Edible Wild Plants

Skill Level 2
Nature
Conference Year of Introduction: 1970

Contents

The Edible Wild Plants Honor is a component of the Wilderness Master Award .

Introduction[edit]
There are at least three approaches to finding edible wild plants in your area. The first is to
look through a list of edible wild plants that should be available in your area, and then go out
and try to find some of them. The second approach is to go out and identify what plants are
around you, determine their identity, and then find out if they are edible by looking them up
in a good field guide (not by tasting them!). The third approach is to take a class, with field
trips, on the subject. Having friends interested in it is helpful too. You tend to build on what
each one finds out.

Because a surprising number of plants are edible, the second approach is far more likely to
yield successful results. I cannot tell you how long I struggled with the first approach,
searching for the likes of Jerusalem Artichokes or Groundnuts without success, all the while
overlooking Hazels, Sarsaparilla, and Bunchberry. All my field guides indicated that
Jerusalem Artichokes and Groundnuts should both grow in my area, but it was years before
I ever saw either. I did manage to find more than 15 edible plants using the first technique,
but it was indeed a struggle. Sometime later I began trying to identify every plant I saw -
only a few at a time of course. I found myself entering information into this online key - and
when I got a hit, I would recognize that plant as one that I had seen in an edible wild plant
field guide, but had not been looking for. I soon learned that many - perhaps half - of the
plants in my yard are edible. Of course I also found many that are not edible, and several
that are poisonous (just so you don't go around thinking that since many plants are edible,
it's harmless to eat something you have not identified - it is not.)
By attempting to identify the plants I had found rather than trying to find the plants I had
identified, I found many, many more edible plants in a much shorter time (and several
inedible and poisonous plants as well). It has made me a better Pathfinder.

If you opt to use the second approach, I urge you to review the requirements for
the Flowers, Flowers - Advanced, Seeds, and Seeds - Advanced honors as well. You can
meet many requirements of all these honors at the same time.

Also in some plants one part is edible and another part is poisonous. A grocery store
example of this is cherries. The fruit is very good, but the seeds contain cyanide which is
deadly if you eat enough. The leaves are likewise poisonous and have been known to kill
cattle. Just because one part of a plant is edible does not mean that the whole plant is good
to eat, and just because a plant is listed as edible does not mean that it is not poisonous.

Some plants are edible only in certain stages of growth. Some examples are: Bracken fern
is not edible after the fiddle head stage. Nettles can cause kidney problems in some people
if they are mature (seed growing on the stalk). Yucca stalk (Hesperoyucca whipplei ) gets
too many bitter saponins to be palatable as it matures into a flower head. Be careful.

1. Photograph, collect pictures of or sketch fifteen edible

wild plants. Identify each plant in the wild.[edit]
Several wild edible plants are presented here. I have included the plants with which I am
most familiar, meaning that most of them are available in the Eastern United States, though
we are in the process of adding more plants from the Western U.S. To make this section
more universal, please add plants from your own area. This should be done by creating a
separate page for the plant and including it thusly:

{{:Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/New Plant}}

Save the page, and then click on the red link you just made to create the new page (or let
someone else do that - just knowing which plant to include is a great help). If you choose to
add content to the new page, please use the EWP template to maintain uniformity. See the
discussion page of the EWP template for its usage, or look at an existing page that uses it
(which would be all of the ones below).

Lepidium virginicum - Virginia pe
Description: Virginia pepperweed's most identifiable characteristic are its racemes, which come from th
The racemes give Virginia pepperweed the appearance of a bottlebrush. On the racemes are first small
seedpods. The entire plant is generally between 10 and 50 cm tall. The leaves on the stems of Virginia p
lanceolate and get larger as they approach the base. Note that all parts of the plant have a peppery taste

Where found: Throughout the United States.

Use: The leaves can be boiled for 10 minutes and used as greens. The seeds make a good substitute fo

Bladder Campion

Description: The calyx of the flower is a balloon-like structure shaped like a melon. The flowers are dee

Where found: Found in Canada, south to Missouri, east to Virginia. Grows in dry ground, along roadside

Availability: Spring

Use: Collect the leaves in early spring before the plant is more than a couple of inches high (5 cm). Boil
eat them as greens.

Typha latifolia - Cattail
Where found: in wetlands throughout the Northern Hemisphere

Availability: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall

Use: In early spring, the shoots and stalks can be pulled up and eaten raw or boiled for 15 minutes. In
gathered just before they break out of their papery sheaths, boiled for a few minutes, buttered, and eaten
summer, the spikes produce large quantities of pollen which can be gathered by covering the top of the p
it, and shaking vigorously. The pollen can be used as flour when mixed half and half with wheat flour. In
gathered. Wash them and then soak them in a bucket of water. While still submerged, crush them to rem
let the starchy portion of the root settle to the bottom. Skim off the fiber, strain out the water, and use as

Chicory

Description: Chicory is a spindly plant with purple (though sometimes pink or white) flowers. The petals
and numerous. The flowers fold up in the afternoon, opening again in the morning.

