Search: Sour orange

Without attention citrus reverts back towards original forms

Feral Citrus: Snack, Seasoning and Soap

Citrus, like apples when left unattended by man, tend to revert to their natural state of being sour and acidic. A lot of folks think that makes them inedible but that is not true plus they have other uses.

A “wild” orange, usually highly acidic

Some wild citrus has kept its palatability, the Key Lime (Citrus aurantifolia) is a good example. Imported from Asia to the West Indies and naturalized in the Keys it is perhaps the most prized of small limes. A piece of authentic key lime pie is indeed a treat. Another naturalized citrus that is not that pleasant is the Sour Orange or Seville Orange, Citrus aurantifolium. You can use it to wash your hair.

Contact with the feisty key lime can cause an itchy rash on exposure to the sun, or burn and blister sensitive individuals. The  Sour Orange is so acidic it cannot be eaten as is. Its juice, however, can make an ade and be used as a seasoning. The pulp and peel can be used for marmalade. In fact, the fruit and leaves can be crushed and used like soap, and it will lather. It can also be used to shampoo with. Also remember that citrus acid can be used to cook some shellfish and small pieces of fish. Simply put the food in the acid and let it sit for an hour or so until done.

Other wild citrus vary from still edible to be used for washing. I have an old tangerine grove near me and some of those trees still produce edible fruit. In nearby Spring Hammock, the wild oranges taste like lemons. You simply have to try them. Best advice is to chew a little well, spit it out and wait about 30 minutes. If the fruit is too acidic it will show up within that time. If not consume as one would any citrus. Don’t, however, be fooled by initial sweetness. That can still mask considerable acid. Chew it, spit it out, and wait. Then decide.

Botanically they are Citrus aurantifolia (KIT-roos aw-ran-tee-FOH-lee-ah)  and Citrus aurantifolium (KIT-roos  aw-ran-tee-FOH-lee-um)  Citrus came form the Latin word for the citron tree but the Romans got it through the Etruscans who got it from the Greek word “kedros” meaning cedar. Both endings mean golden leaf.

 Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION: Key Lime:  Small tree or straggling shrub to 15 feet, numerous sharp thorns, leave alternate, oval to elliptical, usually rounded at the tip, edges minutely scalloped, stalks winged, strong lime aroma. Fruit round, one to two inches, green when unripe, yellow when ripe, pulp greenish juicy, sharply acidic. Seville Orange:  Shrub to tree to 30 feet, long sharp thorns, leaves ovate to elliptic, often pointed, to four inches long, fruit round to three inches wide, reddish orange, roughly pitted, thick bitter rind, pulp orange, somewhat bitter, core hollow,  seeds ivory white, oval.

TIME OF YEAR: Fall and spring but also nearly all year in warm areas, seasonal in others, which can be fall or spring.

ENVIRONMENT: Abandoned homesteads and campsites, other citrus virtually any where it will survive the winters

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Juice from both can be used for an ade or seasoning. Both can also be used cooked.  Non-acidic wild citrus can be eaten as is.

The red ripe fruit is sweet and acidic, not everyone likes them. Photo by Green Deane

Surinam cherries are like small eight-ribbed pumpkins. If deep red they are tasty, but not all people like them. If orange red they are unripe and taste awful, like their seeds. One species has ripe fruit that is dark purple, almost black, and is very sweet.  Some fruits are beginning to ripen now though their season is just starting.

Gall on a Hawthorne. photo by Green Deane

Shall we get technical? Most foragers would look at this picture right 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.

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. 

Ripe Hawthorn fruit. Photo by Green Deane

Hawthorns are an unusual group of trees and can live to 400 years 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. Three grams of dried powdered leaves morning and night has been validated as an effective beta blocker and lowers blood pressure.

Across the dirt road I grew up on in Maine was a large hawthorne 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. Unnecessary 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 than over-ripe berries. To see a video on this go here.

Blak medic resemles Hop clover. Photo by Green Deane

You’re probably seeing a lot of this or will be seeing a lot of it and wondering what the  species is. This little plant with the little yellow blossom is Black Medic. It’s generally considered edible and like many weeds is from Europe. That kind of excludes it from being a significant Native American food (though some sources call it that… It’s a long story.) The headache is that from a distance of about five or six feet (where most people’s eyes are from the ground) Black Medic can look like Hop Clover. Here’s quick way to tell them apart: Hop Clover tends to have red stems, Black Medic has green stems covered with fine white hair and has a longer stem on the center leaf. After the two species go to seed they are easy to sort out: Black Medic has black seeds… hence the name. Hop Clover brown seeds. I personally don’t view Black Medic as much of an edible but you can read more about it here.

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, though a lot more effort i required. 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. That moves you closer to starvation. But, mechanize the process with some hammers run by falling water — or hammers run by a horse fed on an endless supply of grass — and kudzo 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. 

