used to make flowers and seed the roots usually get tough. Cooked, pungent seeds are a mustard substitute. The seed is 30 to 38% oil, high in erucic acid, 44%, and nervonic acid, 23% (which is a base material in creating medicine for multiple sclerosis.) The long-chain oil itself is also a high-temperature lubricant. As with most mustards most of the plant is edible — leaves, flowers and unripe fruit — but are bitter. It is also believed to be high in vitamin C as most mustards are. Leaves are edible by rabbits. 

*To be more specific it is native to Albania, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Crete, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia. It has been introduce into: Alabama, southern Argentina, Austria, the Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Czechoslovakia, Delaware, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Idaho, Illinois, India, Indiana, Ireland, Kentucky, Madeira, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Norway, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pakistan, Pennsylvania, Québec, Rhode I., Sweden, Tennessee, Ukraine, Utah, Vermont and Washington

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Shepherdia were an important Native American and First People’s food.

There are only three species in the genus Shepherdia, all in North America, and one brings up a good point. When you go up in elevation you often go north in flora and fauna. There are some northern plants that grow south on the tops of the Appalachian Mountains but no where else at lower elevations in the south. Two of the Shepherdia species grow mostly in northern states. But, one is in Utah and Arizona on the Colorado Plateau… which is 5,000 to 7000 feet. The plant thinks it’s further north than it really is. 

Some three dozen native groups depended on the species and with good reason. A hundred grams of Shepherdia canadensis has 80 calories, 0.7 grams of protein, 0.7 grams of fat, 16.6 grams of carbohydrates, and 5.3 grams of fiber. Vitamin C is outstanding and about three times your daily need, at 165.6 mg. Vitamin A in a separate report said it was 0.97 grams. The B vitamins are B1 (thiamin) 0.03 mg, B2 (riboflavin) 0.1 mg B3 (niacin) 0. 2 mg. Phosphorus is 21 mg, calcium 16 mg, magnesium 8 mg, zinc 1.4 mg, iron and sodium, o.5 mg each, 0.2 mg manganese, 200 mcg copper and strontium 70 mcg. 

These berries get around. S. aragentea is in the western two-thirds of North America excluding Texas to Maine and southeast. Oddly it’s in one eastern country of New York, an escapee perhaps. Of all the west it is not reported in Washington state. S. canadensis is in all of Canada, the western third of the U.S. and the states north and east of Illinois. It’s in Vermont were I still have cousins living and didn’t quite get down to where I lived in Maine. Roundleaf Buffaloberry is found in southern Utah and northern Arizona.

Argentea is new Dead Latin for silvery. Canadensis of or from Canada. Rotundifolia means round leaf. The genus is named for John Shepherd, 1764-1836, curator at the Liverpool Botanic Garden.

IDENTIFICATION:

Shepherida argentea: Deciduous shrub to small tree 20 feet tall,  (20 ft) dense silvery surface on the bottom of leaves and young twigs. Older branches commonly tipped with a spine, leaves wedge-oblong, no teeth. Flowers small, inconspicuous, in clusters in the leaf axils, fruits are scarlet. Also called Silver Buffaloberry,  it’s high in pectin.

Shepherdia canadensis: Soapberry. Deciduous shrub under six feet, oval to lance-shaped leaves, smooth edges. Bottom of leaves and twigs covered with rust-colored surface, flowers small, green, inconspicuous, bloom in early spring, berries single or in clusters in leaf axils, orange to deep red, covered with small dots.  It also has a small amount of saponins so it can make a foam. Also called Buffaloberry it pairs well with Blackberries.

Shepherdia rotundifolia: Roundleaf Buffaloberry:  Unlike its relatives the S. rotundifolia is evergreen, has tightly packed silvery leaves, wooly below, and scruffy rough berries. 

TIME OF YEAR:  Shepherdia canadensis: Bitter berries in July to early August. Shepherdia argentea: Tart berries in in fall usually after a frost. Shepherdia rotundifolia fruits in late summer.

ENVIRONMENT: Open woods, thickets, rocks, shores. The species is a nitrogen-fixer. 

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Eaten raw, cooked or dried. Can be made into a juice, jam, jelly or used as a flavoring. Natives also dried, smoked and pressed into cakes. They were also whipped until they created a foam then sugar was added for something akin to whipped cream. 

