Search: purslane

Sesuvium portulacastrum: Maritime Munch

Young sea purslane

It looks like garden purslane on steriods growing in sand. And it grows all over the local beach, and other beaches in the South and as far north as the Delaware River in Pennsylvania.

Sesuvium portulacastrum (sess-SOO-vee-um por-too-luh-KASS-strum) was widely used by Native Americans. The stems were eaten raw or pickled, or cooked in two or more changes of water to reduce its saltiness. Often these days it’s found in Asians markets. One of the best-kept secrets of sea purslane is that it is a rich source of ecdysterone. Haven’t heard of ecdysterone? It’s an important chemical for molting insects and crustaceans. But, in humans it is reported to enhance athletic performance. That should make foragers out of jocks.

The blossoms stays open only one day

The lowly sea purslane forms an important and primary function in dune creation. Salt tolerant, it sets roots just above the high tide line. Sand-carrying wind hits the plant, slows slightly and drops the sand it is carrying. That helps build the dune and in time bring in other plants.

It is also found down the coasts of Mexico and South America to islands across the Pacific, Australia, Africa and Europe. As for Pennsylvania, it was found in Philadelphia county there in 1865, and presumed to still be thereabouts. On the west coast of the United States (and the salty desert southwest interior) your edible sea purslane is Sesuvium verrucosum.

It is a nice, salty, trail-side nibble. The word Sesuvium comes from the country of the Sesuvii, which was a Gallic tribe mentioned by Caesar. Why the plant was named after that is unknown. Portulacastrum means like the Portulaca, or purslane. In fact Sesuvium was originally put in the same genus as purslane but then got it own genus.

Sea purslane cooks up nice and tender, including the thick stems (remove old dead leaves first.) I’ve never found it too be salty. That said, raw, to me, it has a slightly bitter after taste, but not as strong as a raw yucca blossom. Actually it is a back-of-the-throat feeling that is between slightly puckery and slightly bitter… Easily ignored, and goes away. Cooked it looses that distraction. The older stems can be fibrous though tasty. I chew the pulp off the fiber and spit out the fiber.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION: Herbaceous perennial, thick, fleshy leaves narrow to slender obovate on succulent, reddish-green stems, branching regularly forming dense low-growing stands. Five-petaled flowers, small, showy pink, year round, Each flower opens for just a few hours each day. Leave up to more than an inch long.  S. maritima very similar  but leaves are no more than an inch long and are oblong to spatulate oblong.

TIME OF YEAR: Available year round

ENVIRONMENT: Along coastlines, grows on the ocean side of dunes to the high tide mark.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Raw, pickled, cooked in two changes of water or more to reduce saltiness

Persimmon leaves are ultra high in vitamin C. Photo by Green Deane.

It is the bountiful time of year. This past week, we ate ripe persimmons, creeping cucumbers, winged yams, drying sea grapes, purslane, cocoaplums, sugar berries, fire bush, wild coffee, yellow pond lilies, podocarpus arils, ringless honey mushrooms, milk caps, and a couple controversial Armatillo (solanum diphyllum) 

The star right now is persimmons. Locally they can ripen as early as late August, as late as January though October is prime time. Usually the best ones are on the ground but as the end of the season approaches, sweet non-astringent fruit can be found on the trees. The ringless honey mushrooms are pushing the season, locally they are a common sight the second week in November. (Just remember to first eat just one cooked as a test, not all digestive systems like them.) 

Classes are held rain or shine (but not during hurricanes.)

Foraging Classes: rain become less of an issue for classes as we move into fall, but cooler weather makes itself known.

Oct 21 Bayshore Live Oak Park, Port Charlotte, 9 a.m., meet at the parking lot at Byshore Drive and ganyard Street. 

Oct 22nd Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms, 9 a.m.

Oct 28th, Seminole Wekiva Trail, Sanlando Park, 401 West Highland St. Altamonte Springs, Florida 32714.  9 a.m., meet at first parking lot on right.

Oct 29th  Blanchard Park,  2451 Dean Rd, Union Park, FL 32817 9.a.m. met at the pavilion by the tennis courts

To read more about the classes, to pre-pay or sign up, go here. 

Nustoc is an uncommon find.

Besides the Armatillo, another controversial discussion this week involved nustoc. It is best describe as large green algae one finds in fields or the like, often dried. It can contain a lot of potential cyanide. About the only way to tell if your nustoc is edible is that people locally have been eating it for centuries, as is the case in China and Peru. It is part of some famous Asian cuisine, and is sold commercially. I’ve never had the courage to eat the species I’ve found locally. Worse, scientists think not all of the potential forms of the cyanide is known, thus lab testing won’t prove a species is edible. It’s a case for now of look but don’t eat. 

In the old cartoon series BC, Wiley, a peg-legged curmudgeon, was the strip’s philosopher. One day he opined: “The bravest man I ever saw was the first one who ate an oyster raw.” He could have easily penned “who ate nostoc raw.”  

Nostoc can resemble a pile of disintegrating dog scat. Not exactly appetizing. If you add that there are some 300 hard-to-identify species Nustoc barely creeps into the realm of edible. As one might presume in parts of the world where there are billions to feed they eat it.  Perhaps the easiest place to find locally it is on the ground cover one walks on in nurseries. Apparently it is the cause of much slipping and falls. In the wild I see it now and then in high and dry ground with much water nearby and moisture in the air. It is particularly common near Haul Over Canal on the northwest scrubby side.

Nostoc was a mystery for centuries as folks thought it was alien and was seen after a variety of celestial events. We now know it is an algae plumped up by passing rain. Some flies like to lay eggs in it, apparently with bad effects. An article in the 2008 Journal of Ethnopharmacology reported in the Peruvian highlands Nostoc commune, when eaten as food, can produce the neurotoxic amino acid BMMA. From the Abstract:

Is Nostoc a no-no? Photo by Green Deane

“In the mountains of Peru, globular colonies of Nostoc commune (Nostocales) are collected in the highland lakes by the indigenous people, who call them llullucha. They are consumed locally, traded for maize, or sold, eventually entering the folk markets of Cusco and other neighboring cities. Throughout highland Peru, Nostoc commune is highly salient as a seasonal dietary item, being eaten alone, or in picante — a local stew — and is said to be highly nutritious. Nostoc commune has been known to produce unusual amino acids, including those of the mycosporine group, which possibly function to prevent UV damage. We analyzed 21 different Nostoc commune spherical colonies from 7 different market collections in the Cusco area for the presence of beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), a neurotoxic amino acid produced by diverse taxa of cyanobacteria, using four different analytical techniques (HPLC-FD, UPLC-UV, UPLC/MS, LC/MS/MS). We found using all four techniques that BMAA was present in the samples purchased in the Peruvian markets. Since BMAA has been putatively linked to neurodegenerative illness, it would be of interest to know if the occurrence of ALS, Alzheimer’s, or Parkinson’s Disease is greater among individuals who consume llullucha in Peru.”  This was echoed in a Chinese study pondering its possible involvement with Alkzheimer’s.

Some have argued this is also why you should also not eat Alfalfa or Black Medic because of BMAA. Other studies disagree, such as “Toxicity and bioaccumulation of two non-protein amino acids synthesised by cyanobacteria, β-N-Methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) and 2,4-diaminobutyric acid (DAB), on a crop plant.” (Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 15 January 2021.)  All that said there is a general rule about algae and that is never eat blue-green algae. Green yes, blue-green never. A nitrogen fixer, you can read more about  Nostoc here. 

Has toxic seed oil.