Where found: Originating from Europe, it was naturalized in North America, where it has become a wide

Availability: Early spring (leaves), Fall to Spring (roots)

Use: The roots are washed, roasted, ground, and brewed as a coffee substitute (use 1.5 tsp per cup o
underground portion of the leaves are an excellent addition to salads, and the green above-ground porti
as greens.

Clover
Where found: Found worldwide in fields and yards

Availability: Spring, Summer, Fall

Use: The flowers can be eaten raw, added to salads, boiled in soups, or dried and ground to flour. The
make fritters. Red clover is shown here, but white clover is just as good (but a little smaller, so it takes m
and stems are also edible in salads or as greens.

Dandelion

Where found: Throughout Asia, Europe, and North America

Availability: Spring, Summer, Fall

Use: Add the young, tender leaves to salad raw, or boil and eat as greens. The roots can be roasted an
substitute.
 Day Lily

Description: The alternating lanceolate leaves are grouped into fans (a clump also containing the roots
day lily is the small white portion of the stem, between the leaves and the roots. The name "day lily" refle
flowers last for only one day. The flowers of most species open at sunrise and wither at sunset, to be rep
(sometimes two or none) on the same stem the next day; some species are night-blooming.

Where found: Originally from Eurasia, native from Europe to China, Korea, and Japan, their large show
popular worldwide

Availability: Early Spring (shoots), Summer (buds and flowers), All Year (tubers)

Use: The early shoots make a good addition to a salad. The buds and flowers can be prepared by boilin
tubers can also be added to salads or can be prepared like corn-on-the-cob.

Evening Primrose

Description: Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) is a biennial (living for two years) flowering plant gro
leaves are lanceolate, 5–20 cm long and 1–2.5 cm broad, produced in a tight rosette in the first year, and
second year. The flowers are pale yellow, 2.5–5 cm diameter, with four petals; they are produced on a ta
summer. They open in the evening, hence the name "evening primrose", and close by the following noon

Where found: Throughout most of North America, excluding the desert southwest north to Idaho, and th
continent.

Availability: Year-round.

Use: The large tap root of the first-year plant can be cleaned, peeled and boiled as a vegetable. The roo
carrot. The first year plants are easiest to find by locating the second year plants first, and then searching
rosettes of the first year specimens. By the second year the roots are too tough to eat.
 Goldenrod

Description: Goldenrods are easily recognized by their golden inflorescence with hundreds of small flow
usually hairless stems. They can grow to a length between 60 cm and 1.5 m. Their alternate leaves are l
margins are usually finely to sharply serrated.

Where found: Found in the meadows and pastures, along roads, ditches and waste areas in North Ame

Use: The flowers can be steeped in boiling water for 10 minutes to make an anise-flavored tea.

Greenbriar
 Description: On their own, Smilax plants will grow as a shrub, forming dense impenetrable thickets. The
other plants up to 10 m high using its hooked thorns to hang on to and scramble over branches. The gen
evergreen species. The leaves are heart shaped and vary from 4-30 cm long in different species.

Where found: Eastern United States

Availability: Spring, Summer

Use: The shoots and leaves are delicious eaten raw on the trail or in salads. They can also be boiled an
as asparagusand greens.

Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/Jerusalem Artichoke

Milkweed

Description: Common milkweed is a herbaceous perennial plant growing from a rhizome to 1-2 m tall. T
parts of the plants produce a white latex when broken. The leaves are opposite, simple broad ovate-lanc
cm broad, usually with an undulate margin and a red-colored main vein. They have a very short petiole a
flowers are grouped in several spherical umbels with numerous flowers in each umbel. The individual flo
perfumed, with five cornate hoods. The seeds are attached to long, white flossy hairs and encased in lar

Where found: Native to most of North America east of the Rockies, with the exception of the drier parts
soils and appreciates lots of sunlight.

Availability: Spring, Summer

Use: The stems, shoots, leaves, flowers, and young pods are all edible after they are boiled in several ch
tastes bitter and is mildly toxic, but boiling removes it completely.

Pickerelweed

Description: Pickerelweed is a genus of aquatic plants. They have large waxy leaves, succulent stems
The roots give rise to rhizomes that allow rapid colonization by vegetative reproduction. Species are pere
of purple flowers in the summer.

Where found: Pickerelweed is endemic to the Americas, distributed from Canada to Argentina, where it
in shallow water or on mud.

