Search: sumac

The root of the winged yam. Photo by Green Deane

It was an air potato weekend. During our Jacksonville class we dug up several pounds of Winged Yam (Dioscorea alata) roots, a yam that taste similar to potato but with a smoother texture.

If you can identify the winged Yam you will always have food to eat. Digging them up after the vine dies back for the season requires some hand scrounging to feel the telltale top. (This is always a bit fraught with danger as much soil has broken glass in it. It is safer to identify the root by the vine while in season then dig it up later. You can read more about this staple here. 

Chanterelles have wrinkles not gills.

This weekend also unintentionally was a mushrooming weekend, with several pounds available at our usual Orlando Mushroom Group location. We usually have a large mushroom flush around May but it seemed to hold off until now. We collected several pounds of Milk Caps and Chanterelles. While they can be often be found this late in the season, a huge flush of them this time of year is unusual. Perhaps we will find some in Jacksonville. Saturday.

Sida has ephedrine. Photo by Green Deane

Is it Sida (SEE-dah) or is it Sida (SIGH-dah)? Either either it would seem… There are several members of the Sida genus locally and they blossom nearly all year. This weekend, however, Sida cordifolia was particularly happy. Taller and softer than some of the other genusmates, it’s a plant with a little bit of legal history. Plants in the genus tend to have ephedrine in them to varying amounts. Sida cordifolia, however, is the only Sida species mentioned in the Florida Statutes. If you make a pill using the plant it cannot be given to anyone under the age of 18. I doubt the problem is bootleg diet pills but rather youthful experimenting with ephedrine. Adults can apparently do what they want with the plant.  S. cordifolia is not native. The species I see the most often is S. rhombifolia, which means diamond shape. The lower part of the leaves of that species do not have teeth on them. You can read more about Sida here. 

Winged Sumac. Photo by Green Deane

Our Sumacs are happy. Everywhere you go now they are sporting terminal clusters of garnet-colored berries. It is time to harvest Sumacs for use today or later. There’s a wide variety of Sumacs. Perhas 325 in the genus.  Locally it’s the “Wing Sumac.” In other areas of the country it can be the Staghorn Sumac which I grew up nibbling in Maine. Shapes and quality vary but they always have terminal clusters of garnet-colored berries, give or take a hue. The berries have hair on them. And on the hair is malic acid, the acid that makes apples tart. You can rinse the acid off the acid and make a lemonade-like drink. The berries can be dried, their coating knocked off then ground and used as a spice. Surprisingly Sumacs are high in the B vitamins, including B12, but rather low in ascorbic acid which is nature’s form of vitamin C. I currently have three gallons of Sumac wine working. I hope to bring some to classes next fall. In the springtime the shoots can be peeled and eaten raw or cooked. If you are worried about Poison Sumac it grows only in wet spots, has a much different leaf, and when in fruit has white berries positioned farther down the stem, not terminal clusters. Also Poison Sumac leaves have bright red stems.

Classes are held rain or shine or cold…

Foraging Classes: If you attending the Gainesville class Saturday the weather forecast suggest you dress for nippy weather. 

Oct  7th Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. 9 a.m. Meet at the pavilion near the pump house

Oct 8th Red Bug Slough , Sarasota. 9 a.m. Because of rennovations, we have to meet at a different location at Red Bug Slough in Sarasoata. Normally it is at 5200 S. Beneva Road. Instead we will have to park at Gypsy Street and South Lockwood Ridge Road. Gypsy can be reached by Camphor Ave which runs south of Proctor west of Beneva.

Oct 14th Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405, 9 a.m. meet just north of the science center. There might be a hurricane that weekend. 

Oct 15th  Blanchard Park,  2451 Dean Rd, Union Park, FL 32817 9.a.m. met at the pavilion by the tennis courts.

For more information, the pre-pay for a class, or sign up go here. 

In his book Edible Plants of North America, Francois Couplan writes on page 384: “the leaves of the S. lyrata, Eastern North America, contain an acrid principle and should not be ingested. They have been used to remove warts.” That said I know an herbalist who makes a tea from the leaves and a foraging instructor who cooks the young leaves and eats them. I’ve heard other reports of them being eaten. That can leave a person in a tough spotas to what to do with the plant. To eat or not to eat, that is the question.

This sage made me wretchedly ill.

Another example is also a sage, Salvia coccinea, also known as Tropical Sage. A small piece of the blossom of this species — a very tiny piece, 1/8 inch square — made me horribly sick for several weeks. It attacked my stomach with viciousness and I was go-to-the-emergency room miserable. Coca-cola syrup and Pepto-Bismol combined were my salvation from doubled-over pain.  I was actually “field testing” this plant for edibility at the time, one reason why I am very opposed to field testing. Yet, I know of two people who have eaten the young leaves with no problem. Perhaps it was a personal allergy on my part. I don’t know. But I do know I will never eat any part of that plant again. Ever. Lesson painfully learned. Yet it might be edible, or maybe some folks really do have cast iron stomachs. I know I don’t. Eating this Sage is one of those “you’re on your own” kind of things.

Richardia is generally not edible.

A third plant that falls into the crack between edible and not edible is Richardia scabra, aka Florida Pusley. It is in a genus that has species used to make you throw up. In fact one is called Richardia emetica. That is not encouraging. Some people mistake R. scabra for chickweed, which is a Stellaria, a totally different genus.  The plants vaguely resemble each other if one ignores several details and that fact that real chickweed only grows here in the winter time. R. scabra is a species for which I have never found any ethnobotanical references to regarding edibility. In fact it is one of three common plants that seems to have either not been used by the natives or somehow were not reported. The other two are Amaranthus australis and Hibiscus moscheutos. I know from modern reports that A. australis is edible but as for the H. moscheutos I have no idea though it comes from a very edible genus. Thus R. scabra is not on my site as an edible because I can’t find any historical reference to its use. Curiously the internet now calls it “edible.”  I do know two people who mistook it for chickweed and ate it for quite a while. And I know two people who did not mistake it; they know it is a Richardia and they eat it from time to time. That might be a key element. Without any ethnobotanical reference perhaps a little now and then is okay but a steady diet of it is not. It is one of those unknown things. Sometimes eating little bits of this or that do not rise to the level of making you ill. I know a person who mistook Oak Leaf Fleabane (Erigeron quercifolius) for for Plantago major and ate some for quite a while without an apparent problem. And I have personally seen someone eat a leaf of Oak Leaf Fleabane against my advice. She was still standing at the end of class. While there are some edible wild plants, and there are some that are definitely not edible,  and there can be some fog in between.

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 #575. 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.

Wild Apples can be bitter.

September approaches and that means wild apples. I’ve never met a bad wild apple. There are sweet ones — edible off the tree — and there are bitter ones, often very good after roasting like a root vegetable. Nearly all apples are edible and are clones, well, at least commercial apples are clones. The experts tell us no two apple seeds are exactly alike.  Granny Smith apple seeds will not product a Granny Smith apple. The first Granny Smith apple tree was a unique tree and was cloned, as were all the other named apples we buy in the store or grow at home. Cloning might not be exactly the right term: Cuttings were taken from that tree and grafted on to other apple trees. That’s why it took nearly a century for the Granny Smith apple to get from Australia to our markets in the United States.

Feral apples can be wild or ignored cultivars.

What I noticed as a boy was the great variety of apple trees there were around the fields, old homesteads, and roads where I grew up. Near the house, where our horses could raid it, was an old small wild apple that had green fruit tasting tart to bitter. We made pipes out of the wood.  But, the apples cooked well and the horses liked them as is, right off the tree with a few leaves. Just outside their fence there was a large (I suspect cultivated) tree with apples that tasted similar to a Golden Delicious. Across the dirt road from the house were five apple trees growing near the ditch, offspring of a tossed apple core and subsequent generations. And along a trail through the woods near a sand pit there was an old apple tree where one could usually find deer and or partridge feeding on the fallen fruit. 