Is it edible? Yes, no, maybe… The Chinese Tallow tree is both banned and championed. It’s edibility is also linked to why it’s even in the United States to begin with.  The tree was imported by none other than Ben Franklin (well… he sent some seeds to a friend.)  The purpose was to use the white external seed fat for making candles which beef suet, tallow, was once used for. Hence the tree’s name in English. In theory that small coating of saturated fat on the outside of the seed is edible. It is also very stable. But there are two problems. It can be very difficult to remove and inside the seed there is an oil toxic to humans. So the fat and the oil should not mix. Some people have experimented with crushing the entire seed and heating the mash thus melting the saturated fat along with releasing the toxic oil. When they settle the edible fat and the non-edible oil are separated.  In China, where the tree is valued, they steam the white saturated fat off. The tree, while an invasive species in some areas of North America — such as Florida — is being considered as a good candidate for bio-fuel. You can read my article about it here about it here. A later magazine article about the species is here.   

Caesarweed is in the hibiscus group.

Caesarweed is a common sight locally but right now it is being a seasonal extrovert and blossoming profusely. Like the Chinese Tallow tree above, Caesar Weed is another plant intentionally imported for industrial use, in its case making fiber for burlap bags and the like. It’s not strong enough to make a sturdy rope like Skunk Vine (which is also blossoming now and was imported to make rope.) But if thrown in water and allowed to rot for a few weeks long blast fibers are left over. The tasteless flowers are edible, the seeds can be ground and used like corn starch, and the leaves have medicinal uses besides being a famine food. Young sprouts are edible raw. Mature leaves are hairy and upset the tummy. You can read about Caesar Weed here or see a video I did on it here.

Young iguana: photo by Green Deane

Seen but not tasted in West Palm Beach were iguanas. This little one watched us as we looked at some deadly Rosary Pea. Iguanas are quite edible and there are several way to capture them. One is to wait for cold weather, they will fall out of trees in front of you. Just don’t do what one hungry fellow did a couple of winters ago. He collected several cold adult  iguanas and put them in his car. As he drove home the heat in the car warmed them into defensive activity. To read more about them my article, Ignite of the the Iguana is here. 

You get the USB, not the key.

150-video USB would be a good end of spring present and is now $99. My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  The USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page. That will take you to an order form. I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. 

Green Deane Forum

Want to identify a plant? Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food.

Now being printed is EatTheWeeds, the book. It should have 275 plants, 350-plus pages, index and color photos. Several hundred have been preordered on Amazon. And it is being printed now. Most of the entries include a nutritional profile. Officially it will be published December 5th (to suit the publisher publicity demands) and apparently to appeal to the winter market.

This is weekly newsletter #576. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page.

 To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Pawpaws are blossoming. Photo by Green Deane

It’s a good time to identify Pawpaw by its blossoms. I see them regularly while driving local roads. Look for pastures along the byways, nice high and dry pastures. Pawpaws are one to two yard high with large cream-colored blossoms. Pastured livestock generally avoid the species. Finding the shrub is not the real challenge. Woodland creatures like the tasty ripe fruit so one has to find AND watch pawpaw to get some to eat.

Wild Garlic will be cloving soon. Photo by Green Deane.

Getting ready to “fruit” is our wild garlic, Allium canadense. The plant is easy to find now in damp sunny areas and by next month will be putting garlic cloves on the top. Remember: if it looks like a garlic and smells like a garlic it is edible. The same holds true for onion, if it looks like an onion and smells like an onion it is edible. We dug some up during our foraging class in Gainesville last week. Their onion roots are small now as the energy in the root is being used to grow the plant and make cloves. What’s more important than their size is that you can transplant them and have a source of onions and garlic for flavoring without having to be reliant on stores. They often grow in profusion, becoming the dominant grass-like plant in a given area. The ornamental “Society Garlic” Tulbaghia violacea, is an edible distant relative of garlic. One can eat the leaves and blossoms, it rarely has a root worth preparing. 

Oenothera laciniata, cutleaf evening primrose

There are two blossoms you might be seeing now. One is the non-edible vine Carolina jassamine (Gelsemium Sempervirens.) You will see it draping over fences and bushes. The other in the southern version of the Evening Primrose, generally considered not edible (but I haven’t proven that to myself.) The northern version of the Evening Primrose, Oenothera biennis, is called a “lost vegetable.” It was cultivated in Europe for about a century. There is a debate whether it is native to Europe or North America. Our Evening Primrose is O. laciniata, or the Cutleaf Evening-primrose. Unlike its northern sibling our local Evening Primrose does not grow tall, is a ground hugger, and is not considered edible. I have been meaning to try a little part of the blossom. A quarter of a century ago Forager Emeritus Dick Deuerling told me it was not edible. That said, Dick had texture sensitivities and said he only ate the “good stuff.” So he could have been saying he didn’t eat it. It’s a plant I’ve been meaning to explore. The natives ate several other Evening Primroses including O. albicaulis, O. biennis, O elata ssp. hookeri, and O. triloba. Another evening Primrose you might find in the northern part of the state is O. fruticosa. It’s not considered edible, either. 

The Toxic Atamasco Lily

What are they? The first answer is they are NOT edible. The second is they are a threatened species. And the third answer is the toxic Atamasco lily, or Zephranthes atamasca . For a threatened species they are seen in a lot of lawns this time of year prompting many emails asking for an identification. These natives like wetlands though a well-watered lawn after seasonal rains will do nicely. The problem with the Atamasco/Rain Lily is that it resembles wild garlic before it blossoms (and even has a bulb!) However, it does not have the telltale garlic or onion aroma. Remember if it smells like a garlic and looks like a garlic you can use it like a garlic. The Atamasco does not have any garlic aroma. It is not edible. All parts are poisonous. And while these in the picture have a pink tinge there are also all-white blossoms.

Two leghorns and a silver lace wyandotte.

Chicklettes: Unfortunately one died soon after relocation, the other three are doing well, having tried this week, chickweed, cucumber weed, purslane and apple. My home made incubator might add more babes this week. Chickweed, from the front yard, was quite popular (and why it was named that. Chicken, even baby ones, like it.) The apple core also received constant attention. These chicks are the leghorns, quite vocal and flighty, will lay white eggs. The deceased chick was replace with a very loud Silver Lace Wyandotte, not a breed I’m familiar with, lays brown eggs. My 15-year-old cat, Couscous, finds them … interesting.

Cherokee rose is not native. Photo by Green Deane

An Asian species sighted this weekend is one that was once considered native, the Cherokee Rose, which is actually an invasive. Botanically Rosa laevigata (Rosa is from the Greek ῥόδον (rhódon) meaning rose and laevitata or (Levis) which is Dead Latin for  smooth or polished. It’s a “climbing shrub” as is Smilax and Nicker Bean. Cherokee Rose is a large nearly odorless white bloomer from the low mountains of China and Vietnam. It was carried to the Americas in 1780 and was reportedly cultivated by the Cherokee thus the name. In 1916 at the urging of womens’ clubs it was made the state flower of Georgia and still is. It  produces huge rose hips to two-inches long though you have to burn bristles off to use them. And as one might presume the rugged vining shrub is covered with mean prickles. Handle carefully. Sugar from the plant has been used to make wine.

Foraging Classes: March is something of a transition month for foragers, it might be the only month of spring here in Central Florida. It is a good month to identify plants that usually fruit in April, often our most productive month.Classes span both coasts this weekend, with a Saturday in Melbourne and Sunday Port Charlotte.

Foraging classes are held rain, shine, hot or cold. Photo by Nermina Krenata

Saturday March 18th, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL. Meet at the “dog park” inside the park 9 a.m.

Sunday March 19th, Bayshore Live Oak Park Park, Bayshore Drive, Port Charlotte, Meet at the parking lot at Bayshore and Ganyard Street. 9 a.m.

Saturday March 25th, Mead Garden, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 na.m.

Sunday March 26th, Eagle Lake Park, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park. 9 a.m.