Availability: Early Summer (leaves), Late Summer to Early Fall (fruit)

Use: The young leaves, if picked before they unfurl can be eaten raw in salads or boiled for ten minutes
as greens. The nut-like fruit can be gathered in late summer to early fall and roasted or eaten out of the

Plantago Major, or Broadleaf P

Description: The Broadleaf Plantain or Greater Plantago (Plantago major) is a member of the plantago
America, this plant is primarily a weed, though it is edible and is used in herbal medicine. The plant is na
be one of the first plants to naturalize in the colonies.

This plant does best in compacted soils, and hence is sometimes called "roadweed". It is commonly foun
tolerant to pesticides and herbicides. It is wind-pollenated, and a cause of summer allergies when in flow

Where found: Common lawn weed found throughout

Availability: Best in Early Spring, also usable in Summer and Fall, but tough and stringy.

Use: Crushed leaves can be applied directly to the skin to stop bleeding, bee stings and insect bites. Psy
The young leaves are delicious raw in salads. In summer and fall the leaves can be eaten when boiled a

Sheep Sorrel
Where found: Throughout the Northern Hemisphere

Availability: Spring, Summer, Fall

Use: Nibble on the raw leaves - a great addition to a salad. They may also be boiled and eaten like gree

WARNING: Sheep sorrel contains small amount of oxalic acid which gives it its pleasantly sour taste. If e
period of time, however, may inhibit the body's ability to absorb calcium.

Wild Strawberry
Description: Similar to the domestic variety, but the berries are quite a bit smaller, measuring about qua
The Woodland Strawberry was widely cultivated in Europe before being largely replaced by the Garden
and other hybrids), which have much larger berries. Woodland Strawberry fruit is strongly flavored, and i
commercially for the use of gourmets. Unlike most commercial and garden cultivars of strawberries, Woo
runners, and are usually propagated by seeds or division of the plants.

Where found: Throughout the Northern Hemisphere

Availability: Summer

Use: The fruits can be eaten raw or cooked into jellies and jams. It can also be baked into pies. An her
stems, and flowers is believed to aid in the treatment of diarrhea.

Wild Carrot (Queen Anne's L

Description: It is a biennial plant growing up to 1 m tall, bearing an umbel of bright white flowers that tur
after blooming. Very similar in appearance to the deadly poison hemlock, it is distinguished by a mix of b
fine hairs on its stems and leaves, a root that smells like carrots, and occasionally a single dark red flowe

Where found: Waste ground, fields, throughout

Availability: Fall to Early Spring

Use: The roots of the wild carrot can be cleaned and used as regular carrots. They are quite a bit smalle
flavor is unmistakable. It is best to use the roots of the plant during its first year.

WARNING: Do not confuse the wild carrot with poison hemlock. The root of the wild carrot smells like ca
the flower heads are three-forked. Poison hemlock has a smooth, hollow, jointed stem and often has pur
has none of these characteristics.
 Wild Garlic

Description: All parts of the plant have a strong garlic odor. The underground bulb is 1-2 cm diameter, w
main stem grows to 30-120 cm tall. The leaves are slender hollow tubular, 15-60 cm long and 2-4 mm th
along the side of the leaf facing the stem. The flowers are 2-5 mm long, with six petals varying in color fr
It flowers in the summer, June to August

Where found: Northern Hemisphere

Availability: All year

Use: Use the tubular leaves and bulbs in salad or in soups.

Wild Onion

Description: Wild Onion has an edible bulb covered with a dense skin of brown fibers and tastes like an
strong, onion-like odor. The narrow, grass-like leaves originate near the base of the stem, which is toppe
shaped, pink or white flowers. It typically flowers in the spring and early summer, from May to June.

Where found: Throughout North America

Availability: Spring - Winter

Use: Use the leaves and bulbs raw in salads, or cook them in a soup. Basically, use them as you would

WARNING: Though the plant is edible, it pays to be careful in identifying it as there are several look-a-lik
 research before eating plant.

Wintergreen, or Teaberry

Description: Wintergreen (also called Teaberry) is a low evergreen plant that grows in wooded areas. It
and they remain on the plant through the winter until the plant flowers again in the spring. The crushed le
very much like peppermint (or surprise! wintergreen!) It is also used as the flavor of Wrigley's popular Wi

Where found: Primarily found in the Northeastern United States, but it also grows in Minnesota, south to
and north to Maine.

Availability: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

Use: The leaves can be picked and chewed raw like a chewing gum. The leaves can also be finely cho
water to make a tea. The berries can be eaten as well.

WARNING: Wintergreen is endangered in Illinois, so if you find it there, leave it be!

Wood Sorrel

Where found: Occurs throughout most of the world, except for the polar areas.