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The little chestnut that survived. Photo by Will Cook, North Carolina Plant Photos.

One way to think of Chinquapins is they are small Chestnuts that survived. In the same genus as their bigger relative — Castenea — when the  blight wipeout the Chestnuts, Chinquepins suffered but some managed to endure. One can see the  Allegany Chinquepin (C. pumila) while hiking the Appalachian Trail. Their nut is about half of the size of their deceased relative but still worth collecting. We also know some of the nutrition of another edible Chinquepin, the Ozark Chinkapin (C.  ozarkensis.) 

Chinquapins pack a lot of nutrition.

Per 100 grams it has 443 calories, 18 grams of fat, 57 grams of carbohydrates, 13 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber. The fat is 10 grams monounsaturated, 4 grams polyunsaturated and 4 grams saturated. Potassium is 77 mg, no sodium reported. A second report says they are 5% fat, 55 protein, 40% starch and 50% water with 4736 calories per kilo. European chestnuts, not affected by blight,  are the only cultivated and consumed nut that has vitamin C, about 40 mg per 3.5 ounce serving. 

In the Beech family the Chinkapin has been called them most  ignored and undervalued native North American nut tree. It has a sweet and edible nut and has been used for fuel, charcoal, fence posts, railroad ties and a coffee and chocolate substitute (as are the seeds of the Blue Beech, aka the American Hornbean, Carpinus caroliniana.)

 Just how many “Castanea” species there are is anyone’s guess. For example the USDA uses the name Castanea pumila for the Allegany Chinkepin. They say it is also called American chinquapin, C. alnifolia, C. ashei, C. floridana, C. margaretta, C. nana, C. paucispina, chinquapin, dwarf chestnut, Fagus pumila, and Golden Chinquapin. We are fairly sure C. ozarkensis is a separate species.  C. davidii, C. seguinii, C. mollissima and C. henryi are from Asia, C. creanata, Japan. To my knowledge all of them have edible nuts. Chinkapin’s native range is New Jersey and West Virginia, west to Missouri and Oklahoma, and south to Texas and Florida. It’s been planted in Wisconsin and Michigan. 

Forager emeritus Dick Deuerling once told me, some 30 years ago, that he found a chinkapin in Wekiva Springs state park, but not where in the park. I’d ask where but he died in 2013 (in July that year I went to three funerals, no wedding.)

Green Deane Itemized Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION: Chinkapin is a small tree or large shrub that grows six to 15 feet tall. Twigs are densely hairy when young becoming shiny brown with reddish-hairy buds. The leaves alternate, are simple, short-stemmed, prominently veined, oblong with fine pointed teeth or bristles, and hairy on the lower surface. The fruit is a spiny bur with a single nut. Bur opens like a clam shell. 

TIME OF YEAR: Early September with some leeway for location.

ENVIRONMENT: It does not like limestone or sand dunes. Prefers mixed hardwood forests with pines and oaks on ridges and slopes, under 4450 feet. Heat tolerant but intolerant of salt spay or shade.  

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Shelled nuts eaten raw or roasted. 

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Wild Parsnip makes a flat-top yellow blossom.

Wild Parsnip, Pastinaca sativa, is native to Europe but is found in all of North America except Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Florida. It’s a root vegetable closely related to carrots and parsley and has been cultivated since at least the early Greeks. It was part of the tribute the Germans gave to Roman Emperor Tiberius. Both English immigrants to America and French to Canada brought the plant with them. 

Be sure of your identification.

If we combine two reports we can get a good accounting of Wild Parsnip’s nutrient profile. A 100 gram sample has 76 calories, 1.7 grams of protein, 0.5 grams of fat (mono- and saturated) 17.5 grams of carbohydrates and two grams of fiber. Vitamin A is minor — 3 RE, but vitamin C is good: 16 mg a little over a third of your daily need. The B vitamins are B1 (thiamin) 0.08 mg, B2 (riboflavin) 0.09 mg, B3 (niacin) 0.2 mg, and B6 (pyridoxine) 0.85 mg.  The minerals are potassium 541 mg, phosphorus 77 mg, calcium 50 mg, magnesium 29.4 mg, sodium 12 mg and iron 0.7 mg. 