I raid this apple tree every year near a general store in Valle Crucis, North Carolina.

I thought of these while hiking the Appalachian Trail. Feral apple trees were common and good. I harvested apples every time I saw a tree. Not one tree looked as if anyone had bothered to collect any apples from them (low-hanging fruit was still low-hanging.)  This latter observation is perhaps the most telling. Humans have been eating apples for some seven thousand years. They are one of the best known foods even among people who never forage. It is difficult to think of a food more recognizable than apples yet they remained unharvested along the trail and elsewhere. Even ardent must-get-back-to-nature types leave them alone. Maybe we are not as hungry as we think we are. I also see mangoes rotting on the ground often. To read more about apples, go here.

Classes are held rain or shine. Tropical storms and hurricanes are exceptions.

Foraging classes this time of year can be difficult to schedule because of pending storms. How much rain during a class is too much rain?  I study the weather a couple of weeks out when scheduling class locations. As Sunday might be wetter near the est coast than Saturday we’ll do the east side of the state Saturday and the middle Sunday. 

Saturday August 26th, Wickham Park, Melbourne Florida, 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the dog park.

Sunday August 27th, Blanchard Park, Orlando, 9 a.m. meet beside the tennis courts. 

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

Some goldenrod tastes like anise. Photo by Green Deane

In blossom now is Goldenrod. It is a bit of a treasure hunt and disappointment. The treasure hunt is that one species is better than all the rest for tea, Solidago odora. It does grow here, has an anise flavor, but is hard to find. It’s reported in most counties but is not common. Goldenrod grows in about half of the United States, southwest to northeast. Other Goldenrod species can also be made into tea, perhaps all of them particularly for herbal applications, but they don’t taste anywhere near as good  In fact, after the “Boston Tea Party” of 1773 halted tea imports colonialists drank Goldenrod tea and even exported some to China. It did not catch on. However, every time I see a Goldenrod I pull off a leaf and crush it hoping to detect the tell-tale anise smell. It’s a golden treasure hunt.The edible seeds and skinny roots taste like raw potato.

Saw Palmetto berries go from green to gold to black.

The “revolting” flavor of ripe Saw Palmetto berries will soon be upon us. I’m not sure they are an “acquired” taste or a tolerated one. You will either be able to eat them or not. Basically they tastes like vomit. To be a little more gracious they taste like an intense blue cheese with some burning hot pepper tossed in. Once you get used to them they are… endurable. But if you were hungry you would crave them in that they have all the amino acids humans need to be healthy. They are good for you even if you don’t like them and should be on the top of every vegetarians list of go-to plants. As with some fruit — Durian for example — the smell is enough to dissuade many people from eating them, hungry or not. Saw Palmetto berries will be ripening for the next few weeks. They start out green, turn to gold this month, then ripen to black, usually in September. If you are adventurous you have been forewarned. 

Boerhavia erecta, a Florida native.

As mentioned above foraging is like treasure hunting. While pedaling once in Apopka I had to stop at an intersection and noticed some Boerhavia diffusa. It’s a common barely edible probably from India or near there. One usually finds it in somewhat trashy ground such as sidewalk cracks, parking lots, and dumps. So when I stopped at the intersection it was no surprise to see Boerhavia growing there. But growing next to it was a white Boerhavia. That I had never seen. And the leaves were more pointed than the common species. A little bit of research suggests I found B. erecta, which surprisingly is a Florida native. It has spread to other parts of the world, however, and is reportedly edible and medicinal like B. difussa. After a bit more research I might have to update my article on the species. Until then you can read about the ruby-blossomed B. diffusa here.

Sumacs are in blossom. Photo by Green Deane

What is that? It’s a common question locally now that sumacs are in bloom. Their creamy terminal blossoms stand out looking somewhat exotic among the dark green foliage. The most common species here is Winged Sumac which is also one of the most widely-distributed sumac in North America.  It is also the only known plant source of B12, but only about 10 mg per kilo of fruit. Sumac found nearly everywhere though in different locales other species may dominate.  Where I grew up in Maine Staghorn Sumac was the common species and grew quite tall. I see them often when I visit North Carolina. The key to making sure you have an edible sumac and not toxic Poison Sumac or Brazilian Pepper is location of the blossom and subsequent fruit. Edible sumacs have terminal clusters of medium to dark red berries covered with fine hair. In this case “terminal” means they are on the very end of  the branch, like the blossom on the left. Brazilian Pepper has pink berries that are further down the branch. Poison Sumac, which only grows only in wet places, has dull cream to green-cream berries also further down on the stem. To read more about sumacs go 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.

is EatTheWeeds, the book. It should have 275 plants, 350-plus pages, index and color photos. Several hundred have been preordered on Amazon. Most of the entries include a nutritional profile. Officially it will be published Dec. 5th (to suit the publisher publicity demands) apparently to appeal to the winter market but can be delivered by mid-October

This is weekly newsletter #570. 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.

Podocarpous arils and seeds. Photo by Green Deane

Podocarpus seeds — on the end — are not edible. photo by Green Deane

Podocarpus usually ripen in mid-August.  Though newly transplanted shrubs can fruit within a few weeks any time of year. And we have also seen some adult trees fruiting between Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

There are two controversies involving the podocarpus. One is that it is sometimes called the southern Yew, which is a different species that is quite toxic, Torreya floridana. The point is if someone is calling your shrub a Southern Yew  you need to know if it is really a yew or a podocarpus. Yew seeds can kill you.

We also don’t eat the podocarpus seed, which is on the end next to the aril. A stem runs through aril to the seed. Decades ago that stem was viewed as harmless. Though some writers in recent times have said the stem is not good for kids to eat. I’ve seen kids eat them without issue. 

Japanese Knotweed. Photo by Green Deane

I am not sure it was with interest or amusement when I read about the Olympic Knotweed Working Group in Port Hadlock, Washington state. They have a knotweed problem that requires organization to combat it. That reminded me of the the Olympic stadium virtually half way around the world in London. It was a site of knotweed infestation and under British law the soil had to be removed and dealt with severely. That added 70 million pounds to the cost of building that stadium. That’s way in excess of  $100 million dollars. Knotweed can break up concrete so it really had to be removed completely where the stadium was built.  In Washington state there’s was an on-going study of how various herbicides and their application can kill of this edible weed.  It’s fairly common in cooler climates and I’ve see a lot of it in the Carolinas. If I remember correctly it is also a commercial source of the anti-oxidant resveratrol. If you want to know more about knotweed click here.

Pindo Palm can fruit almost anytime. Photo by Green Deane

July is passing and that means many different things to foragers depending upon your location on the rotation. In a particular latitudinal belt around the world it means the Pindo Palms are in fruit — my favorite after coconut which also fruit in south Florida. And don’t think Pindo Palms are just a warm region plant. They grow as far north as Washington DC and elsewhere in under protection. Also call the Jelly Palm, they were standard landscaping for every southern home because you can make a jelly from the fruit without having to add any pectin or sugar. However, just as year-to-year production of herbal medicinals change with the weather so does the quality of the pindo jelly. It has vintages. Some years you will have to add a little sugar, other years some pectin. But most years it is just right. I also like to eat the fruit right off the palm. I enjoy the pulp and spit out the fiber. Some folks just eat all the fiber and pulp. The seed kernel even has a good cooking oil in it, is easy to remove and tastes like coconut. Pindo wine is always cloudy, though, because of the pectin, but after 14 glasses you don’t notice

Foraging Classes: I took a weekend off from classes to make a dent in the final edit of my book before indexing and printing. 