Bring cash on the day of class or  click here to pay for your class

Deer Mushrooms like wood and cool weather. Photo by Green Deane

An edible mushroom that takes advantage of cool, rainy weather, such as this week, is the Deer Mushroom, in this case Pluteus petasatus. These are bunching mushrooms usually growing on old hardwood remains, either logs, stumps, roots or debris. As often is the case the botanical name is more confusing than enlightening. Pluteus  can mean shed or penthouse. Petasatus is Dead Latin for wearing a cap (meaning) ready for a journey. A relative is called P. cervinus the latter means deer or stag because of that species’ cap color. It is also sometimes called the Deer Mushroom or Fawn Mushroom. These two are edible but are viewed as marginal. One reason is the cap is mostly gills with little cap material. Sometimes it can have a radish flavor. Spore print is salmon to pink. 

My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out and replaced by 171-videos on a 128-GB USB, see right.  The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy especially if social order falters.  The USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page or click here. That will take you to an order form. Or you can make a $99 donation, which tells me it is for the USB (include a snail-mail address.)  I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. I had to stop making them as few programs now will read the ISO files to copy them. Burning a set also took about three hours. 

Green Deane Forum

Want to identify a plant?  Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk about. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food. Recent topics include: Stale Bread and Cod Liver Oil, Killing Bugs with Tobacco Plugs, Eating weeds: Is it safe? Have they mutated? Not the Eastern Red Bug but the Pink Tabebuia, African Tulip Tree, Asparagus densiflorus, Green Deane’s Book… You can join the forum by clicking on the button on the upper right hand side of this page.

This is my weekly newsletter #549. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page. My website, EatTheWeeds.com, which is data secure, has over 1500 plants on it in some 428 articles. I wrote every one myself, no cut and paste. 

 To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Toxic Mexican Poppy photo by Green Deane

White mexican poppy.

No, it is not edible. This time of year you will see yellow Mexican poppy Argemone mexicana in dry areas. Beside railroad tracks is a common location. If the blossom is white it is argemone albiflora, see photo at right. The plants are poisonous — particularly the seeds — but have been used medicinally.  The toxic seed oil has been used to adulterate commercial “vegetable” oil, particularly mustard seed oil (to make it more peppery.) And added to tea and beer for the same effect. The oil however has been used for soap making and fuel.  In folk medicine the Mexian Poppy has been used to treat asthma, the root mixed with rum for stomach pains, the stem sap for toothaches and petals given to kids with various urination problems. The seed oil also has been used to treat  leprosy,  skin  diseases,  indolent  ulcers,  injuries, flatulence, constipation, colic, malaria and rheumatalgia. Extracts reduce morphine toxicity.  Research suggests they might be good for treating liver disease. Alcohol extracts are anti-bacterial particularly against Staphylococcus  aureus  and  Bacillus  subtilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Argemone is from ancient Greek and means “cataract of the eye” as the ancients believed it would get rid of cataracts. Where the plants are prolific they are a common allergen.

CHickasaw plum blossoms photo by Green Deane

This time of year it is easy to spot the Chickasaw plum, the Eastern Red bud and the Pink Tabebula. They all have many blossoms and few leaves.  The chickasaw plum (prunus angustifolia) will have edible fruit near the end of spring, the Eastern Red Bud (cercis canadensis) has small pink blossoms you can eat now and later pea pods, the Pink Tabebulia  (Tabebulia heterophylla.) is mostly just pretty though a tonic/tea used to be made from the cambium. In folk medicine it was used as an anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and for treating cancer

Ice Plant is native to South Africa.

Natives in northwest United States had a saying: When the tide is out the table is set. I use a variation in my foraging  classes: Food is where the water is. Foraging is treasure hunting for adults. An unusual edible you can see from Port Charlotte to Tarpon Springs is  Carpobrotus edulis, the ice plant You can find it on the land side of Fred Howard Park, Tarpon Springs and at the Nature Park in Punta Gorda. Ice Plant resembles purslane on steroids. Definitely not native, it’s a succulent-looking ground cover often put into coastal landscape. Leaves are less than two-inches long, opposite, evergreen, lance shaped.  The plant gets to about a foot high and is drought tolerant. The pink blossom with a yellow center is cactus-like. Leaves are used in salads. Fruits are eaten raw, dried, cooked or pickled or used in chutneys and preserves. Also edible are C. aequilaterus and C. deliciosus.

Beginning brining Osmanthus megacarpus

There are can be many reasons why an edible wild plant is not eaten. Often they were replaced by a better cultivated crop, or they were eaten in other parts of the world but not locally. Sometimes one group ate it but their rivals did not, or one group only ate the seeds and another group only the roots. And sometimes the information was not shared leaving the plant in modern foraging limbo. Foresteria are in the olive family. As far as I know locals only used the fruit of one, F legustrina,  and then to make ink. The fruit is bitter, but so, too, is the common olive without brining. Two Foresteria, F. neo-mexicana and F. pubescens var. pubescens, were eaten raw. A native member of the olive group is Osmanthus megacarpus a.k.a. cartrema floidanum. Which I have eaten after brining and I know a person who eats them before brining. 

After brining a month in four changes of brine.

Brining means soaking the fruit covered in salted water (in this case submerged in a 10% solution) for a month and changing it every week essentially the same processed as fermenting. Salt is often used to reduce tannins and is part of the process of turning Java Plums into wine. One critical element when fermenting or brining is the material you are treating has to be submerged. If any part is out of the liquid it will grow mold. I used a glass plug/plate to keep this fruit in the solution. After a month of brining the fruit had lost its bitterness and had an acceptable taste. The seed is most of the fruit leaving little pulp to eat. It was a lot of attention and time for a small amount of payoff. Then again we don’t eat a lot of plants for their caloric punch. As the forager Ray Mears has often said every little bit fills the soup pot or the tummy. These did taste like cured olives. In a previous newsletter I wrongly called the Osmanthus a Forresteria (whose berries tend to be small, oblong, and often blue/black.

Silverthorn berries ripen around St. Valentine’s Day. Photo by Green Deane

Valentine’s Day was this week which reminds us of Silverthorn. Silverthorn usually fruits around Valentine’s Day. We’ve been seeing ripening berries for several weeks and found a lot of sweet ones this past weekend. Locally it is a very common hedge plant that is rather easy to identify. It has green waxy leaves that are silver on the back with rusty freckles. The fruit is about the size of a jelly bean and light red with silver and gold sprinkling. You can read about it here, and a video here. Also flowering this week and will be fruiting soon is Eastern Gamagrass. A clumping ornamental (and native) it has a frilly flower spike that turns into grains that can be used like wheat if you can get them out of their husk. You can read about it here. 

Foraging classes are held rain or shine, heat or cold. Photo by Nermina Krenata

Foraging Classes: Sticking to the southeast end of the state this weekend, with a class in Ft. Pierce and then West Palm Beach, the latter is more tended to than the former.

Saturday February 18th, La strange Preserve, Ft. Pierce, 9 a.m. meet at the parking lot. 

Sunday February 19th, Dreher Park, West Palm Beach, 9 a.m. meet north of the science center parking lot.

Saturday February 25th, John Chestnut County Park: 2200 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor, FL 34685. Meet at the trail head of the Peggy Park Nature Walk, pavilion 1 parking lot. 9 a.m 

Sunday February 26th, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. Meet at the “dog park” inside the park 9 a.m 

For more information, to pre-pay or sign up, go here. 

You get the USB, not the key.

My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out and replaced by 171-videos on a 128-GB USB, see right.  The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy especially if social order falters.  The USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page or click here. That will take you to an order form. Or you can make a $99 donation, which tells me it is for the USB (include a snail-mail address.)  I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. I had to stop making them as few programs now will read the ISO files to copy them. Burning a set also took about three hours. 

Green Deane Forum

Want to identify a plant?  Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk about. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food. Recent topics include: Stale Bread and Cod Liver Oil, Killing Bugs with Tobacco Plugs, Eating weeds: Is it safe? Have they mutated? Not the Eastern Red Bug but the Pink Tabebuia, African Tulip Tree, Asparagus densiflorus, Green Deane’s Book… You can join the forum by clicking on the button on the upper right hand side of this page.

This is my weekly newsletter #545. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page. My website, EatTheWeeds.com, which is data secure, has over 1500 plants on it in some 428 articles. I wrote every one myself, no cut and paste. 