Tasty and nutritious so what’s the down side? It’s in the same family as Poisonous Hemlock so you have to make sure of the identification. Taste and aroma is not enough. By the account of victims Poisonous Hemlock root also smells and tastes like parsnip. That said Poison Hemlock produces white flowers on stalks creating a more rounded appearance like an umbrella. I tell my students a white umbrella made up of smaller umbrellas. Wild parsnip has yellow flowers on stalks producing a more flat-topped appearance. Wild Parsnip has celery-like leaves and deeply grooved main stalk that is green. Poison Hemlock has smoother stems if not splotched with purple and the leaves are more fern-like. More directly, if the plant you are looking at has white blossoms it is NOT wild parsnip.

What Pastinaca means is foggy. It can be from “pastinum” meaning food or to prepare the ground for planting a vine. If so then “sativa” is redundant as it means “sown.” Parsnip is from Pastinum which passed into Old French as pasnaie then into Middle English as pasnepe. The current ending -nip was added by mistake because folks thought it was related to turnips which it is not. 

Green Deane’s Itemized Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION: A two-year plant, basal rosette of roughly hairy leaves, strongly aromatic when crushed. Leaves compound,  pinnated, broad, with toothed edges, leaf stems grooved, main stalk grooved, second-year stalk taller than first year. Blossoms yellow making a flat-top arrangement.  

TIME OF YEAR: This is a plant you have to identify this year and the harvest next year. The first year it is a basal rosette growing a tasty root. The second year it sends up a flower stalk. Flowering starts in May and can last to July or even October depending on climate and location. You can also harvest roots at the very beginning of year two. But once the plant is flowering the roots grow woody. 

ENVIRONMENT: It is rudual meaning it likes disturbed ground from abandoned fields to roadsides. It prefer a little dryer soil to a little wetter but it can some moisture.  

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Be sure of your identification. Check with a local expert. Roots raw, boiled, steamed, sauteed, mashed, pureed, baked used in soups, stews, sauces. Also made into beer and wine. Young leaves coked. Seeds used for a dill-like seasoning. Wear gloves and a long-sleeve shirt when harvesting just as you would cultivated parsnips. Sap on sweaty skin which is then exposed to sun can cause a rash that can last for months. 

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Lady’s Thumbs are closely related to Smartweed.

Where I teach classes in South Carolina — Honea Path — a weed that is prolifically under foot is Lady’s Thumb. Unfortunately the names of it and related species are constantly being changed and shuffled between two genera, Polygonum and Persicaria. This is understandable as the resemblance between the two groups is striking. Sorting out your local species requires attention to detail. Close is good enough as I am not aware of any toxic Persicaria though some may increase light sensitivity. As for edibility, test to determine if the leaf is mild or peppery.  The mild ones are eaten as a salad ingredient or pot herb, the spicy ones as a peppery or spicy green. 

From Eurasia Lady’s Thumb is among the most prolific of the group and is botanically known as Polygonum persicaria or Persicaria maculosa. Common names include Spotted Lady’s Thumb, Jesusplant, Smartweed, Devil’s Pinches, Virgin Mary’s Pinch, Herbe Traitesse, Red Joint, Red Weed, Red Legs, Redshank and more. As the stems can get red that explains that. The leaves often have a brownish spot in the middle — maculosa (mack-cue-LOW-sah) means stained or spotted — and that gave rise to the “pinches” as the leaf was pinched by the Devil, the Virgin Mary, and a Lady’s thumb. Herbe Traitesse refers to a tale in which a woman murdered her husband and wiped the blood off on the leaf leaving a stain leading to her detection. Some Gaelic-speaking folks called it Blood Spot. Other populations call it Lover’s Pride and Saucy Alice. A few folks were not as high-minded calling it Devil’s Arse-wipe.  

Other botanical synonyms include P. maculata, P. ruderalis, P. ruderalis, P. vulgaris, P. dubium, P. fusiforme, P. minus and P. puritanorum. Although Eurasian it was wildly reported in the great lakes region by the mid-1800s. This also might account for why various native people were reported using it in the late 1800s when early botanists were investigating such things.  When handling older and or peppery plants make sure to keep your fingers away from your eyes or they will smart hence another name: Smartweed. 