Availability: Spring, Summer, Fall

Use: Use the raw leaves, stems, and flowers as a refreshing, sour addition to a salad. Steep in boiling w
a tea.

WARNING: Wood sorrel contains small amount of oxalic acid which gives it its pleasantly sour taste. If e
period of time, however, may inhibit the body's ability to absorb calcium.

Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/Cereus repandus

Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/Berberis

Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/Ferocactus cylindraceus

Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/Prunus virginiana

Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/Cylindropuntia

Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/Malus coronaria

Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/Vitis vinifera

2. Identify in the wild five trees and five shrubs which are
edible.[edit]
Trees typically have a single trunk and grow taller than shrubs (which often have multiple
trunks). Some species can be classified as either depending on growing conditions.
Trees[edit]

Acorn

Description: Acorns are the fruit of the oak tree. They are a very important food source for wildlife. Crea
important part of their diet include birds such as jays, pigeons, some ducks and several species of wood
feed on acorns include mice, squirrels and several other rodents. Large mammals such as pigs, bears an
amounts of acorns; they may constitute up to 25% of the diet of deer in the autumn. However, acorns are
such as horses. In some human cultures, acorns once constituted a dietary staple, though they are now

Where found: The oak is native to the northern hemisphere, and includes deciduous and evergreen spe
latitudes to tropical Asia and the Americas.

Availability: Fall

Use: The acorn contains tannin, which is very bitter and slightly toxic. Luckily, tannin is easily removed b
the white oak family have far less tannin than acorns from the black (or red) oak family, so if you have a
first acorns to fall from the tree are likely to contain worms and moth larvae. Most of these bad acorns wi
acorns will sink. At the beginning of acorn season (late summer or early autumn) you will find that most o
 few will sink. As the season progresses, you will find that most acorns will sink and few will float. Once yo
They can be opened with a pair of pliers or a nutcracker. Remove the meat from the shell, crush it into a
pestle or a food processor), and then soak it in water for about a week, changing the water twice a day. I
this process by boiling the shelled, crushed acorns in several changes of water. Native Americans would
sack and then place the sack in a swift stream for several days. If after soaking, the acorn mush is still bi
When they are no longer bitter, spread them out on a cookie sheet and dry them in an oven at 120°C
used as flour or to make acorn mush - a staple of the Native American diet. You can also skip crushing
uncrushed acorns will take much longer to leach.

Beech Nut

Description: The Beech is a deciduous tree growing to 20-35 m tall, with smooth silvery-gray bark. The
and sparsely-toothed with small teeth, 6-12 cm long (rarely 15 cm), with a short petiole. The winter twigs
American trees, being long and slender (15-20 mm by 2-3 mm) with two rows of overlapping scales on th

Where found: The American Beech is a species of beech native to eastern North America, from Nova S
southeastern Canada, west to Wisconsin and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida in the United

Availability: Fall

Use: The nuts can be eaten raw.

Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/Cherry

Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/Hickory Nuts

Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/Maple Syrup

Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/Persimmon

Pine Nuts
Description: Pine nuts are the edible seeds of pine trees. About 20 species of pine produce seeds large
in other pines the seeds are also edible, but are too small to be of value as a human food. The nuts are l
of the cones.

Where found: Temperate areas of North America, Europe, and Asia.

Availability: Fall

Use: Pine nuts can be eaten raw or baked into a casserole.

Pine Trees
Description: Pines are evergreen and resinous. The bark of most pines is thick and scaly, but some spe
branches are produced in regular "pseudowhorls", actually a very tight spiral but appearing like a ring of
point. Many pines are uninodal, producing just one such whorl of branches each year, from buds at the t
others are multinodal, producing two or more whorls of branches per year. The new spring shoots are so
are light-colored and point upward at first, then later darken and spread outward.

Where found: Pines are native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. In North America, they range from
and Hispaniola, with the highest diversity in Mexico and California. In Eurasia, they range from Portugal
Far East, Japan, and the Philippines, and south to northernmost Africa, the Himalaya and Southeast Asi
Pine) just crossing the Equator in Sumatra. Pines are also extensively planted in many parts of the South

Availability: All year

Use: The needles can be eaten year-round. The young shoots can be eaten as candy when stripped of
tender, and then simmered for 20-30 minutes in a sugary syrup.

Sassafras

Description: Sassafras is a small tree with brown, furrowed bark. The leaves come inthree shapes: an o
lobes); and a glove (three lobes).

Where found: Eastern US, west to eastern Texas, north to Illinois, east to New Hampshire.

Use: dig up the roots, peel them, and boil them to make a rootbeer-like tea.