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

July 15th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m. meet at the bathrooms. 

July  16th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park. 9 a.m.

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

Peppervine got that name for a reason.

Putting on black fruit now is the controversial Pepper Vine, Ampelopsis arborea. It is closely related to the edible grape but also closely related to the toxic Virginia Creeper. It’s one of those plants that some folks say is definitely toxic and others say definitely edible. My personal experience is that it is not edible but I know some credible foragers who say they have eating the ripe berries for a long time with no issue. No doubt the problem has to do with annual calcium oxalate production. In small amounts it’s tolerable. In higher concentrations it can cause skin problems or internally upset digestion. Pepper Vine (so-called because the fruit can give a pepper-like burn) apparently can make little to a lot of the chemical each year, varying greatly. Another possibility is method of preparation. Some people juice the berries and let the juice sit in the refrigerator which allows the acid to precipitates. The juice is then carefully decanted through two coffee filters and used. Not for me but if you do said proceed with caution. The other caution is that Pepper Vine and Wild Grapes can grow intertwined and you can get some Pepper Vine fruit in with your grapes. This also can happen with Virginia Creeper. Pick your grapes carefully. 

Sumacs are in blossom. Photo by Green Deane

What is that? It’s a common question locally now that Sumacs are in bloom. Their creamy terminal blossoms stand out looking somewhat exotic among the dark green foliage. The most common species here is Winged Sumac which is also one of the most widely-distributed sumac in North America. It’s found nearly everywhere though in different locales other species may dominate.  Where I grew up in Maine Staghorn Sumac was the common species and grew quite tall. I see them often when I visit North Carolina. The key to making sure you have an edible sumac and not toxic Poison Sumac or Brazilian Pepper is the location of the blossom and subsequent fruit. Edible sumacs have terminal clusters of medium to dark red berries covered with fine hair. In this case “terminal” means they are on the very end of  the branch, like the blossom on the right. Brazilian Pepper has pink berries that are further down the branch. Poison Sumac, which only grows only in wet places, has dull cream to green-cream berries also further down on the stem. To read more about Sumacs go 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.

This is weekly newsletter #565. 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.

Damp and tart sumac berries in Cassadaga FL. Photo by Green Deane

It’s time to revisit sumac again. We found some very ripe and quite tart berries during our foraging classes this past weekend. The local sumac is Rhus copallina which is the most commonly found sumac in North America. I grew up with staghorn sumac which is far showier. 

Tall, staghorn sumac in Maine. Photo by Green Deane

The acid that makes sumac tart is malic acid, which is the same acid that make apples tart. People in the past assumed it was ascorbic acid thus leading them to infer that sumacs have a lot of vitamin C which they do not. Their vitamin C contend is modest. However sumac are high in B vitamins. In fact, a report in the Pakistan Journal of Nutrition (2009 pages 1570-1574) says Sumac has half again more vitamin B6 than ascorbic acid. Why don’t we hear about Sumac being high in B6? The line up was B6 at 69.83 mgs per kilo; ascorbic acid 39.91 mgs per kilo.That is a good amount of vitamin C. But Sumac shines in other areas. As for the rest of B vitamins B1 (thiamin) was 30.65 mg; B2 (riboflavin) 24.68 mg; B3 (Niacin) 17.95 mg; B7 (biotin) 4.32 mg, and B12 (cyanocobalamin) 10.08 mg.  

There is another edible part to the sumac: Young shoots, peeled. First year shoots off old stumps are the best, but the spring-time tips of old branches are also edible but not as good. Look at the end of a shoot after you break it off. If you see pith, which is an off-white core, it is too old. Break off that part then look again. You want a shoot stem that is all green inside. Then strip off the leaves and peel the shoot. You can eat it raw or cooked. They very purfume-ish and slightly astringent.

aSimpson Stoppers are quickly ripening. Photo by Green Deane

As mentioned in earlier newsletter Simpson Stopper berries are ripening. In the eucalyptus family, if you crush a leaf it does not smell of eucalyptus but rather citrusy, some think nutmeg, some think a piney lemon aroma. The blossoms are pleasantly fragrant, which helps you identify it from an unpleasant smelling relative, the Spanish Stopper. The sweet, mealy pulp of the orange red, ripe fruit is edible, tastes similar to marmalade with a little bit of bitter aftertaste. We don’t eat the seeds because they taste like an unripe Surinam Cherry.

The genus is closely related to Guavas as well as Syzigums and Eugenias. In the past many species were moved in and out of these genera and at one time M. fragrans was Eugenia simpsonii. In fact, this particular plant has had some 27 genus or species name changes. At the time E. simpsonii honored Charles Torrey Simpson, a naturalist and author in Miami in the early 1900’s.

While we can eat the berries there is a medicinal side. The main constituents of the essential oils of the Stopper are the monoterpene aldehydes geranial and neral. In antimicrobial tests the essential oils exhibited good activity against the Gram-negative bacteria, K. pneumoniae, and against the yeasts C. albicans and S. cerevisiae.

Even ripe Jambul fruit is slightly astringent. Photo by Green Deane

We picked  Java Plums (Szygium cumini) this week right on schedule, (so to speak.) Depending upon the weather and location they tend to ripen from July to September. The owner of the tree didn’t like the flavor of the fruit and had scheduled it for removal so after our foraging class we paid a visit and carried home some of the astringent fruit.I’m making wine out of that. There are a few Jambuls in Orlando and certainly dozens in West Palm Beach. I know they also grow well in Sarasota and Port Charlotte where I think they are naturalized. Both Syzygium jambos and Syzygium samaragense are called the Rose Apple and Java Apple (and many other names as well.)  There also is a Syzygium in your kitchen is S. aromaticum. You know the dried flower buds as “cloves.”  As the species have been in foraging news lately I decided to bite the proverbial bullet and write a second article on the genus, or at least the latest one. You can read that article  here and you can read about the Jambul here. 

Classes are held rain or shine or cold…

Foraging Classes: Heading north Saturday for a rare class in Ocala then Suuday south of Daytona Beach. 

Saturday September 17th, Jervey Gantt Recreation Complex, 2390 SE 36th Ave., Ocala, FL, 34471. 9 a.m. Meet at the entrance to the pool, aka Aquatic Fun Center. At this location this time of year I would expect to find some mushrooms.

Sunday September 18th. Spruce Creek Park, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 32127. Meet at the pavilion 9 a.m.

Saturday September 24th,Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. Meet by the tennis courts.

Sunday September 25th,George LeStrange Preserve, 4911 Ralls Road, Ft. Pierce. 9 a.m.

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

Crowfoot Grass seeds are gluten free. Photo by Green Deane

Crowfoot Grass, which is starting to ripen now, is not native to North America. It’s from Africa where the species is used to make unleavened bread and a frothy beer. While crowfoot grass is easy to harvest — when ripe — the grains are tiny, eye of a needle size. You can collect about two quarts an hour — making them calorie positive —  and they can grow in large colonies making harvesting easy. Usually you collect the grains while sitting and using window screen plastic as a strainer.  The grains have a small amount of cyanide in them but drying and cooking drives that off. Though minute botanically they are a mouthful: Dactyloctenium aegyptium. That means ‘little comb fingers from Egypt.’ You can find Crowfoot Grass from Maine to California skipping the upper northwest side of the country.  

You get the USB, not the key.

Changing foraging videos: As my WordPress pages are being updated the video set will go away.  They are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have a separate copy. The DVD format, however, is becoming outdated. Those 135 videos plus 36 more are now available on a USB drive. While the videos were played from the DVDs the videos on the USB have to be copied to your computer to play. They are MP4 files. The 171-video USB is $99. If you make a $99 “donation” using the link at the bottom of this page or here, that order form provides me with your address, the amount — $99 — tells me it is not a donation and is for the USB. 