With the moderation of the weather foraging classes become more enjoyable.

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

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

Sunday, April 28th, Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga. Fla. 32706. meet at the bathrooms, 9 a.m. to noon. 

Saturday, May 4th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park. 9 to noon. 

Sunday, May 5th, 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.

For more information on these classes, to prepay or sign up go here. 

Green Deane Forum

Tired of Facebook and want to identify a plant? The Green Dean Forum is up and running again. Have you come to dislike Facebook, then join us on the forum. 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. 

You get the USB, not the key.

172-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.  Most of the 172 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. 

Finally, a physical copy of the book.

Now in its second printing is EatTheWeeds, the book. It has 274 plants, 367 pages, index, nutrition charts and color photos. It’s available in many locations including Amazon.  Most of the entries include a nutritional profile.  It can also be ordered through AdventureKeen Publishing.

This is weekly newsletter #598. 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.

Consuming Carolina Jasmine will make you sick. Handling it with cuts on your hand might also be toxic. Photo by Green Deane

Toxic Carolina jasmine(Gelsemium sempervirens) is tempting. Jasmine is a friendly name, and the blossoms are alluring. This relative of the Honeysuckles has a sweet poisonous sap and is a common killer of plant-eating dogs. Farm animals it has killed include cattle, goats and geese but is not toxic to deer. It has also has sickened children who consume its nectar. Alkaloids are found in all parts of the plant, especially in the flowers and roots. The alkaloids act on nerve endings causing paralysis, muscle weakness, and convulsions. At high doses the alkaloids act centrally on the nervous system against gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) causing convulsions and respiratory failure. Water Hemlock also kills by working against GABA.

Japanese Honeysuckle has edible nectar.

There’s no shortage of research on the native species. It has had some medicinal uses, particularly for mental issues as a nervous system relaxant. And it might have some anti-cancer activity. All parts of the plant are toxic. According to one scientific paper “It has been used in treatment of spasmodic disorders such as asthma and whooping cough. The plant has been used in hysteria, dysmenorrhea, chorea, pneumonia and bronchitis.” I have tasted the nectar at the base of one yellow blossom. As far as I could tell that had no significant effect on me. 

Invasive Cat’s Claw is not edible.

Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica, photo upper right) can also have yellowish blossoms but you will notice the tubular blossoms have Long stamens and and an inferior ovary. Japanese honeysuckle blossom nectar is edible. Carolina Jasmine also looks similar to Cat’s Claw (Dolichandra unguis-cati, photo at left) which is not edible and is toxic to parrots. The invasive species got its name from  claw-like thorns that grow on the stem. In Folk medicine it is use as an anti-inflammatory.  If the flowers are red-orange it is the native cross-vine Bignonia capreolata, also not edible. 

Stinging nettles with roots and dirt removed. Photo by Green Deane

Stinging nettles sting me badly, but I can eat them. If they sting me I get a bloody welt that takes weeks to heal. As I saw a patch of them this morning and collected a bunch for drying and future use in soups and stews. I wore motorcycle gloves — all I had — and got stung twice. Stinging Nettles have vitamin A, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. They also have protein and when cooked are very mild tasting similar to spinach but slightly rougher. From my book: “Calcium tops the nutrition list with 481 mg per 100 gram serving (which passes for 3.5 ounces.) Next is potassium at 334 mg, followed by phosphorus 71 mg and magnesium 57 mg. Vitamin A, as beta carotene, is at 2011 IU.There are traces of zinc, copper, manganese, selenium and some B3 and B6. In micrograms there’s 4178 mcg of the vision twins, Lutein+zeaxathin, and interestingly 498 mcg of Vitamin K, phylloquinone.” To learn more about the Heartleaf Nettle go here. For a video, here.

Can you eat red mangroves? If you had nothing else to eat, yes. For many people Red Mangroves are just a shoreline obstruction. But they are an emergency food, a source of salt, tea, even cattle fodder. At one time, some 70 years ago, the leaves were dried, powdered, and sold as a supplement.

Red Mangroves propagules cooked. Photo by Green Deane.

If you are inclined to eat them boil the seed pods (they really aren’t seed pods but for convenience let’s call these propagules seed pods.) Many folks write that they are bitter. I have not found that to be so. To me they are mealy, slightly dry and tasteless, like sandy grits perhaps, best mixed with something with a lot of flavor. I boil the pods, cool, cut them in half, scrape out the starchy inside, then boil or soak them again. A tea can be made from the leaves but it is recommended it be served with milk to bind with the high amount of tannin. Indeed, the leaves were once considered as the base material for human protein supplementation. However the high tannin content, 11.68%, made that prohibitive (in the 1950s.) And you can get salt off the leaves. You can read more about the red mangrove here.