 To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Wood Violet Photo by Green Deane

A common blossom that’s easy to identify is the violet. It’s cultivated brethren is the pansy. There are a huge variety of violets in North America ranging from field pansies to those that like to grow down hill from the septic tank. Whether wild or cultivated violets are attractive, personable blossoms, usually on the sweet, viscous side. There are a couple of precautions, however. The first is to make sure the soil they are in — either a pot or bed — is wholesome and that the water they are getting is good. If they come from a garden center they might have pesticides on them. The other precaution is a bit more esoteric: Yellow blossoms tend to have a laxative effect. Also notice the leave are somewhat heart shaped, NOT a triangle. You can read about violets here. I have a video about them here.

Swinecress is an easy to identify winter mustard. Photo by Green Deane.

During a class seasonal mustards were also on display. Poor Man’s Pepper Grass is everywhere. Hairy Bittercress was found nearby as was Swine Cress (article here, new video here.) Also well-represented this past week was Shepherd’s Purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris, a much milder relative of Poor Man’s Pepper Grass. They have similar blossoms but differently shaped leaves and seed pods. The Shepherd’s pods look more like hearts than “purses.” One interesting aspect about Shepherd’s Purse is that I personally have never seen it growing south of the Ocala area. It’s found in 18 northern counties of Florida, one west central Florida county, Hillsborough, one southern Florida county, Dade, and throughout North America. It’s just kind of sparse in the lower half of the state. Also not see yet this season is Western Tansy Mustard. You find it in dry, sandy places like

Stinging Nettles are making their seasonal debut. Photo by Green Deane

Our mighty stinging nettles are up. They’re one of the most popular wild edibles.The most powerful stinging nettle is in New Zealand (Urtica ferox) which kills animals and has claimed at least one human life. Our nettle, Urtica chamaedryoides, has a sting like a giant wasp and can burn for days or more. While its common name is a deceptive, “Heartleaf Nettle” its botanical gets to the point, “Stinging Dwarf.” Quite edible but you must handle it with care. If this particular species stings me it is not only extremely painful but a welt develops and the site is sensitive to temperature changes and any liquid for more than a week. The irritant compounds are histamines and acetocholines.  Apparently I am quite sensitive to them though I can eat the plant raw or cooked (crushing the needles disarms them.) Also don’t confuse this plant with another stinging plant called the Spurge Nettle, Cnidoscolus stimulosus (video here ).  That has an edible root but the leaves are usually not eaten. To learn more about the Heartleaf Nettle go here. For a video, here.

The purge Nettle is well armed. Photo by Green Deane

Don’t confuse the stringing nettle with the spurge nettle.The sting of the Cnidoscolus stimulosus, or spurge nettle, is more like a sun burn than a sting. The area it touches gets hot for about an hour, not unbearably so, and then it goes away. If there is a saving grace to its sting, in comparison, it is that the sting isn’t too bad and goes away rather quickly. The stinging nettles (Urtica)  are seasonal, the spurge nettle (Cnidoscolus)  is nearly year-round. It is not quite the problem plant that the Urticas are, but that is a matter of debate and opinion.

Spruge Nettle root, photo by Green Deane

A young mother wrote to me asking how to get rid of the spurge nettle. She said she had a couple of acres and the plants were all over the place, bothering her children and her dog.  I wrote back and said “lucky you. The roots are quite delicious, eat them.” She replied saying that I just did not understand her. She wasn’t interested in eating them; She wants to get rid of them. I told her that I had two good students living very near her who would love to visit her property on a regular basis and dig them up. I added that she could mow the area constantly and in a few years the roots will become exhausted and the plants will die off.

The exchange led me to wonder what was missing? Or better still, what is, as they used to say, the operant factor? That factor is for most people food comes from a store.  Said another way food just does not come out of the ground in your suburban back yard. Even gardeners are viewed as a throwback and a tad eccentric. Here is someone who has a replenishing pantry of a staple crop that must be gotten rid of. Those spurge nettle roots easily could represent hundreds of pounds of wholesome, tasty, starch-based food most of the year that does not have to be purchased or stored. Perhaps it is time to consider a different approach: Train the dog and kids to stay away from the plants, kind of have your plants and eat them, too? To read about the spurge nettle go here.

Foraging classes are held rain, shine, hot or cold. Photo by Nermina Krenata

Foraging classes span mid-state this weekend, from the west coast to tidal water on the east coast. 

Saturday January 14th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 a.m. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park.

Sunday January 15th the Princess Place Preserve, 2500 Princess Place Rd, Palm Coast, FL 32137, 9 a.m. Meet at the parking lot in the middle.

 Saturday January 21th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte, 9 a.m. meet at the parking lot at Bayshore and Ganyard street. 

Sunday January 22nd, Red Bug Slough, 5200 S. Beneva Road, Sarasota. 9 a.m. Meet at the playground.

For more information, to pre-pay or sign up go here. 

Hairy Bitter Cress hays “tooth pick” seed pods.

Weed Seeds: You can plant many weed seeds to get a crop of edible weeds closer to home, if not in your own yard (now you know why my putting-green neighbors loathe me.) Weeds are designed to take care of themselves and do quite well even when ignored. I have planted wild radish, peppergrass, chickeweed, purslane and crowsfoot grass on my “lawn” and they have done quite well. Many weeds can be planted in your garden. Chinopodiums and amaranth are two that need very little encouraging. Make them a row, barely cover the seeds with soil and you will have a mess o’ greens. Mustards are a bit pickier to grow. Their seeds, such as peppergrass, should be stored in a dry area for about four months between 50 and 68 degrees F for optimum germination.  A cellar stairs is just about perfect for that, or outdoors in a Florida winter. Other seeds need special treatment.

My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out and replaced by 171-videos on a 128-GB USB, see right.  The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy especially if social order falters.  The USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page or click here. That will take you to an order form. Or you can make a $99 donation, which tells me it is for the USB (include a snail-mail address.)  I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. I had to stop making them as few programs now will read the ISO files to copy them. Burning a set also took about three hours. 

Green Deane Forum

Want to identify a plant?  Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk about. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food. Recent topics include: Stale Bread and Cod Liver Oil, Killing Bugs with Tobacco Plugs, Eating weeds: Is it safe? Have they mutated? Not the Eastern Red Bug but the Pink Tabebuia, African Tulip Tree, Asparagus densiflorus, Green Deane’s Book… You can join the forum by clicking on the button on the upper right hand side of this page.

This is my weekly newsletter #539. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page. My website, EatTheWeeds.com, which is data secure, has over 1500 plants on it in some 428 articles. I wrote every one myself, no cut and paste. 

 To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Gall on a Hawthorn. photo by Green Deane

Shall we get technical? Most foragers would look at this picture above and say that is a gall. beginners might think it’s a strange fruit .  Plant galls are defined as abnormal plant growths caused by a gall-maker; the gall-maker being certain insects, mites, fungi, and bacteria. Locally Persea Borbornia usually has a lot galls — one of the identifying characteristics — and one particular scrub oak gets galls that look like cranberries. 

Hawthorn in Lithia Florida, usually not seen south of Ocala.

This is a gall on a Hawthorn fruit and is a fungus, Gymnosporangium clavipes, which is responsible for the disease known as Cedar-Quince Rust. The “cedar” in the relationship is actually the eastern red cedar, which is really a juniper, Juniperous virginana.  This fungus must alternate between junipers and a member of the rose family, such as quince, hawthorn, crabapple, etc., to complete its life cycle.  It spends a year on plant in the two groups then a year on the other plant. 

 Hawthorns are an unusual group of trees and can live to 400 yeras old. No one really knows how many species there are two hundred or 1,200. It is safe to say they vary a lot so identifying which one you have can be quite frustrating. The fruit is edible but not the seeds, and the fruit and leaves dried as a tea can be used for high blood pressure. Herbalists say two teaspoons of leaves or seedless berries (or both) made into a tea twice a day is an effective beta blocker and lowers blood pressure.