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.

This is weekly newsletter #523. 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.

A perfectly ripe tallow plum. Photo by Green Deane

It was mostly a yellow weekend… Tallow Plums, bright yellow when ripe, were in abundance, many waterways are bright with Yellow American lotus, Mahoes are starting to blossom, which are first yellow and later red, Goldenrods are blossoming, and Maypops are fruiting, which turn yellow when ripe. 

American lotus seeds ready for cooking. Photo by Green Deane

Tallow Plums when ripening turn from green to a bright yellow, then darken some as they add sugar and sweeten.  American Lotus seeds are perhaps the best long term storage food in North America. They can remain viable for 400 years. A fully ripe seed has a small plant inside it that is bitter. I boil the seeds like peanuts in the shell, open, split the seed, remove the green part then eat, with some salt. They are not like boiled peanuts but that is the closest comparison. The seeds are far more easy to collect than the edible roots, which are always buried deep in lake or river mud and a long ways from the plant. The one advantage of cultivating this plant is controlling where the root will be.

Edible Mahoe blossoms. Photo by Green Deane

The mahoe is in the hibiscus group and has many edible parts, blossoms, leaves, cambium, and young roots. Blossoms are yellow when they open and if they don’t get pollenated they turn deep red. It’s relative, the seaside mahoe, also has edible blossoms and leaves. Unfortunately both species like to be within about 15 miles of the coast in warmer area, so I see them often in south Florida, the mahoe inland, the seaside on the beach. Blossoms are edible raw or cooked.  

Goldenrod is ruderal. What does that mean? Read the article. Photo by Green Deane

In blossom now and seen last week at Gainesville is Goldenrod. It is a bit of a treasure hunt and disappointment. The treasure hunt is that one species is better than all the rest for tea, Solidago odora. It does grow here, has an anise flavor, but is hard to find. It’s reported in most counties but is not common. Goldenrod grows in about half of the United States, southwest to northeast. Other Goldenrod species can also be made into tea, perhaps all of them particularly for herbal applications, but they don’t taste anywhere near as good as the Anise one.  In fact, after the “Boston Tea Party” of 1773 halted tea imports colonialists drank Goldenrod tea and even exported some to China. It did not catch on. However, every time I see a Goldenrod I pull off a leaf and crush it hoping to detect the tell-tale anise smell. It’s a golden treasure hunt.

A almost ripe Maypop. Photo by Green Deane

One last palatable yellow edible is the Maypop, Passiflora incarnata. One rarely find the ripe yellow fruit because many woodland creatures like them. We saw several green ones in Gaineville this past weekend. The green fruit has two stages. Green with plain-tasting seeds inside, then later with sweet and sour seeds inside, lastly then yellow with sweet and sour seeds. If the yellow ones are not eaten they either dihydrate or rot on the ground. One can eat a little of the green fruit raw, or cook them like a green tomato. The yellow ones can be eaten raw in moderation.  The cooked leaves — which smell like a rubber gym shoe — can also be eaten and have a calming effect caused by their GABA content, Gamma aminobutyric acid.

Classes are held rain or shine or cold. (Hurricanes are an exception.) Photo by Kelly Fagan.

Foraging Classes. On the west side of Florida this weekend:

Saturday, August 13th, 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, August 14th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte, meet at the parking lot at Bayshore and Ganyard Street. 9 a.m.

Saturday, August 20th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 a.m.

Sunday, August 21st, Florida State College, south campus, 11901 Beach Blvd.,  Jacksonville, 32246. We meet at Building A next to the administration parking lot.  9 a.m.

For more information, the pre-pay for a class, or sign up go here. 

Eating Saw Palmetto fruit is a challenge.

Also turning yellow this month but far less palatable are Saw Palmetto berries. This month they usually change from green to golden and by September from gold to black. That’s when they are at their best and taste like vomit. Dehydrating them or soaking in vodka does not improve them much, but they have all the essential amino acids we need so they are good for you, you just have to learn to tolerate the flavor… like an intense blue cheese with at lot of hot pepper. Find them soon or the poaching industry will take them. One thing I have never tried and our readers who are chefs might, is using them for flavoring. Their initial flavor is intense and sweet. I will dry some this year for powdering, maybe mix with salt. 

You get the USB, not the key.

Changing foraging videos: As my WordPress pages are being updated the video set will go away.  They are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have a separate copy. The DVD format, however, is becoming outdated. Those 135 videos plus 36 more are now available on a USB drive. While the videos were played from the DVDs the videos on the USB have to be copied to your computer to play. They are MP4 files. The 171-video USB is $99. If you make a $99 “donation” using the link at the bottom of this page or here, that order form provides me with your address, the amount — $99 — tells me it is not a donation and is for the USB. 

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.

Boerhavia erecta. Photo by Green Deane

As mentioned above foraging is like treasure hunting. While pedaling once in Apopka I had to stop at an intersection and noticed some Boerhavia diffusa. It’s a common barely edible probably from India or near there. One usually finds it in somewhat trashy ground such as sidewalk cracks, parking lots, and dumps. So when I stopped at the intersection it was no surprise to see Boerhavia growing there. But growing next to it was a white Boerhavia. That I had never seen. And the leaves were more pointed than the common species. A little bit of research suggests I found B. erecta, which surprisingly is a Florida native. It has spread to other parts of the world, however, and is reportedly edible and medicinal like B. difussa. After a bit more research I might have to update my article on the species. Until then you can read about the ruby-blossomed B. diffusa here.

Sumacs are in blossom. Photo by Green Deane

What is that? It’s a common question locally now that sumacs are in bloom. Their creamy terminal blossoms stand out looking somewhat exotic among the dark green foliage. The most common species here is Winged Sumac which is also one of the most widely-distributed sumac in North America. It’s found nearly everywhere though in different locales other species may dominate.  Where I grew up in Maine Staghorn Sumac was the common species and grew quite tall. I see them often when I visit North Carolina. The key to making sure you have an edible sumac and not toxic Poison Sumac or Brazilian Pepper is location of the blossom and subsequent fruit. Edible sumacs have terminal clusters of medium to dark red berries covered with fine hair. In this case “terminal” means they are on the very end of  the branch, like the blossom on the left. Brazilian Pepper has pink berries that are further down the branch. Poison Sumac, which only grows only in wet places, has dull cream to green-cream berries also further down on the stem. To read more about sumacs go here. 

Poison ivy is itchy and lasts or days.

Me and Poison Ivy. My mother was highly resistant to it. I am not. In fact it is quite predictable. Get exposed Sunday Morning, I will have skin eruptions Tuesday morning, some 48 hours later. In our foraging class in Gaineville Sunday I dug up some winged yams among poison Ivy. As there was no detergent and water around I used hand sanitizer on exposed parts. I feel lucky to only have it on my right hand and wrist. Think of poison ivy oil as an invisible bike chain grease. It requires more than washing but rubbing off as well. Current thinking is everyone is born with a certain amount of resistance to it and each exposure reduces that resistance. Folks who think they are immune are the ones who usually end up in the hospital with it because they don’t avoid poison ivy. What the oil does is make proteins in live skin cells sticky, and then the body can’t communicate with the stuck cells thus chooses to get rid of them. I once got poison ivy from the feathers of a duck. (You can also get it from pet fur.) Only humans, some primates and guinea pigs get poison ivy. 

This is weekly newsletter #519, 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.