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

Plantago Power: It was a dark and rainy … morning… and I was searching through the gloom along the road for a wild mustard/radish for my foraging class. It was cold. It was rainy. It was gray. Something caught my eye so I pulled Van Go over and headed towards a watery ditch.  Then I heard a baby cry. Seriously. The figure I thought was a bag lady with stuffed shopping cart was a bundled-up woman with a baby stroller waiting for a bus. Things look different in the dim drab of winter. And the plant I thought might be a mustard most certainly was not. It was a Plantago, the largest one I have ever seen. That was worth a picture and posting on the Green Deane Forum.  There one of our regular members, Josey, who has an eye for detail and a whole lot of knowledge, offered it as Plantago Rugelii rather than P. major. One difference is the P. rugelii has purple at the base of the petiole, P. major is white. Unlike P.major, which is from Europe, P. rugelii is native to North America. It is odd that we don’t hear more about it. You can read about it here and watch a video here.   

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

Foraging Classes: Good weather is predicted for the upcoming weekend for foraging.

Saturday, February 17th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte, meet at the parking lot at Bayshore and Ganyard, 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday, February 18th, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. 9 a.m. to noon, Meet at the “dog park”,

Saturday, February 24th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m. to noon.  Meet at the bathrooms.

Sunday, February 25th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park. 9 a.m. to noon.

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

You get the USB, not the key.

172-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.  Most of the 172 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. 

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.

Finally, a physical copy of the book.

Now in print is EatTheWeeds, the book. It has 275 plants, 367 pages, index, nutrition charts and color photos. It’s available in many locations including Amazon.  Most of the entries include a nutritional profile.  It can also be ordered through AdventureKeen Publishing.

This is weekly newsletter #587. 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.

Fruit ripening on a Ficus benghalensis, aka Ficus Audrey and strangler fig. Photo by Green Deane

Strangler figs get a bad rap, perhaps deservedly so. They slowly take over a tree or palm and kill their host while living on them. But they are also edible figs, and there are three of them locally (eleven different species in the state.)  One is from India, a native one and an export from business offices. As a food these figs can range from dry tasteless sponges to sweet or fermented.  The species are Ficus benghalensis (red fruit)  Ficus aurea (Florida strangler fig, yellow fruit) and Ficus Benjamina (the Weeping Fig and a common office plant and a major source of indoor allergens. The fruit can be dark purple.) If any of these starts life growing on some other plant it is called a Strangler Fig, if it starts on the ground and has multiple trunks it is called a Banyan. They can live to 500 years and cover several acres. The fruit of the F. benghalensis is hard when orange, and softens as it turns red or purple. They were eaten by native and settlers alike. Ariel roots were used for bow strings, rope and fishing lines. The extra roots allow the tree to grow faster than its host thus engulfing it.

Blossoming chickweed east of Tampa. Photo by Green Deane

Chickweed is a common winter species in Florida, usually from the central part of the state north. Surprisingly we saw some about 30 miles east of Tampa this week. The first time in decades of foraging finding chickweed south of greater Orlando. A short-season winter vegetable, it is related to West Indian Chickweed which can be found all year here. Real Chickweed, Stellaria media, tastes like corn silk or raw corn, West Indian Chickweed, drymaria cordata, which likes damp soil, has no particular flavor.  Inoffensive West Indian Chickweed is often used as a garnish. Also seen fruiting heavily now is American nightshade, Solanum americanum. Sow thistle (Sonchus genus) are also blossoming profusely. 

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

Foraging Classes: As the weather is becoming more consistent hopefully it won’t cause anymore class cancellations: 

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

Sunday, January 28th, Eagle Lake Park, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park. 9 a.m. to noon.

Saturday, February 3rd, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet just north of the science center.

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

Wild Geraniums are a common seasonal lawn weed. Photo by Green Deane

Also found in lawns this time of year are wild geraniums, usually Cranesbill or Stork’s Bill. (Why one is one word and the other two-words possessive I do not know.)  Botanically they are Geranium carolinianum and Erodium circutarium.  Neither is great foraging. In fact both are more medicinal than edible but they seem to get mention in a variety of foraging books. The problem is they are extremely bitter. You might be able to toss a little bit of both in a salad but that’s about the extent of it. If you have what you think is a Cranesbill or a Stork’s Bill but it has more of a bottle brush blossom than five petals you might have the non-edible Fumaria. It comes up this time of year and from a distance the leaves can remind one of the wild geraniums. To read more about them go here. 

Silverthorn berries ripen in Feburary.