Ascross the dirt road I grew up on was a large hawthorn with two-inch thorns. Different species of birds would nest in the tree at the same time, because the thorns dissuaded egg and chick predator. Unncecessary tarring and widening of the road eliminated the tree. 

Range of the one-seeded Hawthorn

Historically hawthorns have been used to make hedgerows and “haw” means hedge. The fruit is a source of pectin. In fact one, Crataegus monogyna, the one-seed Hawthorn can be made into a no-cook jelly. Put the berries in a bowl and quickly crush them thoroughly with your hands. The resulting liquid should be about the consistency of pudding just before it sets. It should be that consistency naturally. If you’ve had a dry year add some water to get to that consistency. Work quickly. Squeeze the seeds out of the berries then quickly filter the thick slurry into a bowl. In about five minutes the liquid will jell. Flip it over onto a plate. It can be eaten as is or sliced or sun dried. It will be sweet and will last for many years. Remember just ripe berries have more pectin that over-ripe berries. To see a video on this go here.

Partridgeberry has two dimples where twin blossoms were. Photo by Green Deane

It is the season time for partridgeberries. While they can be found locally they are more a cooler climate species. I used to find them occasionally in Gainesville Fl but saw them often in western North  Carolina. Botanically Michlla repens, the species has been used for food and as a diureticc and for the pain associalted wiht menstrual cramps and child birth. M. repens is a vine that does not climb. It does make an excellent ground cover. The berry is favored by the ruffed grouse hence the name Partridgeberry.

Cattails tops in North Carolina. Photo by Green Deane

If you were starving and came upon a patch of cattails (blossoming now) you would have great cause for celebration. You have found food and water. You will survive. But if you are not starving and do not have all the time in the inter-connected world you just might find cattails highly overrated. It is true that no plant can produce more starch per acre than cattails, about 3.5 tons under cultivation. And it can produce a lot of starch economically if you can mechanize the extraction. But hand extraction is time- consuming and labor intensive. It is also wet, smelly work all of which can be worsened significantly by harvesting in cold weather. So yes, cattails are food but the time demand is such that harvesting food has to be your prime occupation. A similar argument can be made for kudzu. The roots do have edible starch but it takes a gargantuan amount of work to get the starch out, literally hours of steady pounding. It is not a calorie positive activity. It moves you closer to starvation. But, mechanize the process with some hammers run by falling water — or pounding hammers run by a horse fed on an endless supply of grass — and kudzu becomes a reliable calorie-positive food. You can see my video on cattails here.  I also have an article on Finding Caloric Staples with links to relevant videos. 

Turkey, duck and several different chicken eggs, Photo by Green Deane

Though demonized, forgiven, and demonized again eggs have always been a large  part of the human diet. A local farm store has sales that sometimes includes duck eggs which I grew up eating. We also had chickens (and pet squirrels, rabbits, dogs, cats and horses… my mother collected horses and I had to take care of them so much that in 1969 I volunteered for the Army and Vietnam to get away from horses and haying.) I was given three dozen duck eggs from my cousin while teaching in South Carolina a couple of weeks ago, Many Thanks.  A few years ago I noticed that most “survivalist” and or “prepper” sites and articles oddly did not mention eggs which were a prime seasonal food of our ancestors.. That prompted me to write a large article on eggs, birds to fish. You can read it here. 

Mexican Poppy, can also have a while blossom. Photo by Green Deane

No, it’s not edible. Depending on the weather I receive numerous emails wanting me to identify a yellow- or white-blossomedextremely prickly plant (left).  It’s almost always Argemone mexicana, the Mexican Poppy. Some years they bloom as early as Christmas or can still be blossoming in May. The species is found in dry areas in much of eastern North America avoiding some north mid-west states and northern New England. Highly toxic, the Mexican Poppy tastes bad and is so well-armed that accidental poisonings amongst man or beast are few. It is a plant that does not want to be eaten. However people have tried to use its seeds for cooking oil resulting in severe edema (water retention.) Herbalists, however, use the plant extensively (which brings up the importance of knowing what you’re doing.)  Toxicity reportedly occurs only when large quantities are ingested and the plant might have primitive uses in treating malaria. In one study it helped three quarters of the patients but did not completely get rid of the parasitic load. The most common places to see the very prickly plant is beside roads and railroad tracks.

Undeveloped seeds in the Norfolk Pine cone. Photo by Green Deane

The Bunya Bunya and Norfolk Pine are closely related. Neither look good in landscaping though the Norfolk Pine is far more common than the Bunya Buyna locally. They both awkwardly stand out. Unlike cones of the Bunya Bunya, which one finds regularly, Norfolk pine cones are more rare. And like their relative they, too, have edible seeds. During a class in Port Charlotte we saw an immature Norfolk Pine cone. The undeveloped seeds were intensely pine flavored.   The Bunya Bunya fruits about every three years. One sees Norfolk Pines regularly but not their cones. Hopefully this tree will drop some mature cones in August which is also about when the champagne mangos in the area ripen (and rot on the ground.)

Classes are held rain or shine (but not during hurricanes.)

We might have to dodge rain during foraging classes this weekend but that means less heat, always good. 

Saturday May 21st Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 a.m. to noon Meet at the pavilion near the dog park.

Sunday May 22nd, Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga Fla. 32706, 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the bathrooms

Saturday May 28th  Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. 9 a.m.  to0 noon. Meet at the parking lot at Bayshore and Ganyard.

Sunday May 29th Mead Gardens, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  9 a.m. to noon Meet at the bathrooms.

For more information, to pre-pay or sign up go here

You get the USB, not the key.

My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out and replaced by 171-videos on a 128-GB USB, see left.  The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy especially if social order falters.  The USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page or click here. That will take you to an order form. Or you can make a $99 donation, which tells me it is for the USB (include a snail-mail address.)  I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. I had to stop making them as few programs now will read the ISO files to copy them. Burning a set also took about three hours. 

Green Deane Forum

Want to identify a plant?  Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk about. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food. Recent topics include: Fermenting potatoeswith yogurt, make a water filter, nixtamalization at home, Stale Bread and Cod Liver Oil, Life’s a Grind, Killing Bugs with Tobacco Plugs, Eating weeds: Is it safe? Have they mutated? Not the Eastern Red Bug but the Pink Tabebuia, African Tulip Tree, Asparagus densiflorus, Green Deane’s Book… You can join the forum by clicking on the button on the upper right hand side of this page.

Is commercial food catchng up with us? Here you see purslane being sold in a farm store near Olando.

Yellow -blossomed Purslane, raised on the farm.

This is my weekly newsletter #508. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page. My website, EatTheWeeds.com, which is data secure, has over 1500 plants on it in some 428 articles. I wrote every one myself, no cut and paste.

                             To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.  

Also blossoming right now is our local yucca. Photo by Green Deane

Yucca filimentosa

Resembling a white flame in flatwood areas Yuccas are blossoming now. While there are many species our most common  is yuccca filamentosa pictured left) It’s blossoms are bitter… not while you’re eating them but a half a minute later. To bad, as they have a pleasing mouth feel and texture The best thing to do is to boil the flowers for a few minutes that reduces or eliminates the bitterness.After cooking you can chop them and add them to many different dishes including salads.   There are several species of yucca that are edible raw. 

colcannon

18th century cooking can serve foragers well. An Irish dish from that time period is colcannon which for us presents many options as it is mashed potatoes and greens. We could use Winged Yam and purslane. 

Peel, dice and boil some potato. Blanch your greens in the hot potato water if preferred. Mash the potato, chop the greens finely (Squeeze dry) then mix with the mashed potato, add salt, pepper and butter (or cream.) Traditionally Colcannon is made with cabbage or kale though one can use any green. This is a way to use wild greens from the back yard  and extend one’s potato stores. If you add chopped onion greens to the dish it’s called Champ. Of course you can add other herbs. Serve warm or chilled.