WARNING: Safrole, which is the main component (75-80%) of sassafras essential oil, is now recognized
Department of Agriculture as a potential carcinogen.
 Sumac

Description: It grows to 3-10 m tall, and has alternate, pinnately compound leaves 25-55 cm long, each
cm long. The leaf petioles and the stems are densely covered in rust-colored hairs. The fruit of staghorn
identifiable characteristics, forming dense clusters of small red drupes at the terminal end of the branche
cm long and 4-6 cm broad at the base. The fruit appear during autumn, at which point the foliage turns a
considered some of the best fall foliage around. The fruit has been known to last through winter and into

Where found: From Ontario and Quebec south to northern Georgia and Mississippi.

Availability: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

Use: The fruit drupes can be bruised and then soaked in water to make a refreshing lemonade-like drin

WARNING: Avoid the Poison Sumac tree which is easily identified by its white flowers. Contact with po
(like poison ivy).

Autumn Olive
Description: Autumn olive is a small tree (or large shrub), growing 4-10 meters tall. The leaves are lanc
with a silvery, powdery underside. The berries are about 6-7mm in diameter, bright red with speckles on
are very sweet.

Where found: Native to eastern Asia from the Himalayas east to Japan. It was introduced to North Ame
invasive species.

Availability: Fall

Use: When ripe, the fruit is juicy and edible. It can be eaten fresh or made into a jam. The fruit is small, e
and it has a chewable seed. It has been shown to have from 7 to 17 times the amount of the antioxidant
Lycopene has been consistently shown to be useful in decreasing the risk of prostate cancer.

Blackberry

Description: The blackberry is a widespread and well known shrub; commonly called a bramble in the e
caneberry in the western U.S. growing to 3 m (10 ft) and producing a soft-bodied fruit popular for use in d
jellies.

Where found: Throughout the non-polar regions of the world.

Availability: Fall

Use: The berries are fantastic eaten straight from the cane, cooked into jelly, or baked into pies.
 Blueberry

Description: Blueberries are shrubs varying in size from 10 cm tall to 4 m tall; the smaller species are k
and the larger species as "highbush blueberries". The leaves can be either deciduous or evergreen, ova
long and 0.5-3.5 cm broad. The flowers are bell-shaped, white, pale pink or red, sometimes tinged green
diameter with a flared "crown" at the end; they are pale greenish at first, then reddish-purple, and finally
ripening. They have a sweet taste when mature, with variable acidity.

Where found: Native to North America and eastern Asia.

Availability: The blueberry season typically runs from May to October, peaking in July

Use: Blueberries are used in jellies, jams, and pies, baked into muffins, and are an ingredient of many

Cranberry

Description: Cranberries are creeping shrubs or vines that grow up to 2 meters long and from 5 to 20 cm
and small evergreen leaves. They have dark pink flowers with petals that leave the style and stamens ex
Their fruit is a berry that is larger than the leaves of the plant. It is white when unripe, but is a deep red w
have a very acidic taste.

Where found: Northeastern US, northern Europe and Asia, and southeastern Canada.

Use: Cranberries are usually made into compotes or jellies, but are also baked into muffins, scones,
They are considered too sour for eating unaccompanied.

Gooseberry
Description: The gooseberry is a straggling bush growing to 1-3 meters (3-10 feet) tall, the branches be
standing out singly or in diverging tufts of two or three from the bases of the short spurs or lateral leaf sh
are produced, singly or in pairs, from the groups of rounded, deeply-crenated 3 or 5 lobed leaves. The fr
smaller than in the cultivated varieties, but is often of good flavour; it is generally hairy, but in one variety
crispa of writers; berries' colour is usually green, but there are red variants and occasionally deep purple

Where found: The gooseberry is indigenous in Europe and western Asia, growing naturally in alpine thic
lower country, from France eastward, well into the Himalayas and peninsular India. It is a non-native spe
of North America.

Use: Gooseberries are best known for their use in desserts such as Gooseberry Fool and Gooseberry C
Portugal, gooseberries are very appreciated as a beverage, being mostly used mixed with soda, water o
raw, though many species should be cooked down to soften the spines. They are also commonly used in

Rose
 Description: The rose is a common garden shrub, but it also grows wild in many places. The leaves of m
pinnate, with 3–13 leaflets and basal stipules; the leaflets usually have a serrated margin, and often a few
of the stem. The vast majority of roses are deciduous, but a few (particularly in southeast Asia) are everg

Where found: There are more than a hundred species of wild roses, all from the northern hemisphere a
regions.

Availability: Fall

Use: The fruit of the rose bush (rose hips) are sometimes eaten, mainly for their vitamin C content. They
to make rose-hip syrup, as the fine hairs surrounding the seeds are unpleasant to eat (resembling itchin
used to make herbal tea, jam, jelly and marmalade. They are also used to make pies and bread.

Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/Serviceberry

Spicebush
 Description: The leaves can be either deciduous or evergreen depending on species, and are alternate
strongly spicy-aromatic. The flowers are small, yellowish, with six petaloid sepals and no petals. The frui
drupe containing a single seed

Where found: Native to eastern Asia but with three species in eastern North America.

Availability: Late Summer, Early Fall

Use: The fruits of the spice bush can (as the name suggests) used as a spice.

Fruits and Berries[edit]

See above on Apple cactus, Barberry, Barrel cactus, Blackberry, Bunch berry, Cascara,
Cherry, Chokecherry, Cholla, Coffeeberry, Crab apple, Cranberry, Currant, Date palm,
Desert apricot, Elderberry, Fan palm, Fire thorn, Gooseberry, Grape, Ground cherry,
Hackberry, Hawthorne, Holly leaf Cherry, Indian plum, Lemonade berry, Manzanita,
Mulberry, Oregon Grape, Organ pipe, Partridgeberry, Passion fruit, Pawpaw, Persimmon,
Pin Cherry, Prickly pear, Raspberry, Rose hips, Saguaro cactus, Salal, Serviceberry, Sour
Cherry, Squawbush, Strawberry, Sugarbush, Thimbleberry, Toyon, and Wintergreen.
Beverages[edit]
See above on Chicory, Dandelion, Goldenrod, Lemon aid berry, Mint, Nettle, Pine needle,
Pineapple weed, Sassafras, Sheep Sorrel, Sumac, Wintergreen, and Wood Sorrel
Salad Plants[edit]
See above on Chickweed, Dandelion, Greenbriar, Lambs' quarters, Miner's lettuce,
Plantain, Purslane, Sheep Sorrel, Violet, Wood Sorrel
Greens[edit]
See above on Amaranth, Dandelion, Dock, Filaree, Fireweed, Lambsquarters, Mallow,
Milkweed, Plantain, Russian thistle, Stinging Nettle, Wood Nettle,
Tubers or Roots[edit]
See above on Brodiaea, Burdock, Camas, Carrot, Cattail, Dandelion, Evening Primrose,
Garlic, Jerusalem Artichoke, Lomatium, Onion, Sassafras, Salsify, and Yampah

4. Demonstrate the preparation of wild foods in each of the

following ways:[edit]
a. Boiling[edit]
Any of the greens and tubers may be prepared by boiling.
b. Frying[edit]
Cattail Pollen Pancakes[edit]

Cattail pollen collector

Collect cattail pollen and mix with flour for pancakes. The best results are with replacing 1/4
and 1/2 of the flour with cattail pollen. This will add nutrition and a bright yellow color to your
pancakes.

Cattails are in the pollen stage for about 2 weeks to a month. The season starts the end of
April in the southern areas of the USA and ends in July in Canada or in high elevations.

A good cattail pollen harvester can be made with an empty 3 liter pop bottle by making a 1.5
- 2 inch hole just below the curved part of the bottle on the cap end of the bottle. Put the cap
on and insert the pollen laden cattail flower head through the hole you made. Tap the cattail
stem to release the pollen into the pop bottle. More pollen will be ready to harvest in a day
or two. 2 liter pop bottles work too, but the pollen tends to get stuck in the neck of the bottle
when emptying it. After emptying the pollen, sift the fiber and bugs out.

Clover Pancakes[edit]

Collect about one gallon of clover flowers and let them dry for two weeks (or dry them in the
oven at 250°F for 30 minutes and then let them sit overnight). Once they are dry, grind them
to powder using a mortar and pestle to make a fine flour. This will produce about a cup of
flour. Mix this half-and-half with wheat flour and make pancakes.

Fritters[edit]

 Dandelion flower heads can be dipped in batter and fried to make fritters.

 Elderberry flower heads can be dipped in batter and fried to make fritters. Caution:
Plant stems and leaves contain cyanide.
 Milkweed flowers can also be battered and fried, but they must be dipped in boiling
water for one minute first.
 Black Locust flowers also make excellent fritters.
c. Roasting[edit]
See above for Acorns, Agave, Chicory, Dandelion, Pickerel weed, Pine nuts, Soap root and
Yucca.
d. Baking[edit]
Pie[edit]

Delicious pies can be made from blackberries or blueberries. Wild cherries are not really
large enough for this, but if you find them in quantity, you might make a go of it.

Bread[edit]

Try baking bread by mixing wheat flour with any of the various "wild" flours made from
clover, acorn, cattail pollen, or cattail roots.