Dwarf Plantain, one of several Plantagos found locally. Photo by Green Deane

Plantago rugulii is a large local plantago. Photo by Green Deane

There are Plantains that look like tough bananas and there are Plantains that are low and leafy plants. They are not related. Just two different groups with the same common name. Low-growing Plantains can be native or non-native. The one pictured above is native, the Dwarf Plantain. As a genus the plants are well-known. The leaves are edible raw when young. As they age they become more bitter and stringy. Cooking makes them palatable up to a point. Then they move into the astringent medical realm. As such they are used on bites, stings and to help puncture wounds heal. The seeds are edible once produced and are the source of the commercial dietary fiber, psyllium. When finely ground and flavored the seeds are sold under the brand name Metamucil. There are numerous species of Plantagos (Plantains) with at least four common locally, P. virginiana, P. major, P. lanceolata and P. rugelii the latter which strongly resembles P. major. They are all used the same way. (P. rugelii is pink at the base of the stem.)

Oakleaf Flea Bane, not edible but good for pets’ beds.

One problem beginning foragers have is confusing young Oakleaf Fleabane leaves for Dwarf Plantain leaves (they are both rosette-ish, low-growing green leaves, hairy with fibrous threads in the stem.) But the Dwarf Plantain is essentially a long skinny hairy leaf with a few teeth. The Oakleaf Fleabane is much fatter, has lobes, and does resemble oak leaves found on more northern species. Of course when they blossom their difference is quite obsvious. Generally considered not edible I know a few people who have tried in once mistaking it for a Plantago. Fleabane leaves were put in pets beds to drive away fleas. You can read about the Plantains here and I have a video here.

Juniper Berries change from green to blue with a powdery blush. Photo by Green Deane.

One wouldn’t think that living in a small rental house or apartment interferes with foraging but it can. The size of the kitchen can restrain the size of the oven which can limit the size of pots and pans one can use. Thus my loaf is round. The yeast and bacteria for this sourdough came from Juniper Berries which are really cones. Some were collected in West Palm Beach, others near Daytona Beach. Sourdough bread depends on wild yeast and lacto-bacteria. They are in all flour but different species. In theory one feeds the “starter” and the favorable yeast and bacteria outcompete unfavorable yeasts and bacteria becoming dominant.

Sourdough bread started with Juniper Berries for the necessary yeast and bacteria.

Sourdough takes longer to make than regular bread because the yeast has not been bred to make a lot of rising gas quickly. The same issue comes up when the question is can one use bread yeast to make wine. Yes but… Bread yeast is bred to make a lot of gas and very little alcohol whereas wine yeast is bred to make alcohol and not a lot of gas. Wild yeast, like wild vinegar bacteria, can also throw a variety of flavors. Soudough is sour in the same way pickles, yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi and kombucha are tart from lactic acid. It takes longer to develop the flavor of sourdough and it works well in cooler temperatures whereas bread yeast likes to be kept warm. The wild yeast can also tolerate the higher acid environment created by the bacteria. Why make sourdough? The bacteria reduces the carb load, alters the gluten, increases B vitamin use, and reduces phytates by some 70%. Phytates are the largest group of anti-nutrients in regular bread. Thus compare to regular bread sourdough allows more mineral absorption from the bread. It also increases prebiotic and probiotic-like properties. I took a couple of tablespoons of old blue Juniper “berries” and put them in non-chlorinated sugar water for a day then used that water when making my starter. (If you let tap water sit for a day it loses its chlorine.)

Soaking Foresteria fruit. Photo by Green Deane

The Foresteria experiment continues. We are halfway through the brining period (basically to reduce the bitter tannins in the fruit.) I know consuming a couple of berries off the tree does not cause acute toxicity (meaning immediate) but I have no idea about possible long term effects. I have eyed Foresteria berries for years knowing they are in the Olive family. One species, F. neomexicana, New Mexico Privit, Desert Olive, was eaten as were the fruit of F. pubescens. They are all bitter which is why curing them like olives occurred to me. They are soaking in a 10% brine solution with the solution being changed every week for a month. As with any brining the fruit are kept covered by the solution by a glass plug which conveniently fits into a used Dunkin Donut ice coffee cup.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, age 48 in 1855.

If Longfellow had lived elsewhere — say Europe — he might have penned in his famous poem: “Under the shedding Sycamore tree the village smithy stands.” As it was Longfellow wrote about the mighty American chestnut which sadly because of a blight is nearly no more. And while mentioning Longfellow take a look at his picture on the left. Most of the photos of him show an old bearded man. This was taken when he was much younger, in 1855, when photography was young, too. And unlike other pictures from the time he’s not posing like a stature. It’s more natural and gives us a glimpse of the man and personality. There’s a bit of destiny in Longfellow’s eyes. Maybe he sensed photographs would replace paintings and he wanted to look across time at us, or, us him. What did he do right after the photo was taken? Go out to dinner because he was already dressed up? Or tell the photographer he’s pay him for the (then) expensive photo next week when one of his new poems sold? When I see old photos like this I wonder what the next moment was like, when they broke pose and went on with living. Photos are frozen slivers of time.

Unlike Longfellow’s chestnut tree the Sycamore gets a bad rap because of what you see in the picture right, leaves…. lots of large leaves in (my) yard. To me it’s attractive fall colors and in time more stuff for the compost pile. But, it’s the bane of many homeowners who want carefree landscaping. Sycamores, however, are forager friendly. The sap is drinkable and one could make a syrup out of it if one wanted to spend the time and energy. The sap tastes like slightly sweet water, and it is already filtered by the tree so also quite safe to drink. If you boil it down like maple sap it tastes like butterscotch.  The wood is inert so it can be used in a variety of ways with food or cooking, from skewers over the campfire to primitive forks et cetera.  To read more about the maligned Sycamore go here.

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

Foraging Classes: Last Saturday in Gainesville we dug up five winged yam roots. Sunday in Melbourne we found some groundnuts and enjoyed some sumac berries This weekend both classes are near the west coast, Port Charlotte Saturday, Sarasota Sunday.  Maybe the bitter cold won’t get that far south. 

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. 

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. 

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.

The Black Nightshade has edible ripe berries. Photo by Green Deane.

I had a friend who thought of himself as an outdoorsman thus beyond needing to study edible plants. Many years ago he called me one day asking “how do I get the seeds out of the pigweed berries.”  I knew there was a problem immediately. Our local “pigweed” does not have berries but our local nightshade does. Our “pigweed” is an Amaranth and has seed spikes. About the size of fingers or more they are covered with tiny flowers that produce a multitude eye-of-the needle seeds, tan to black.  No berries involved at all. Conversely the nightshade produces a cluster of black shiny berries on one small stalk (photo to right.) It does have a lot of seeds inside the berries. So I thought I had better ask him why he wanted the seeds before I told him him the Amaranth didn’t have berries but the nightshade did. He wanted to grow some in his yard. They had been steaming the leaves and eating them like spinach! When I got done explaining he said “then that’s why we’ve all been getting headaches after eating the leaves.” Indeed. The leaves of this particular nightshade are edible but they must be boiled in one or two changes of water, not steamed.

Golden Dewdrop is not edible but might have herbal applications. Photo by Green Deane

The plant to left is toxic and has several botanical names though a common on describes it well, Golden Dewdrop. Botanically it is Duranta repens, D. plumieri and D. erecta. We saw the species during our foraging class in Gainesville Saturday. It’s been called a vine-like shrub, some varieties are spiny. The non-edible fruit is bitter. Julia Morton, the grand botany professor of the University of Miami, wrote the fruit has killed children in Queensland, Australia, and sickened a Hialeah Florida girl in May 1966. She was hospitalized in a state of confusion and drowsiness but fully recovered the next day.  An Australian government website about children’s health says “If eaten, the fruit can cause gastro-intestinal irritation, vomiting and diarrhea.” One research paper reports extracts of dried D. erecta leaves was effective at killing roundworms. The same research found Lantana leaf extract was also effective. A second study says Duranta leaf extract might be “a promising source of herbal medicine for the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia.”