Podocarpus macrophyllus. Photo by Green Deane

It’s a long ways to August but the Podocarpus is making seeds and that means edible arils in a few months. The species is a bit strange in that we don’t eat the mildly-toxic seed. We eat the aril next to it which are very grape-like. They can  be used as grapes, eaten off the bush or made into jelly and wine et cetera. The seeds are listed as toxic but I know of an adult who ate two at one time and had no issue. That said, don’t eat the seeds. When the Podocarpus fruits can be something of a guess. Locally I look for them in August. The fruit can last several weeks and are edible even when they begin to dry and look like raisins.  Oddly, in a local park in downtown Winter Park, a few Podocarpus have escaped trimming and have grown into moderate-size trees. Those fruit in December and my only guess as to why is perhaps they are a different species. My video on Podocarpus is here and you can read about it  here.

Blue Porterweed blossoms taste like raw mushrooms.

Do you like mushrooms but want to avoid some of dangers that come with fungi foraging? Then there is a subtle solution: Blue Porterweed. Found in flower gardens around the world and native to Florida the Blue Porterweed earned its name as a source for tea that tasted like porter beer. Someone had the fermenting idea to add yeast and sugar to a lot of tea and get a brew that tastes similar to porter beer, hence the name. The flower garden variety usually grows up and the local native grows horizontally. The blue flowers, raw, have a subtle flavor of mushrooms. You can read more about the Blue Porterweed here. Oh, and how did porter beer get its name? The same way porter steak did. Porters — baggage handles in old central London — worked all hours and needed quick food. Shops set up to meet that need and out of them came several dishes and named items. The leaf tea is and antianxiety tea.

Classes this weekend range from Ocala to Melbourne.Both classes have a lot of folks signed up.

Saturday April 30th,Saturday April 30th Jervey Gantt Recreation Complex, 2390 SE 36th Ave., Ocala, FL, 34471.9 a.m. to noon.  Meet at the entrance to the pool, aka Aquatic Fun Center. To meet the demands of the city of Ocala, this is a free class, If you want to make a donation afterwards that is at your discretion.

Sunday May 1st, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. 9 am. to noon meet at the dog park inside the park. 

Saturday/Sunday May 7th & 8th, 1624 Taylor Rd, Honea Path, SC 29654Honea Path, South Carolina, classes at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. each day.

Saturday May 14th Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a. m. to noon Meet just north of the science center. 

Sunday may 15th, Mead Gardens, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  9 a.m. to noon Meet at the bathrooms.

Candyroots vary in height. Photo by Green Deane

In the realm of plant populations there is endangered, threatened then rare. But there is a huge distance between rare and common. The yellow bloomer to the lft — Candyroot — is not on any about-to-disappear list but one doesn’t see them that often. You have to be at the right place — seasonally damp pine scrub — and the right season, May in Florida but it can be found later in the year.  Candyroot comes in two colors, yellow that can sometimes make it to orange. Native Americans and early Europeans would chew the roots, which have a spearmint-esque flavor, or wintergreen, and to some palates licorice. It’s actually the pain reliever methyl silicate. The tap root is also rather small, so it’s not much of a chew. Kind of like a woodland breath mint. To read more about Candyroot you can click here. 

You get the USB, not the key.

My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out and replaced by 171-videos on a 128-GB USB, see left.  The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy especially if social order falters.  The USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page or click here. That will take you to an order form. Or you can make a $99 donation, which tells me it is for the USB (include a snail-mail address.)  I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. I had to stop making them as few programs now will read the ISO files to copy them. Burning a set also took about three hours. 

Green Deane Forum

Want to identify a plant?  Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk about. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food. Recent topics include: Fermenting potatoeswith yogurt, make a water filter, nixtamalization at home, Stale Bread and Cod Liver Oil, Life’s a Grind, Killing Bugs with Tobacco Plugs, Eating weeds: Is it safe? Have they mutated? Not the Eastern Red Bug but the Pink Tabebuia, African Tulip Tree, Asparagus densiflorus, Green Deane’s Book… You can join the forum by clicking on the button on the upper right hand side of this page. This is my weekly newsletter #504. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page. My website, EatTheWeeds.com, which is data secure, has over 1500 plants on it in some 428 articles. I wrote every one myself, no cut and paste. 

On a personal note, my rent is doubling. I need a place to move to. Currently renting a two-bedroom small house.   Email Green Deane@gmail.com

                             To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.  

What’s blooming now? Wild Pineapple.

Wild Pineapple is very showy when in blossom. Photo by Green Deane

Ice Plant is native to South Africa.

Natives in northwest United States had a saying: When the tide is out the table is set. I use a variation in my foraging  classes: Food is where the water is. Foraging is treasure hunting for adults. An unusual edible we saw this weekend in Port Charlotte was Carpobrotus edulis, the ice plant. It was in a neighborhood near Bayshore Park on Sibley Bay Street. My only other sighting of this species was a few years ago on the land side of Fred Howard Park, Tarpon Springs. You can also find it at the Nature Park in Punta Gorda. Ice Plant resembles purslane on steroids. Definitely not native, it’s a succulent-looking ground cover often put into coastal landscape. Leaves are less than two-inches long, opposite, evergreen, lance shaped.  The plant gets to about a foot high and is drought tolerant. The pink blossom with a yellow center is cactus-like. Leaves are used in salads. Fruits are eaten raw, dried, cooked or pickled or used in chutneys and preserves. Also edible are C. aequilaterus and C. deliciosus.

Enteromorpha some times called Ulva. Photo by Green Deane

The tide was quite low at Port Charlotte so we got to see some sea lettuce, Ulva lactuca, (bottom right) looking like green plastic wrap. Sold commercially it’s one of the more tasty local sea weeds (or as they are called now sea vegetables.) Sea Lettuce is more commonly found after a steady onshore sea breeze. Free floating it starts out attached to a shell or rock. If you find lots of a sea lettuce-like plant  but it’s stringy, not wrapper-like, that is the  Enteromorpha version (photo left). The second thing you might notice about the Enterophrphas besides looking stringy is they are a similar bright light green as the Ulva. Some taxonomists have given up and call them all Ulva or all Enteromorpha. Enteromorpha in Dead Latin mangled from Greek literally means intestine-shaped, Ulva means sedge in Dead Latine or wolf in Gaelic (sometimes a girl’s name.) Both groups are also called Green Nori.  What is native, what is not,  and what are their ranges is officially “unclear.” They can also be found inland at salty springs and also the Great Lakes. As far as I know all Ulva and Enterophorpha are edible. The various Enteromorpha species are E. intestinalis, E. clathrata, E. flexuosa, E. compressa, E. linza, and E. prolifera. Like Ulva, they are edible raw, cooked or preserved. In fact a restaurant at Port Canaveral used to see a Sea Lettuce salad. 

Sea Lettuce is perhaps the best of our local seaweeds.

Since most seaweed is edible, and nutritious, why isn’t it consumed more often? Taste and texture. I’ve collected Sargassum and prepared it many ways. Semi-drying and frying isn’t too bad but Bladderwrack is better, Sea Lettuce better still. Sea Lettuce is about the best in the Americas. Not surprisingly most land animals including birds don’t like seaweed. However, it does make good mulch and fertilizer. So while one may not use it directly in the diet it can still help sustain you with uses in the garden. During Victorian times it was highly used in English agriculture. Here are some of my articles on seaweed: Bladderwrack,  Caulpera,  Codium,   Gracilaria,   Sargassum,  Sea Lettuce, and Tape Seagrass.

Foragers benefit from bad ideas. One of those is taking plants from one place on earth to another. We harvest and eat a lot of local plants that came from somewhere else. One of them is so far from home that it fruits in February.

Silverthorn berries are ripening now.