5. Demonstrate how to prepare four parts of the common

milkweed or day lily for food.[edit]
This is a highly regional requirement valid only where common milkweed or day lily grow
wild abundantly. Rather than outright waiving the requirement if you live in a region where
these plants do not grow, consider replacing the requirement with something roughly
equivalent (i.e., do you know of a plant that grows in your area having four edible parts?
Cattail?)
Milkweed[edit]

Common Milkweed in flower

Milkweed pods

The parts of a milkweed plant that are edible are the leaves, stems, shoots, flowers, and
pods. The pods must be collected while they are young, and the flowers are not in season
for very long. All are prepared essentially the same way, which is by boiling them in several
changes of water. Boiling eliminates the bitter, milky sap from which the milkweed derives
its name.

Prepare the milkweed by filling a large pot with water and bringing it to a boil. When the
water is close to boiling, fill a small pot with water and bring it to a boil as well.
When bothpots are boiling, place the milkweed in the smaller of the two and let it boil for
about a minute. Pour the water off and then refill the small pot from the large pot. You may
wish to use a ladle to dip the boiling water from the large pot into the smaller one. You do
not want to cover the milkweed with cold water as this will set the bitterness which is mildly
poisonous. Boil the second batch of water for a minute also, drain it off, and refill.
Subsequent changes of water should remain in the pot for a few minutes. After no fewer
than six changes of water, the milkweed should be ready to eat. Add a little butter if desired
and prepare to treat your taste buds.

Day Lily[edit]
See requirement #1 for information on preparing the shoots, buds, flowers, and tubers.

6. Explain how to identify three "odd-shaped" edible fungi

and how to identify the deadly mushroom amanitas. [edit]
Note: The editors of this answer book feel that there is an error in
the official version of this requirement.
More Information

I (John Goude) as a teacher about wild edible plants strongly object to this requirement!

Is it ethical to teach Pathfinders to eat wild mushrooms being that even experts
in mycology have died from eating mushrooms they collected? Where ever I go teaching
about wild edible plants I hear heart wrenching stories of whole families that have been
wiped out by eating wild mushrooms. Do you want to lead your Pathfinders to be part of one
of these stories?

The introduction to Poisons Plants of California says "Of all poisonous plants in California,
toxic mushrooms cause the most serious illnesses and nearly all the fatalities to humans."

Following is a quote from Dr. Peter Gail Ph.D. one of Euell Gibbons literary assistants.

"I have spent 55 years as a forager and at least 43 of them teaching others to
forage, and I don't do mushrooms other than puffballs. Reason? When I was a wet
behind the ears Masters degree student in Plant Systematics at Rancho Santa Ana
Botanic Garden in Claremont California, my mycology professor, the very prominent
Dr. Richard Benjamin, went out one weekend on a mushroom hunting expedition
with one of his buddies, an equally prominent mycologist who was a specialist in
mushrooms. On Monday, he was badly shaken, and reported to us at morning coffee
break that there had been a mishap--his buddy had eaten a poisonous mushroom
and had died from it.
"You can imagine the impact THAT had on me. Even the best, most knowledgeable
botanists make mistakes. So, with mushrooms, it evidently doesn't matter how much
you know. I don't use anything but the Agarics I get at the store and puffballs. There
are others which are not mistakable for anything poisonous. Morels vs. false morels
are a good example of the problem you can have. I leave mushrooms to other, more
adventurous types than myself.

"Peter A. Gail, Ph.D.

Director
Goosefoot Acres Center for Resourceful Living
Cleveland OH
www.edibleweeds.com"

There are highly poisonous mushrooms outside of the Amanitas contrary to what
this requirement suggests.

Some examples:

 Boletus satanas, is reported not to kill you but will make you so sick that you
think you will die.
 False morels, (Gyromitra caroliniana, G. esculenta, Helvella spp., Verpa
bohemica, Disciotis spp., etc.), can be fatal.

For mushroom poisoning reports

 http://www.namyco.org/toxicology/index.html
 http://www.namyco.org/toxicology/tox_report_2007.html
 http://www.namyco.org/images/pdf_files/2010_NAMA_Toxicology_Report.pd
f
 http://www.bayareamushrooms.org/poisonings/lifeordeathsituation.html

NAMA (North American Mycological Association) poster.

 http://namyco.org/images/pictures/warning_poster.jpg
 http://www.namyco.org/toxicology/tox_report_2007.html

Further, mushrooms are no longer classified as plants. Mushrooms are

heterotrophic (get their nutrition by digesting or decomposing other organisms).
Plants are autotrophic (do not digest or decompose other organisms). Most
commercial mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus ) in the USA are grown in manure
and straw. The less popular commercial mushrooms (oyster mushrooms, winter
mushrooms aka enoki and shiitake) are grown on dead wood.