And I have added a new article to the website, Soapberry. 

This is my weekly newsletter #492. 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.

Goji berries like brackish water locations and the cooler weather of fall and winter. Photo by Green Deane

The Christmasberry, of which there are many, is poorly named. I have found it from late November to mid-April. We found and ate a lot of them in my foraging class last week south of Daytona Beach. I have also found patches barely blossoming to others fruiting heavily at the same time. Whenever you find Lycium carolinium its looks close to dead if not dying, dry, leafless, covered with Ramalina lichen. Except for the blossom it does not look like a member of the Nightshade family, which it is. 

Most folks are surprised to learn Goji Berries grow in North America. Six species were eaten by Native Americans. Among the edibles species on this continent are L. andersonii, Lycium berlandieri, L. carolinianum, L. exsertum, L. fremontii, L. pallidum, and L. torreyi.  L. ferocissimum is a pest in Australia and their native L. australe was eaten by the Aboriginals. The leaves of the L. halimifolium are cooked and eaten in Eurasia as is the L. chinense. The L. chinense and L. barbarum produce the commercial fruit called Goji Berry. L. barbarum is naturalized in England and L. chinense is naturalized  in about 19 states and Ontario. 

Interestingly the USDA nutrition panels on Goji Berries are unusually short, many of them commercially generated. According to the longest one 100 grams of dried Goji Berries have 349 calories, 14.26 grams of protein, 0.39 grams of fat, 77.06 grams of carbohydrates (45 of them sugar) and 13 grams of fiber. Vitamin C is 48.4 mg, two thirds your daily need, and vitamin A 26822 IU (which is some 11 times your daily need.)  Sodium 298 mg, calcium 190 mg, and iron 6.8 mg. That is is high in sodium is not surprising. I always find the species growing where there is brackish water.   

The species does come with some warmings. As mentioned the Goji is in the Nightshade family so perhaps people with an allergy to that family (tomatoes, peppers, egg plants, tomatillos et cetera) should avoid it. Goji is also high in lectins which can also bother people. The reason why we can’t eat raw kidney beans is lectins, the poison Ricin is lectins from the Castor Bean Plant. Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins. Cereal grains and legumes are high in lectins. Gluten is a lectin and some people are gluten intolerant. The one medical warning associated with Goji berries is they may increase the potency of drugs like Warfarin (making you bleed more easily.) Goji berries also contain atropine in low amounts

Bauhinia blossoms are edible but not all the seeds. Species vary.

We saw several species blooming this past weekend in my foraging class. The Hibiscus were happy including the “Sleepy Hibiscus.” It’s a fairly easy shrub to identify because the bright red blossoms that never unfurl. Also blossoming was the Bauhinia. It’s a tree that is both easy and challenging at the same time. The blossoms are edible, look nice in salads. Some of the species have edible seeds and some do not. (They are in the pea family and most pea trees — most not all — do not have edible seeds.) Sorting out which Bauhinia you have can be a challenge, nearly as bad as sorting out which Cereus you have. Like the Cereus cactus there are several man-made hybrids and perhaps even some fake botanical names. It can make species identification a real headache though as far as I know all the blossoms are edible. Only “discovered” 111 years ago the blossom of the Bauhinia blakeana is the emblem of Hong Kong. You can read about the Bauhinia here.

Chickweed is highly seasonal. Photo by Green Deane

Real chickweed will soon arrive. If you want to sample it in a variety of ways you have a couple of months at best. I usually find chickweed locally between Christmas and Valentine’s Day. It can be found earlier and occasionally after Valentine’s Day. But those two holidays mark the practical beginning and end of the local chickweed season. It also doesn’t grow much farther south than central Florida. In far northern climates Chickweed is a green of spring. It actually germinates under the snow so it can get a head start on other spring plants. Snow spits here every half century or so and the ground never freezes which is why we can forage 365 days a year. Early Chickweed in the Carolinas can be found Starting in September. Chickweed itself is fairly easy to identify. Besides tasting like corn silk it has a stretchy inner core and one line of hair that runs along the stem switching sides at each pair of leaves. Don’t confuse Chickweed for a local cousin the edible, Drymaria cordata. To read more about chickweed click here.  Also coming on strong is Pellitory. To read about Pellitory again click here.

Most of us have been told eating apple seeds is dangerous. That is usually followed by “there was a man who ate a cup of apple seeds and died…”

Is that theoretically possible? Yes.  You’d have to eat 85 grams of apples seeds, about three ounces, or about 114 seeds, all at one time, all thoroughly chewed. That could, in theory, deliver a fatal dose of cyanide. That’s for a 150 pound person, a larger person could tolerate more, a child much less. Probably children should not eat any apple seeds. The way cyanide works is rather fascinating. It attaches to our red blood cells better than oxygen. So instead of oxygen being delivered throughout the body for mitochondrial use cyanide is. We essentially stop making energy. But what about the guy who ate the cup of seeds? There’s bit of a problem with that.  In 1964 John Kingsbury, Phd., an expert on plant poisonings, particularly regarding farm animals, published Poisonous Plants of the United States and Canada, Prentice-Hall. He was the expert and his book became the book to reference. On page 365 Kingsbury wrote:

“Apple seeds are cyanogenetic. A man, who found apple seeds a delicacy, saved a cupful of them. Eating them at one time, he was killed by cyanide poisoning.”

Kingsbury’s inclusion of the incident in his book gave the story legitimacy and it has been quoted extensively ever since by professionals and amateurs alike. But from a traditional journalistic point of view the story is full of what we called in the newsroom “holes.” Who ate the seeds, when, and where? Basic facts that add credibility. Professor that he was Kingsbury included where he got the story from in footnote 1335. That footnote reads: Reynard, G.B., and J.B.S. Norton in Poisonous Plants of Maryland in Relationship to Livestock. Maryland Agricultural Experimental Station, Technical Bulletin. A10, 1942. 312 pp. So Kingsbury in 1964 is quoting a farm bulletin from 1942. What does that bulletin say? On page 276 of the now 77-year old bulletin Reynard and Norton write about prussic acid harming livestock. (Amygdalin is essentially a sugar and cyanide molecule which when digested releases hydrogen cyanide which used to be called prussic acid.) They note in the last paragraph, above right:

“Apple seeds are mentioned, not as having caused stock-poisoning, but because of the fact that one instance was recorded from personal inquiry in which an adult man was killed following eating a cup of these seeds at one time. The seeds had been saved up, apparently thought to be a delicacy in small amounts and upon being eaten developed enough of the deadly prussic acid to cause this tragic death. The instance is recorded here as a caution to others who might attempt to eat more than a few of these seeds at any one time. Previous investigators have reported that apple seeds contain appreciable amounts of amygdalin from which prussic acid is developed, but actual reports of poisoning are rare.”

Florida Tasselflower is long-term toxic to humans and very toxic for horses.

Livestock poisonings from prussic acid are “rare.” What of  humans?  A 130-year search of the New York Times by this writer produced 437 stories involving prussic acid. Those included suicides, murders and a few accidental medicinal deaths. None by an apple seed overdose (which surely would have made the newspaper.) We are left with no who, no where, and no when as well as a  “recorded from personal inquiry…”  and “apparently.” That means someone told them it had happened. Their reference is as weak as Kingsbury’s. Without a name, a time and place it is not much better than an urban legend. It could have happened, or it just might be a story.  More so, man has been eating apples for some 6,000 years. One would have thought in that amount of time it would have become common knowledge that you don’t eat a lot of apple seeds in one sitting. Also during the days of Johnny Appleseed everyone was making cider and there were millions of seeds available annually for decades if not centuries. One wouldn’t have to save them up at all. Getting rid of apple seeds was a problem, not getting enough of them. Also they dry out very quickly so if you saved only a few at at time by the time you had a cup that way the earlier seeds would not be edible (and drying can reduce the offending chemical. My grandmother dried peach pits for that purpose, making them safe.)  And … with all those millions of seeds around and hungry people why only one report of an apple seed over dose?