The Silverthorn is native to Southeast Asia. It came to North America as an ornamental about 200 years ago. Early botanists were sure it would not become an invasive pest because they said the fruit were not nutritious for birds. Thus, the birds would not eat them and spread the seeds around. The problem is no one told the birds that (and if birds did not spread the seeds around in Asia, what did?)  In some areas the Silverthorn is an invasive species and forbidden. In other areas it is still sold as an ornamental. We call it tasty and we has some almost ripe ones Sunday in Sarasota.

Silverthorn fruits ripen about Valentine’s Day, give or take a week or two.  The bush hides the blossoms and they are a bit strange looking, if not futuristic. The four-petaled speckled blossom turns into a red jelly bean-like fruit with gold and silver speckles. They are bitter and or sour until ripe. The shelled seed is also edible. Altogether the fruit is high in vitamin C, lycopene, and Omega 3 fatty acids. And that is a tasty treat in the middle of winter even up into north Georgia. To read more about the Silverthorn go here.

Unidentified shrub with what appears fruit turned into galls. Photo by Green Deane

There are at the least two ways to look at plants: As a whole comprising of parts, or, parts that comprise a whole. This is not a riddle or a paradox. Beginners tend to see whole plants not their parts and experienced foragers tend to see parts that either do or do not make the whole. Beginners will make such mistakes as identifying Florida Pursley for Chickweed because they have a similar shape even though they are very different in size and hairiness. Similar confusion happen with Oakleaf Flea Bane and Plantagos — both have stem threads — Elderberries and Water Hemlock because of similar leaves and blossoms and environment preference. Experience foragers see a whole comprised of parts and it all works or it does not. If a plant were a jigsaw puzzle beginners see the general shape and notice there is a picture. Experience folks see the pieces, the picture in detail and the shape that then make a whole. When you’re used to looking at plants it can sometimes look right but something is naggingly wrong (usually one of the parts, so always be sensitive to that little doubt.) This shrub to th right — still unidentified by me — resembles a Marlberry but… the arrangement and low amount of fruit is wrong (according to Marlberries I have seen.) And the taste of the black fruit was surprisingly palatable whereas marlberries are usually barely edible. The whole of the shrub is suggests Marlberry, the parts do not. Also the fruit seems to become galled and the seed disappears. So it’s still on the “I don’t know list” though it is nursery-raised and I would thus presume probably a native as it was intentionally planted in a park. I’d suggest a Foresteria but it’s fruit is bitter and this is sweet. In foraging “close” is not good enough. 

Classes are held rain or shine (but not during hurricanes.)

Foraging Classes: Classes this week are in Winter Park, north of Orlando, and John Chestnut Park, not far from Tarpon Springs  

Saturday February 5th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 a.m. to noon. 

Sunday February 6th,  John Chestnut County Park: 2200 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor, FL 34685. Meet at the trail head of the Peggy Park Nature Walk, pavilion 1 parking lot. 9 a.m. to noon. 

Saturday February 12th, Spruce Creek Park, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 9 a.m. to noon, meet at the pavilion.

Sunday February 13th,  Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park. 

Saturday February 19th,  Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a.m. to noon, meet just north of the science center. 

Sunday February 20th,  Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the pavilion next to (east of) the tennis courts.

Saturday February 26th, Tide Views Preserve, 1 Begonia Street, Atlantic Beach Fl 32233 (near Jacksonville Fl.) 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the parking lot. 

Sunday February 27th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 a.m. to noon. 

Saturday/Sunday May 7th & 8th,  Honea Path, South Carolina, classes at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. each day. 

For more information, to pre-pay or sign up go here

If you look across local lakes now you will see garnet red splotches on the horizon. Those are maples putting on new leaves. Are maple leaves edible? Yes and seeds, too. Are they prime foraging food? Opinions vary. The delicate samaras (see right) happen to be red but they can also be green. Later the auto-rotating wings will turn brown. Locally the trees are so heavy with seeds they appear red from a distance. As for eating them what you need to do is taste them first. If they are not bitter you can tear off the wings and eat them raw though some folks eat the soft wings as well. If they are bitter they need to be cooked in boiling water, cooled, then tasted. They should be less bitter. You may have to boil them again. Non-bitter seeds can also be roasted or sun-dried. Some Native Americans sprouted the seeds for a treat. I do not know of any toxic maple seeds to humans but red maple (Acer rubrum) leaves and seeds are toxic to horses. That said I do recall we had two red maple intentionally planted in the barnyard. My step-father liked the looks of them. Our horses — definitely leaves eaters — left them alone. To read more about maples go here.

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out and replaced by a 171-video USB. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  The USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page or click here. That will take you to an order form. Or you can make a $99 donation, which tells me it is for the USB (include a snail-mail address.)  I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. I had to stop making them as few programs now will read the ISO files to copy them. 

Green Deane Forum

Want to identify a plant?  Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk about, such as the one to the left. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food. Recent topics include: California Wild Mushroom Parties, A Good Reason To Eat Wild Garlic, Black Walnuts and Amaranth, Sea Salt and Plastic, Wild Mustard? Heavy Metals. Oriental Persimmons. What is it? Pine Cough Drops and Needles, Skullcap, Malodorous Plant? Another NJ Tree, Maypop? Roadside Plant, Unknown in Sudan, Please Help Identify, and Preserving Prickly Pear Bounty. You can join the forum by clicking on the button on the upper right hand side of this page.

Jabuticaba fruit grows on the trunk and limbs of the tree.

In its native Brazil the Jabuticaba is by far the most popular fruit. The Dutch knew about it in 1658. Jabuticaba made it to California by 1904. It’s a common ornamental and there are many “cultivars:” Sabara, Paulista, Rajada, Branca, Ponhema, Rujada, Roxa, Sao Paulo, Coroa, Murta, and Mineira. Per 100 grams Plinia cauliflora fruit has 45.7 calories, 0.11 grams of protein, 0.08 grams of fiber, 0.01 grams of fat and 12.58 gams of carbohydrates. Vitamin A is absent but it has 22.7 mg of vitamin C which is about a third of your daily need. The B vitamins are B1 (thiamin) 0.02 mg, B2 (riboflavin) 0;02 mg, and B3 (niacin) 0.21 mg. Two minerals are reported: Calcium 6.3 mg and phosphorus 9.2 mg. It is also called Myrciaria cauliflora.

It’s a short tree planted in warm areas of North American and a common ornamental in Florida and the Gulf Coast. One is reported to sustain an 18F freeze and continued to thrive and fruit. Jabuticaba means “like turtle fat” referring to the fruit pulp, or, it means “tortoise place.” Take your pick. Myrciaria is from the Greek myrike (μυρίκη) which was the  Greek name for the “tamarisk” a tree that is aromatic. In English it becomes Myrtle. Cauliflora means cauliflower-like. Plinia is Dead Latin for filled, full, rich, whole, perfect, well-equipped. You might remember from history Pliny the Elder and Younger. 

This is my weekly newsletter #493. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page. My website, EatTheWeeds.com, which is data secure, has over 1500 plants on it in some 428 articles. I wrote every one myself, no cut and paste. 

 To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

All Violets in the genus Viola are edible. Photo by Green Deane

A wild edible that’s easy to identify is the wild violet. We ate some this past week in my foraging class.  It’s cultivated brethren is the pansy. There are a huge variety of violets in North America ranging from Field Pansies to those that like to grow down hill from the septic tank, Johnny Jump-ups. Whether wild or cultivated violets are attractive, personable blossoms, usually on the sweet, viscous side. There are a few precautions, however. The first is to make sure the soil they are in — either a pot or bed — is wholesome and that the water they are getting is good. If they come from a garden center they might have pesticides on them. And do not eat the root, it is toxic. Another precaution is a bit more esoteric: Yellow blossoms tend to have a laxative effect. Also make sure your “violet” is in the genus viola. Several plants called “violet” are not true violets and not edible.You can read about violets here. I have a video about them here.