Names aside we do have some nutritional information for the Polygonum persicaria aka Persicaria maculosa (percy-CARRY-ah mac-you-LOW-sah). A 100-gram serving of fresh greens has 0.33 mg of B2 (riboflavin) 60 mg of vitamin C, and 12 RE of vitamin A. The same amount of cooked greens has 0.18 mg of B2, nothing else reported.  Some names suggest the plant might make a yellow dye so there might be some beta carotene which is the precursor to vitamin A. Also know Lady’s Thumb is on the weed hit list of many states either as a noxious weed or an invasive species. It invades 35 crops in some 50 countries. Not all things are bad, however. This plant provides “persicarin”  which might be used in treating severe vascular inflammatory diseases such as sepsis or septic shock. It can also remove more than 60% of nitrite from ground and surface water. The flowers attract bees, wasps, and syrphid flies. Many insects feed on the species including aphids, beetles, weevils, stink bugs, larvae of sawflies, larvae of several moths, copper butterflies and grasshoppers. Most mammals avoid the species at its peppery stage though the white-tail deer will eat young plants and or flowers thus spreading the seeds. Rodents also eat the seeds such as mice, squirrels and chipmunks. Canadian Geese have been seen eating the species as well and three turtles: Snapper, Painted and Slider. 

There are several native Persiaria some of which can resemble P. maculpsa among them the Nodding Smartweed (Persicaria lapathifolia) and Pennyslvania Smartweed (P. pensylvania.) They like similar habitats and have similar identifying characteristics.  P. maculosa has consistently shorter upright blossoms whereas P. lapathifolia has longer nodding blossoms. P. pensylvanica also has short upright blossoms but those of P. maculosa are usually shorter and more slender. P. lapathifolia and P. pensylvanica occasionally have a dark spot on the upper leaf whereas P. maculosa almost always has a dark spot.

And I saved this for last so not to confuse: Persicaria is from Dead Latin’s “persica” which means peach. Persicaria means leaves that look like peach leaves. 

GREEN DEANES ITEMIZED PLANT PROFILE

IDENTIFICATION: A weed to a yard high. Young leaves alternate, are lance-shaped, approximately two to six inches long, just over an inch wide and hairy on the upper surfaces  Older leaves are slightly hairy. Leaves taper to a point.  Leaves often have a purple/brown spot in the middle of the leaf. Stems are branched, often reddish in color and swollen at the nodes. A thin sheath encircles the main stem at the base of each leaf stem. Flowers are spikes at the ends of stems. Individual blossoms are small and usually pink but can also be white. The shiny seed is a disk to three-sided, brown or black. Tap roots are shallow. 

TIME OF YEAR: Warm weather, usually summer. If flowers from about May to October, depending on your climate. 

ENVIRONMENT: Lady Thumb prefers moist to wet waste ground, disturbed sites, meadows, stream banks, roadsides  and well-watered gardens. It prefers acid loam and does not tolerate alkaline soil.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Non-peppery leaves in salads or cooked as a pot herb. Peppery leaves used as a spice. 

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The Western Crabapple. Photo by Ken Morse.

The Pacific Crabapple, Malus fusca, was put in a separate entry because it’s the only crab apple on the west coast of North America from about San Francisco north. It’s a wild apple that manages to survive in Alaska and deserves to be mentioned. (See a separate entry for Wild Apples.) 

The western carbapple has a different shape than the eastern crabapple.

This small apple was highly important to indigenous peoples who lived anywhere near the tree. At least 19 groups — mostly coastal — harvested it annually. As of 1990 many were still picking it. A hundred grams of Pacific Crabapple have 90 calories, 1.2 grams of protein, 1.6 grams of fat, 17.7 grams of carbohydrates, and 6 grams of fiber. B vitamins are B1 (thiamin) 0.03 mg, B2 (riboflavin) 001 mg, B 3 (niacin) 1.9 mg.  A second study puts the vitamin C level at 8 mg, vitamin A 4 RE and potassium 194 mg. As for the rest of the minerals phosphorus 33 mg, calcium 29 mg,  magnesium 28 mg, sodium 21.2 mg, iron 0.6 mg, manganese 0.33 mg, zinc 0.2 mg and copper 500 mcg.  