Sulphur

Description: Sulphur shelf (Laetiporus sulphureus) is also known as the chicken of the wood
fungus. It is, as one might expect, an edible mushroom with a taste quite similar to lemony ch
inches across. These shelves are made up of many tiny tubular filaments (hyphae). The mus
been found that weigh over 100 pounds (45 kg). It is most commonly found on wounds of tree
found on yew, cherry wood, sweet chestnut, and willow. Though it does grow off of a living tre
may cause decay. Young mushrooms are characterized by a moist, rubbery, sulphur-yellow b
mushrooms become pale and brittle, pungent, and are often dotted with termite holes.

Where found: Throughout most of the world

Availability: Late Summer to Fall

Use: Slice thinly and add to stews or simmer for 30 minutes.

WARNING: About half of the population has an allergic reaction to this type of mushroom, wi
mushrooms. Due to all of these factors, the mushroom should generally only be eaten when
small amount the first time.

Morel Mus
Description: Morel mushrooms have a distinctive, sponge-like cap. The cap is heavily and d

Where found: Moist woods throughout.

Availability: Spring (usually in May)

Use: Use as a cooked vegetable or sauté in butter.

WARNING: When gathering morels, care must be taken to distinguish them from the poisono
others). However, morels are fairly distinctive in appearance. Eating False Morels in quanti

Giant Puffball

Description: Most giant puffballs grow to be 10 to 70 cm in diameter, although occasionally s

weights of 20 kg. The inside of the mature Giant puffballs is greenish brown, whereas the inte
large white mushrooms are edible when young.

Where found: Throughout North America

Availability: Late Summer, Fall

Use: Cooked vegetable, or use like cultivated mushrooms

WARNING: Cut the mushroom open before using it, and check for rudimentary gill or stem. T
when it is young before its stem grows, but it will have the gills or stem. Also, make sure the i
yellowish.
  Aman

Description: The genus Amanita contains about 600 species of agarics and contains some o
worldwide. This genus is responsible for 95% of the fatalities resulting from mushroom poison
on its own. The most potent toxin present in these mushrooms is alpha-amanitin.

7. What root plant can be dried and ground into

meal?[edit]
 Cattail
 Greenbriars
 Kudzu
 Jack-in-the-pulpit

8. Know at least 8 families embracing the

poisonous or doubtful plants.[edit]
Many plants with edible parts also have poisonous parts. The list below, though
not exhaustive, features plants with poisonous parts (even though some may
also feature edible parts).
 Buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae) - buckthorns
 Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) - buttercups, larkspur, baneberry,
monkshood
 Carrot/parsley family (Apiaceae) - Water hemlock, Poison hemlock or fool's
parsley
 Daisy family (Asteraceae/Compositae) (other than: Asters, Balsam root,
Burdock, Chamomile, Chicory, Dandelion, Golden rod, Jerusalem artichoke,
Oxeye daisy, Pineappleweed, Prickly lettuce, Salsify, Sow thistle, Thistle,
Wild lettuce, Wild sun flower, etc.) - white snake root
 Dogbane/milkweed family (Apocynaceae) - dogbane, butterfly weed
 Legume family (Fabaceae) - Goat's rue, indigo, locust (seed pods), Lupine,
Rattlebox
 Horsechestnut family (Hippocastanaceae) - horse chestnut
 Iris family (Iridaceae) - all are poisonous
 Lily family (Liliaceae)(other than: Avalanche lily, Camas, Day lily, Desert lily,
Dogtooth violet, Indian cucumber, Leek, Tiger lily, Wild garlic, Wild onion,
Yellow bells, etc.) - False Hellebore, Fly Poison, Star of Bethlehem,
Deathcamas
 Mushrooms - many (not in the plant kingdom)
 Nightshade family (Solanaceae) - nightshade, tomato (leaves), potato
(leaves)
 Poison Sumac/Oak/Ivy family (Rhus/Toxicodendron/Anacardiaceae) - poison
ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac
 Rose family (Rosaceae) (other than: Apples, Pears, Hawthorn, Blackberry,
Raspberry, Rose hips, etc. fruits) - cherry (leaves, seeds, bark)
 Soapwort family (Caryophyllaceae) - soapwort
 Grape family (Vitaceae) - Virginia creeper
 Yew family (Taxaceae) - yew

9. What is the cardinal edibility rule?[edit]

Never eat any wild plant unless you have positively identified it and know that it
is edible. Actually, it's not enough to know that a plant is edible - you also must
know what part of the plant is edible, and at what stage of its growth it is edible.
For example, pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) leaves are edible when they
are young and cooked in 2 or more changes of water, but the older leaves,
stems, and seeds in the berries are all toxic. Also Mayapple (Podophyllum
peltatum) are toxic until they are ripe.