Toxic young Butterweed can make one think of mustards. Photo By Green Deane

It’s time for a warning about Butterweed. We found several examples of this toxic plant during our foraging class last Sunday. I learned it as Senecio glabellus but now some are calling it Packera glabella. This plant can put you in the hospital with serious liver damage within hours. It is not on par with some toxic mushroom but it’s down the same sickening road. There was a case in Southwest Florida just a few years ago. From a forager’s point of view Butterweed can — from a distance — resemble wild mustard or wild radish and like those species favors cooler weather.

Butterweed’s blossom does not resemble a mustard. Photo by Green Deane

On closer inspection it clearly is not a mustard. The blossoms are like yellow daisies, not a four-petaled cross or H like mustards, and the leaves are not sandpappery but smooth nor does it taste peppery or mustardly. Growing in wet spots, Butterweed delivers its load of alkaloid pyrrolizidines without warning. Most alkaloids are bitter. Butterweed leaves are deceptively very mild in flavor and have a pleasing texture. Mustards do not. They are usually scruffy.  Butterweed is in the Aster family which is 1) huge with some 23,000 members, and 2) plants in that family usually are not toxic. It is one of the exceptions and when it is very young it can also resemble edible Hairy Bitter Cress and likes the same environment. However, Butterweed does not have any noticeable flavor, Bittercress does as do the other mustards.  You can read more about pyrrolizidines here. 

Stinkhorn Mushroom. Photo by Green Deane

Populating my mushroom pages now are stinkhorns, the most of them being a gazebo-shaped one called Clathrus columnatus. The other is Phallus ravenelii … you can guess what that looks like. They both smell like a dead body.  When young — the egg stage — they smell quite tasty but when past the juvenile stage smell like carrion (to attract the carrion fly to spread its spores around.) Opinions vary whether Clathrus columnatus is edible in the “egg” stage. I don’t conveniently see them that often in the “egg” stage to give them a try. Phallus ravenelii is definitely edible in the egg stage and has a flavor similar to radish. If you are near mulch and you smell dead flesh it is probably a stinkhorn not a carcass. 

Wild Mustard and Wild Radish look very similar. Photo by Green Deane

Weed Seeds: You can plant many weed seeds to get a crop of edible weeds closer to home, if not in your own yard (now you know why my putting-green neighbors loathe me.) Weeds are designed to take care of themselves and do quite well even when ignored. I have planted wild radish, peppergrass, chickeweed, Bidens alba, purslane and crowsfoot grass on my “lawn” and they have done quite well. Many weeds can be planted in your garden. Chinopodiums and amaranth are two that need very little encouraging. Plant them a row, barely cover the seeds with soil and you will have a mess o’ greens. Mustards are a bit pickier to grow. Their seeds, such as peppergrass, should be stored in a dry area for about four months between 50 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit for optimum germination.  A cellar stairs is just about perfect for that, or outdoors in a Florida winter. Other seeds need special treatment.

Pokeweed seeds before soaking in battery acid

Pokeweed seeds are a good example. Their germination rate is very low, around 6 percent, if not treated. What’s treated? Replicating a bird’s gut. Soaking the seeds in battery acid for five minutes increases the germination rate into the 90s. You can buy the battery acid at auto stores. One container will last you decades. Once treated, plant successive rows of pokeweed seeds and have a lot of pokeweed from your garden. You can harvest the shoots or let them turn into big roots that will send up shoots annually.

No other root has the growth pattern of the Groundnut east of the Rockies. Photo by Green Deane

If you’re more inclined to grow roots consider the groundnut. Just take tuber home, put it in the garden and wait, two years unfortunately but they will produce and produce well. Twenty years ago agriculturists at the University of Louisiana were trying hard to make the groundnut a commercial crop. Unfortunately when the professor in charge of the program retired so did much of that program. You can, however, find cultivars of the species for sale on the internet. Groundnuts can also be grown from seeds, but the process is more involved. Video here. 

Seablite growing near the beach. Photo by Green Deane

My latest planted weed is Seablite, Suaeda linearis, which should be a commercial crop. When I’m asked what wild plant should be cultivated Seablite is always the answer. It has a nice flavor and texture, is bug and disease resistant, has a high germination rate, and is salt tolerant meaning it can be watered with brackish water (a good crop for all those unusable salt marshes.) It is also a seasonal crop and related to Amaranth.

Seablite Seedling. Photo by Green Deane

While it has sprouted in my pots it will be a couple of months before one can easily find it in the wild. A 100-gram sample of a close relative, S. maritima was 83% water, 6.21% fiber (4.78 insoluble, 1.43 soluble) 3.46% protein, 2.18% carbohydrates, and 0.15% fat. The vitamin C amount was small,15.69 mcg but its 3.54 mg of beta-carotene meets half your daily need. Most amazing, however, was Seablite’s calcium content. It was a huge, 2471 mg, almost two and a half times your daily need. 

It’s common to find ten-pound D. alata roots. Photo by Green Deane

Finding edible plants this time of year brought the Winged Yam and the Omicron variation of COVID to mind. In my foraging class last Sunday — in the rain — we dug up five edible Winged Yam roots, Dioscorea alata. Cook them like a potato then eat. They taste like a potato and have a similar nutritional profile but to the pallet they are a little more silky in texture than a potato which can be granular. They are not impossible to find this time of year but they are dying back making them hard to locate. More to the point they die back from the ground up so while one can still find the green vine up the tree where it went into the ground to dig up the root is more elusive. What connection does this have to COVID? They are predicting an Omicon Blizzard in the next three to four weeks with so many people ill goods and services might be interrupted including food. Locally that means Hurricane Mode or where I grew up, Blizzard Mode. It’s unfortunate that this is almost the most difficult time of year to find the Winged Yam (It will be worse in a month, at least now one can find the general location where they are growing from the still-green vines. Finding some now and marking where the roots are could make things easier in the future.)  You cal also plant the alata air potatoes for a future crop. 

Classes are held rain or shine (but not during hurricanes.)

Foraging Classes: It might be chilly for classes this weekend but we will still go foraging. Saturday is in Gainesville, Sunday Melbourne. 

Saturday January 22nd, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. Meet at the picnic tables next to the pump house. 9 a.m. to noon. 

Sunday January 23rd, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. Meet at the “dog park.” 9 a.m. to noon. 

Saturday January 29th,  Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte, meet at the parking lot at Bayshore and Ganyard, 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday January 30th, Red Bug Slough Preserve, 5200 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL, 34233. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the playground. 

Sunday February 6th,  John Chestnut County Park: 2200 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor, FL 34685. Meet at the trail head of the Peggy Park Nature Walk, pavilion 1 parking lot. 9 a.m. to noon. 

For more information, to pre-pay or sign up go here.

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out and replaced by a 171-video USB. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  The USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page or click here. That will take you to an order form. Or you can make a $99 donation, which tells me it is for the USB (include a snail-mail address.)  I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. I had to stop making them as few programs now will read the ISO files to copy them. 

Green Deane Forum

Want to identify a plant?  Perhaps you’re looking for a foraging reference? You might have a UFO, an Unidentified Flowering Object, you want identified. On the Green Deane Forum we — including Green Deane and others from around the world — chat about foraging all year. And it’s not just about warm-weather plants or just North American flora. Many nations share common weeds so there’s a lot to talk about, such as the one to the left. There’s also more than weeds. The reference section has information for foraging around the world. There are also articles on food preservation, and forgotten skills from making bows to fermenting food. Recent topics include: California Wild Mushroom Parties, A Good Reason To Eat Wild Garlic, Black Walnuts and Amaranth, Sea Salt and Plastic, Wild Mustard? Heavy Metals. Oriental Persimmons. What is it? Pine Cough Drops and Needles, Skullcap, Malodorous Plant? Another NJ Tree, Maypop? Roadside Plant, Unknown in Sudan, Please Help Identify, and Preserving Prickly Pear Bounty. You can join the forum by clicking on the button on the upper right hand side of this page.

This is my weekly newsletter #491. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page. My website, which is data secure, has over 1500 plants on it in some 428 articles. I wrote every one myself, no cut and paste. 

 To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.