We can’t say the story is not true, but we can call it doubtful. Click here to read about Wild Apples.

Classes are held rain or shine or cold. (Hurricanes are an exception.) Photo by Kelly Fagan.

Foraging Classes: Two favored locations for classes this weekend, Port Charlotte and Mead Garden. The Saturday class in Port Charlotte is filling up quickly. It features a variety of edibles including many salt-tolerant species. Mead Garden Sunday is a central location with a great diversity of species. 

Saturday December 4th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the parking lot of Bayshore and Ganyard St.

Sunday December 5th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the bathrooms. The park entrance is on South Denning. Some GPS directions get it wrong.

Saturday December 11th, Red Bug Slough Preserve, 5200 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL, 34233. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet by the playground. 

Sunday December 12th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m to noon, meet at the pavilion next to the tennis courts. 

Updating videos: This past month was busy with the uploading of 12 new videos on You Tube in EatTheWeeds: 151: Persimmon Revisited, 152: Lantana, 153: Sea Oxeye, 154: Tropical Almond Revisited, 155: Sumac Revisited, 156: Seagrapes, 157: Tamarind, 158: Bananas Revisited, 159: Ghost Pipes, 160: Swine Cress, 161: Goldenrod, and 162 Dove Plum. The goal over the coming months is to revisit some species that were recorded on old technology. Some new species will be as well. 

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out and replaced by a 150-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. 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. 

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.

My annual Urban Crawl is coming up, my twelfth, on Friday, December 17th. We meet in front of Panera’s at 10 a.m. in Winter Park (north end of Park Avenue.) We wander south to Rollins College, head back north stopping at Starbucks to drink & drain, go east to the public library area, the lake docks, then back to Panera’s. It takes a couple of hours. There is a free parking garage behind (west) of Paneras if you go to the upper floors. If you park on the city streets you chance a ticket as the class is longer than parking hours allow. 

In Gainesville Saturday a colorful combination was worth a photograph: Pink American Beautyberries and blue Lantana berries. They were growing next to each other and the rain had stopped so it was a photo opportunity… didn’t cross my mind to eat them together as the blue ones are flavorful and the pink ones are not. Photo by Green Deane

Pellitory is starting to peek out of it’s shady spots for the season. Photo by Green Deane

Weather ahead or behind schedule, or whether ahead or behind schedule, the plant season is changing into our winter mode. Controversial Brazilian Pepper is ripening and Cucumber Weed (Pellitory) has definitely started its seasonal run. We also saw some young False Hawk’s Beard and Poor Man’s Pepper Grass this weekend. Ringless Honey Mushrooms are in and out depending where you live. They were deliquescing (melting) in Gainesville but still flushing in Greater Orlando. What’s waiting in the winter wonderland to come up? Start looking for wild mustards and radishes and a couple of species of sow thistles. 

Edible Sumac has red clusters of berries on the end of branches and grows in dry places. Photo by Green Deane.

Some of you might have noticed I have been posting new videos (on You tube.) They have been Persimmons Revisited, Lantana, Tropical Almond Revisited and Sumac Revisited. I think Sea Grape is next.  It’s been several years since I’ve posted videos regularly and some 13 years since the originals. Some of those species need to have a new video done. So that is on my agenda as I climb into my 70s. I’m aiming for a total of 200 videos… which means at least 45 more.  Writing a foraing book took a chunk out of my life (to be released in 2023) and I’m just getting back onto the swing of things (and remembering how the video editing program works.) And of course while I am able there are foraging classes every weekend. 

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

Foraging Classes: Some traveling this week, Ft. Pierce Saturday and close to home on Sunday in Winter Park. 

Saturday November 13th, George LeStrange Preserve, 4911 Ralls Road, Fort Pierce, FL, 34981. 9 a.m. to noon. The preserve is only about three miles from the junction of the Turnpike and I-95. It has no bathrooms or drinking water so take advantage of the various eateries and gas stations at the exit.

Sunday November 14th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. The park entrance is on South Denning. Some GPS directions get it wrong.

Saturday November 20th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 a.m to noon. Meet at the pavilion by the dog park. 

Sunday November 21st, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the “dog park” inside the park

Saturday December 4th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the parking lot of Bayshore and Ganyard St.

Our native Plantago is small and hairy. Photo by green Deane

There are Plantains that look like tough bananas and there are Plantains that are low and leafy plants. No relation. Just two different groups with the same common name. Plantains can be native or non-native. The one pictured right is native, the Dwarf Plantain, one of the very few North American plants to become invasive in Asia.  As a genus the plants are well-known. The leaves are edible raw when young. As they age they become more bitter and stringy. Cooking makes them palatable up to a point. Then they move into the astringent medical realm. They are used on bites, stings and to help puncture wounds heal. Seeds are edible once produced and are the source of the commercial dietary fiber psyllium. When finely ground and flavoring added the seeds are sold under the brand name Metamucil. There are numerous species of Plantagos (Plantains) with at least four common locally, P. virginiana, P. major, P. lanceolata and P. rugelii the latter which strongly resembles P. major. except the bottom ends of the stem are pink.They are all used the same way. You can read about the Plantains here.

Skunk Vine lives up to its name. Photo by Green Deane

Perhaps as a last gasp — virtually — some Skunk Vine was blossoming this past week (along with some Black Cherries. Skunk Vine is aptly named though its aroma drifts more towards bathroom than skunk. However the tough vine is something of a nutritional powerhouse with some of the good chemicals one finds in the Brassica family. You can eat it raw but if you cook it outside is recommended. Oddly it was intentionally brought to Florida to make rope. This was done just before 1900 when a lot of ships were still carrying sails and five miles of rope. Ground zero was the USDA Brooksville Field Station in Hernando County Fl. Yes, this invasive vine  — like many other species — was imported by the United States Department of Agriculture.  Thirty-six years later it was all over Florida but it took until 1977 for it to be a recognized invasive (long after it had crawled into other southern states.) While the blossoms are attractive we eat only the leaves and young tips. You can read about Skunk Vine here.

Lion’s Mane is tasty and medicinal. Photo by Green Deane

We are shifting mushrooms seasons from terrestrial to trees or better said ground to wood. Instead of looking down we now look up. Milk caps and chanterelles are giving way to Oysters, Lion’s Mane and Chicken of the Woods. Edible fungi that like wood also often like cooler weather but not exclusively. There are oysters and chickens other times of the year but cool time is prime time. Lion’s Mane is one I see only after the season starts to turn cooler and only down to northern Florida. It’s a choice find. To my pallet raised on the coast of Maine it tastes like crab or lobster and I use it in similar ways. This particular specimen was found in a foraging class in Jacksonville. You can read more about it 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 150-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. 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. 

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.

The edible, cold hardy, Pink Banana. Photo by Green Deane

In a recent video on Tropical Almond I mentioned it is not that tropical being able to live in zones 10 and 11. There is a banana that will survive in zone 7b. It will die back there but come back every year: Musa velutina. 

Unlike most bananas M. veluntina can fruit in one year rather than the usual two years and can take a frost. It also lets you know when it’s ready to be eaten by peeling itself. The species does have a lot of hard seeds which are edible if rendered soft by cooking. Tall and showy with its neon fruit they were a favorite of my great grandmother, one May Eudora Dillingham (she had the bananas as a child and also claimed to have once heard President Lincoln give a speech.) Her family was into shipping and was related to the Dillinghams of commercial ventures Hawaii. In fact one Benjamin Franklin Dillingham from Cape Cod was stranded in Hawaii after trying to ship bananas to California.) Also called the Hairy Banana, Pink Banana and Pink Velvet Banana, the stubby fruit is covered with fine hair. They have a sweet and slightly tangy taste. Where can you find some, you might wonder? 