Malus is Dead Latin’s version of Greek Malon/Melon for apple. Fusca means dark, swarthy, dusky.  Often called “deer candy” as deer are fond of the fruit.

Distribution map, Pacific Crabapple

IDENTIFICATION: Small tree, leaves irregularly lobed, toothed edges, pointed at the end.  Branches have sharp shoots, fragrant apple blossoms white to pink.  Fruits are small, to half-inch, oblong unlike eastern crabapples, and yellow to orange to purplish-red.  Older bark deeply fissured.

TIME OF YEAR: Late fall to after first frost. Often picked when slightly under ripe to sweeten off the tree. However they turn soft after a frost, turn brown, and become sweeter. 

ENVIRONMENT: Moist woods, edges of wetlands, estuaries. Prefers full sun. 

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Edible fresh, cooked and preserved. Can be mixed with sweeter fruits, are made into jelly and are a good source of pectin. They were often preserved with fish oil and also served with fish oil (ooligan grease.) Their acid content also helps in their preservation.  The bark was used medicinally but contains cyanide-producing compounds. 

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It’s easy to see the Coralwood is in the pea family. Photo by Green Deane

Coralwood seeds and leaves are edible cooked. The tree has been used for centuries as food and medicine so why is it controversial? There are two possible answers: Lack of definitions and the habit of the Internet to cut and paste.

Coralwood seeds are usually weigh a quarter of a gram each. Photo by Green Deane

Adenathera pavonina (ah-den-ah-THER-rha pah-vo-KNEE-ah) is an Old World tropic tree. In the New World it has been introduced from Venezuela to southern Florida. The species is a nitrogen fixer, is cultivated for animal forage, is a garden ornamental, has a huge array medicinal uses and dozens of common names. It is safe to say it’s been the subject or many research papers from food to medicine. The issue is raw seed edibility. 

Cornucopia II, a standard published reference, says on page 152 “Seeds are eaten raw, or roasted and shelled and eaten with rice, tasting like soy beans. The husked kernels contain 25% of their weight of oil with a protein content of 39%. Young leaves are cooked and used as a vegetable.”  That’s from the 1998 edition of Cornucopia II. 

The Internet, revealing cutting and pasting from Wikipedia, references an 1889 Australian book that they say says the uncooked seeds are toxic. I happen to have a copy of that book: “The Useful Native Plants of Australia.” It does not say the seeds are toxic. This is exactly what the author, J.H. Maiden, wrote on page 5:

“In India these seeds are occasionally used as an article of food. They are the size of a kidney bean. They would doubtless require boiling, or some similar preparation, for it should be borne in mind that the Leguminosae must be regarded as a poisonous Natural Order in spite of the fact that it yields some of the most valuable foods used by man and beast.”

Heck, in my classes I tell students the pea family is not a friendly one. A lot of species in the pea family are toxic from weeds to trees. What Maiden wrote is far from saying Coralwood has toxic seeds. He wrote a warning in general about the legume family (which also holds true for uncooked kidney beans et cetera.) 

Coralwood is used for firewood, lumber and building houses. Photo by Green Deane

At any rate are doubts: In all the professional studies I read the seeds were cooked. They were made into everything from a nut milk to ground chicken feed. Most of the internet authors who say the raw seeds are edible also say the seeds often have to be cooked to reduce “toxicity.”  That “toxicity” is usually unstated. Perhaps getting closer to the truth a government website in Singapore says “Uncooked seeds (though toxic) have been used as [an] intoxicant.”  Not reported are  the effects of the intoxication. To be on the safe side we should cook the seeds which includes roasting and boiling (which in itself is confusing. Roasting usually degrades a bad chemical, such as calcium oxalate. Boiling often carries a toxin away as when we boil poke weed.)  More digging reveals a possible answer: One study says the seeds “are believed to be toxic when eaten raw.” They think the “toxin” might be a trypsin inhibitor which reduces the breakdown of digested protein thus prevents the body’s utilization of the proteins. Cooking would reduce the trypsin inhibitor.   

