The Quick Guide to Wild Edible Plants: Easy to Pick, Easy to Prepare

Starches

63 serious wild food foraging requires the collection of starchy plants to provide the carbohydrates essential in our diet. Wild plant starches are the meat and potatoes for the wild food forager. For this reason some of the best-known edible wild plants have abundant starch and have been widely utilized. Some favorites are Groundnut and Arrowhead, and we also include lesser-known sources of carbohydrates. american lotus american lotus (Nelumbo lutea) is the most spectacular of all our native water lilies, with large, yellow flowers the size of dinner plates and distinctive fruits. Immense round leaves up to three feet in diameter die back in the winter to the surprisingly thin rhizomes. For the wild food forager, American Lotus is a great find because different parts of the plant are not only edible but also tasty. This empress of ponds, rivers, and quiet waters is widespread in eastern North America. Although indigenous, it has been a problem in reservoirs , where it can form immense populations covering acres of water and interfering with hydroelectric processes and recreation. A benefit, however, is that lotus leaves provide important cover for spawning fish. There are reports that the leaves are edible, but we have not eaten them. Better known are parts of the root system. Both species of Lotus spread by thin rhizomes. At the end of the season, at least in temperate regions, swollen structures develop at the tips of the rhizomes; these are known as turions. Turions can break off the parent plant and float away to a new location to start a new population. Rhizomes and turions are discussed below. The seeds are delicious and easy to collect. However, they remain palatable for only a short time before becoming indurate (hardened) and difficult to crack. Native Americans stored these seeds and ground them into flour. We have not tried this. Lotus seeds are the Methuselah of the seed Starches 64 the quick guide to wild edible plants world, with seeds known to have germinated after almost two thousand years. In our opinion, eating the fresh, tender seeds is the best way to use these tasty nuts. Two species of lotus occur worldwide—the American Lotus and the Sacred Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), which is widely grown in Asia for food as well as for its religious significance. Sacred Lotus has been introduced to the United States and is found in about a dozen states east of the Mississippi . It has large pink flowers but in other aspects resembles the American Lotus. In terms of wild food foraging, both provide edible seeds and underground parts. Sacred Lotus is cultivated for its rhizomes and turions, which are staple grocery items in most markets in Southeast Asia, where they are sold fresh or canned. Collecting Harvesting the rhizomes and turions is a muddy job. Collect them at the end of the growing season or shortly after frost, when it is easier to move among the plants. With your hand, follow the leaf stalk to the base of the American Lotus (Nelumbo lutea): the massive leaves of American Lotus have a shallow funnel shape. White flowers appear in mid- to late summer. 65 Starches (a) The mature fruit of American Lotus. No other native plant has a fruit like this—a funnel-shaped, spongy structure with embedded seeds, the whole resembling a shower head. (b) Three stages of seeds: On the left are the extremely hard, mature seeds. Those on the right are edible and delicious. Within a week to ten days, the seeds harden. a b 66 Sacred Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera): unlike the American Lotus, Sacred Lotus has pink flowers. recipe Lotus Chips The flavor of the turions and rhizomes is unremarkable, but their interesting pattern makes them attractive. A simple way to prepare them is to cut the rhizomes and turions to make “wheels” ½ inch wide. Fry these in vegetable oil until crisp, taking care not to burn. the quick guide to wild edible plants 66 67 Starches plant, where it is attached to the rhizome. Rhizomes can simply be pulled out of the mud. For turions, follow the rhizome until you find the swollen structure. A large number of turions can be collected in a short time. arrowhead anyone seriously interested in finding a dependable, tasty starch source needs to know this freshwater wetland plant found all across the continent. Not only does it form large populations, Arrowhead...