Pink Banana location

The West Orange Bike Trail west of Orlando wends its way through Winter Garden and Ocoee. The northbound trail crosses East Fuller Cross Road then descends northeast a few hundred feet to traverse a small unnamed brook (further up the hill is Ocoee High School.) For several hundred feet along the trail before and after the brook, if you look carefully, you’ll see dozens of M. veluntina growing and fruiting on both sides of the trail. I imagine some were tossed out with yard trash long ago and have kept reseeding. Enjoy.  

This is my weekly newsletter #481. 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.

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Fall poison ivy at Ft. Desoto, Fl. Photo by Green Deane

North Carolina herbalist Will Endres

His name was Will Endres and he was a North Carolina Herbalist who unfortunately died earlier this year. I remember him for two reasons. About 20 years ago he came to central Florida and wanted to see some local plants. I showed him around. He suggested I teach foraging classes, which I was very reluctant to do as I am the introvert’s introvert. The rest, as they say, is history. The other thing I leaned from him was that he ate poison ivy every spring. 

Forager Euell Gibbons was also a boxer.

That’s controversial to say the least. He was not alone. The famous forager of the last century, Euell Gibbons, left, reported he ate it every spring and I met a women in north central Florida who ate it though ”met” is the wrong verb. In fact, I was having a class near Deland. We were walking along and I said “there’s some poison ivy.” Then I heard a little voice behind me say “oh, goody, I haven’t had any yet this year.” I turned in time to see her eating poison ivy…  I don’t recommend it. 

They are not alone. The Pennsylvania Dutch (the German amish) regularly wrapped poison ivy leaves in bread and ate it. The thinking is it’s protective though I am not aware of any research on the topic. I would think it would be difficult to get volunteers. Now they are researching a vaccine for poison ivy though I imagine it would be to moderate the body’s response to it rather than reduce its method of action. 

Poison Ivy berries are also toxic. Photo by Green Deane

Poison Ivy is a complex of several oils. The plant cells have to be broken for it to release them. It may be that folks who swear by eating it do so in the early spring when the plant might not have much oil. The oil, called urushiol, is actually omega 6 fatty acids. When they touch live skin cells they cause the proteins in the cells to get sticky. That interrupts the body’s communication to the cells signaling the body to get rid of them (which makes one wonder why they couldn’t deliver urushiol to cancer cells. Native Americans used poison ivy to get rid of warts.) There is some speculation that omega 6 oils in other plants do the same thing to our gut lining producing things like Irritate Bowel Syndrome. Very few creatures get poison ivy; Humans, certain primates, and guinea pigs. Those three also don’t make their own vitamin C.  When poison ivy oil dries it become inert and is the shiny coating on Japanese utensils. Urushiol means shelack. All that said the University of Mississippi is going forward with a poison ivy vaccine. It would require yearly injections or every other year. 

Poison Sumac, note the red stems with stronger than poison ivy. Photo by Green Deane

Current thinking is you are born with a certain amount of resistance to poison ivy and each exposure reduces your resistance. At some point nearly everyone will get it. About every six weeks I hear from someone who thought they were immune and had been removing it annually from their yard for years. Those are the folks who end up in the hospital with a severe case of it. Researchers at the university think shots will “lead to desensitization and reduce or eliminate reactions to poison ivy, oak and sumac.” About one-sixth of all Americans get poison ivy every year, some 50 million people annually. Eighty-five percent of the population is definitely allergic to it and up to 15% very allergic. It grows everywhere in North America except Alaska and some Nevada deserts. There’s none in Hawaii. The oil is not contagious but can last for years on clothes or even short term on farm animals and pets. I once got poison ivy from the feathers of a mallard duck.  

If affected with poison ivy the CDC says people should seek medical attention if they have a temperature over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, there is pus or soft yellow scabs on the rash, the itching gets worse, they have difficulty breathing and the rash spreads to eyes, mouth, genital area or more than one-fourth of the skin. A high school friend of mine at a summer camp went petting with a lass in a poison ivy patch…. they had poison ivy in places one does not want to ponder. The vaccine is going into clinical trials.

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

Foraging Classes: Sticking to the eastern part of the state this weekend, east Orlando and just north of Jacksonville. There shouldn’t be any hurricanes this weekend.

Saturday September 25th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. to noon, meet by the tennis courts. 

Sunday September 26th, Tide Views Preserve, 1 Begonia Street, Atlantic Beach Fl 32233 (near Jacksonville Fl.) 9 a.m. to noon. Meet in the only parking lot. 

Saturday October 2nd, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 a.m. to noon, meet at the pavilion near the dog park. 

Sunday October 3rd, 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.

Saturday October 9th, Honea Path, South Carolina, classes at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. each day. 1624 Taylor Road Honea Path, SC 29654.

Sunday October 10th, Honea Path, South Carolina, classes at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. each day. 1624 Taylor Road Honea Path, SC 29654.

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

Horsemint (Monarda punctata) will be easy to find for several weeks. Photo by Green Deane

We’ve mentioned it a few times in recent newsletters but it bares repeating one more time: Horsemint — left — is in season and very easy to find now. Look in grassy sandy places or along paths in always dry areas. The pleasant side of the plant is that it smells nice and makes a Thyme-like spice. The naughty side of the species is that it contains Thymol which is a relaxant. Made into a tea it calms you down. How much it calms you down depends on how much you use and your personal response to it.  You can also hang some in your house as an air freshener. You can read about Horsemint here. 

Our timing Saturday was near perfect. The husks of the Coastal Ground Cherry were gold, dry and papery. Inside the fruit was deep yellow to gold, tangy in taste. Ground cherries, in this case Physalis angustifolia, ripen from green to gold, getting sweeter and tangier as they go along. But they can often have a bitter aftertaste either from being under ripe or some species just retain some bitterness. A little aftertaste of bitterness is okay but the best is when there is none. Thus one always tastes a ripe ground cherry then waits a minute or so for any bitterness to appear.

As the Ground Cherry ripens the husk turns golden. Photo by Green Deane

While locally Ground Cherries can fruit nearly all year, they do produce a spring and fall crop. In cooler climes they just have one season ripening in late summer and fall. Here our fall crop tends to be better than our spring one. Spring ground cherries can rot on the plant or get damaged by insects and that is also when I tend to find more bitter ones. But this time of year brings out the best in ground cherries. One can find whole, undamaged, very ripe Ground Cherries in significant numbers. You can make a pie out of them if you can manage to get some home uneaten. Incidentally there is a second local ground cherry that resembles the Coastal Ground Cherry. It’s Physalis walteri, also known as starry-hair ground-cherry and sand cherry. It has star-shaped hairs on the lower edges of the leaf which are visible with a hand lens. Still edible, however. To read more about Ground Cherries 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 150-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. 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. 

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.

Southern Wax Myrtle berries. Photo by Green Deane

Humans often see beauty in dead plants from bouquets to Christmas wreaths. A woods road’s trimming in offered us an unusual view of Southern Wax Myrtle berries. Light gray they often hide in the green aromatic leaves of this shrub. However when the trimmed leaves browned it revealed the concealed berries. They can be used as a spice when dried and put in a pepper mill. And if you have a lot of them (and the need) they also produce a green wax. If you mix that wax with one quarter tallow it makes a smokeless candle that keeps away biting insects. That chandle, however, is a lot of work. But, if it is all you have to drive away insects it’s much worth it.  

This is weekly newsletter #475, 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.

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