Research in the Czech Republic (reported in Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture. 2020. 32(2): 100-108) reports:  “The analyses showed that the lignoceric [acid] (17.59% and 18.24%), linoleic {acid  an Omega 6 oil found in soybean and canola et cetera] (39.80% and 37.88%), and oleic acids [such as found in olive oil] (14.67% and 14.75%) were the most abundant in the oil of raw and roasted seeds, with the unsaturated forms present in higher amounts than saturated. The seeds were found to be rich of vitamin E (33.09 and 15.94 mg/100 g), whereas the contents of vitamins B1, B2, B3, and B6 were rather low. Calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and sulphur were the minerals found in the highest concentrations. Salicylic acid (201.01 and 151.95 µg/100 g) has been detected in higher amounts than other phenolic compounds. In summary, the findings of this study indicate that the both raw and roasted seeds of A. pavonina are good sources of various health-beneficial nutrients, including those reducing the negative effects of obesity. The seeds also contain many phenolic compounds and vitamin E was in four forms: Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma.

Adenanthera is a genus with about 13 species found in India and China. Coralwood is endemic to Southern China and India. It has been widely introduced and naturalized in Malaysia, Western and Eastern Africa as well as most islands of Pacific. It is listed as one of the worst invasive species in Jamaica and it has been classified as an invasive plant in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and many islands in the Pacific including American Samoa, Hawaii, French Polynesia, Micronesia and Australia. 

In the medicinal realm the species has anti-diabetic activity, hypo-lipidemic activity, anti-hypertensive activity, anti-diarrheal activity, anti-cancer activity, antioxidant activity, antiviral activity, anti-inflammatory activity and antimicrobial properties. In India a decoction of young leaves is used for  rheumatism and gout. It is also used for inflammations, blood disorders, arthritis, cholera, paralysis, epilepsy, convulsion, spasm and indigestion. Pulverized wood is mixed with water and taken orally for migraines and headaches. Bark and leaf decoction are used to treat dysentery, diarrhea and tonsillitis. Decoction of the seeds were used in pulmonary infection and externally applied in chronic opthalmia. 

As it is fast growing after the first year it is used for shade trees and firewood as well as lumber for furniture, cabinets, decorative wood products and house construction. The leaves are used for fodder — high in protein, low in minerals — and breakdown easily for green manure. 

Adenanthera is from the Greek ‘aden’ (sticky gland) and ‘anthera’ (anthers.) It refers to the flower anthers being tipped with sticky glands. Pavonina comes from the Dead Latin word ‘pavo’ meaning peacock-blue. While no reference is given explaining the name the leaves are dull green on top, blue-green underneath. Other scientific names for Coralwood are Adenanthera gersenii Scheff, Adenanthera polita Miq, and Corallaria parvifolia Rumph. 

GREEN DEANE’S ITEMIZED PLANT PROFILE

IDENTIFICATION: A medium- to large deciduous tree, A. pavonina ranges in height to 45 feet. The tree is generally erect, having dark brown to grayish bark, and a spreading crown. Leaves are bipinnate with 2-6 opposite pairs of pinnae, each having 8-21 leaflets on short stalks. The alternate leaflets are oval-oblong with an asymmetric base and a blunt tip, being a dull green color on top and a blue-green beneath. The leaves yellow with age.

Flowers are narrow spike-like racemes, to five inches long at branch ends. They are small, creamy-yellow in color, fragrant. Each flower is star-shaped with five petals and 10 prominent stamens bearing anthers tipped with minute glands.

The curved pods are long and narrow to eight inches long with slight constrictions between seeds, dark brown in color turning black upon ripening. The leathery pods curve and twist to reveal the 8-25 showy seeds. The hard-coated seeds, are lens-shaped, vivid scarlet, and stick to the pods. The ripened pods can remain on the tree into the next season. There are some 1600 seeds per pound.

TIME OF YEAR:  Early fall locally, seeds can persist into spring. In it’s native range it peaks in May.

ENVIRONMENT: It likes lowland tropics. Can be found as far north as West Palm Beach in Florida. Can tolerate a variety of soil. Growth is slow at first then very fast. 

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Cooked seeds (usually roasted or boiled) and are eaten out of hand or used like soybeans. The red coating on the seed is not eaten. Boiled leaves are considered a famine food. A nut milk made from the seeds is more nutritious than nut milk made from soybeans. The seeds are roasted in a manner similar to peanuts.    

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