Another seasonal species to be looking for is Silverthorn one of the few fruits that sets in our winter and is usually ripe about Valentine’s Day. That’s handy because the jelly-bean sized fruit is red with a gold netting or spray on it. But, if you remember the red fruit is ready around Valentine’s Day you’ll be looking for it. The boxy blossoms help you identify which shrubs will be producing fruit this year. It’s a common landscape plant and also an escapee. New fruit likes to grow on new growth and with waxy leaves the species is fairly easy to identify. Even though the fruit is small it has the distinction of having the highest amount of the antioxidant lycopene per weight of any fruit. You can read about Silverthorn here and watch a video here. 

You get the USB, not the key.

172-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.

Finally, a physical copy of the book.

Now in print is EatTheWeeds, the book. It has 275 plants, 367 pages, index, nutrition charts and color photos. It’s available in many locations including Amazon.  Most of the entries include a nutritional profile.  

This is weekly newsletter #585. 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.

This newsletter is late because mail chimp is increasingly difficult to work with. Any one have a suggestion for a mailing service?

Chicken of the Woods. Photo by Green Deane

When is a cow not a cow? When it is Chicken Of the Woods, which we found during a foraging class this week. We have three speces of C.O.W.s locally. Laetiporus sulphureus, Laetiporus cincinnatus and Laetiporus gilbertsonii, all shelf fungus.  A fourth fungus that is put into that group, Laetiporus persicinus, might not really be a Laetiporus. It also does not look like or taste like the other chickens.  We took some Laetiporus sulphureus home and fried said. While the texture might remind one of chicken the flavor is derived from how it is cooked and what it is cooked with. It is a fugus of substance, it will not disappear in a dish. I sliced mine and fried in butter. Orange and sulphur colored  Laetiporus sulphureus usually grows on the trunk or upperpart of the tree because it causes heart rot, locally often on oaks. Laetiporus cincinnatus is often at the base of a tree trunk where it causes butt rot.   Laetiporus gilbertsonii — common in the gulf south —  is found on the trunk and is beige in color. Laetiporus persicinus, is found on the base of oaks or growing on roots. It is usually round and stains brown where you handle it. No particular flavor. It is good for stews and the like and when cut and dried makes a good jerky.

There are many way to process acorns after leaching.

Also masting now are our oaks. The amount of acorns in the fall is related to spring rains. More rain in spring, more acorns in the fall. Acorns as a food are a lot of work but also a lot of energy, it’s been the staple food for many ancient populations. Their preparation involved kids as each acorn must be cracked and the nut inside removed for processing (a great job for kids and a couple of rocks to smash with.) I have the suspicion that the family is the most foraging-efficient group, and a village a group of foraging groups. Men think in vectors roam far from home to hunt meat then bring it back. Women go to landmarks to forage and bring it home. Kids help in the processing. Thus acorns. There are two general group, red and black acorns. The former have pointy leaves, the latter do not, the former have an extra layer of material in the shell which gives the nut and water a pink tinge. Acorns have tannins which should be leached out before consuming. How that can be done is subject of books. Acorns high in tannins store well, so the native put them in special containers, acorns low in tannin were processed for immediate or near-term use. Some Live Oaks have acorn with no tannin. The largest local acorn is the chestnut oak. You can read more about acorns here.

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

Foraging classes On the east coast of Florida this weekend, let’s hope the weather holds. One worry about Saturday’s class is whether the preserve will be flooded from recent rains. That affects only the western section but removes wandering by the river.

Nov 18th Lori Wilson Park, 1500 N Atlantic Ave, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931, meet at the north bathrooms, 9 a.m. to noon.

Nov 19th , George LeStrange Preserve, 4911 Ralls Road, Fort Pierce, FL, 34981. 9 a.m. to noon.

Nov 25th , Wickham Park, Melbourne Florida, 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the dog park.

Nov 26th  Mead Gardens, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  9 a.m. to noon Meet at the bathrooms.

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

Henbit, one of the few “sweet” springtime greens. Photo by Green Deane

The first is Henbit. It’s in the mint family but does not smell or taste minty. It does, however, have a square stem and the blossoms resembles mints. In northern climates it is one of the first green plants to pop up after the snow goes (it and chickweed.) Locally it likes our cooler months of the year. It was esteemed by the natives because among all the annual greens it is not spicy but rather mild if not on the sweet side. What can be confusing about it is that the leave shape and stem length is different from young to old leaves. But they all have a scalloped shape. It also has a similar looking relative that is also edible called Dead Nettle. You can read about Henbit here.

Cranesbill is barely edible, photo by Green Deane

Also found in lawns this time of year are wild geraniums, usually Cranesbill or Stork’s Bill. (Why one is one word and the other two-words possessive I do not know.)  Botanically they are Geranium carolinianum and Erodium circutarium.  Neither is great foraging. In fact both are more medicinal than edible but they seem to get mention in a variety of foraging books. The problem is they are extremely bitter. You might be able to toss a little bit of both in a salad but that’s about the extent of it. If you have what you think is a Cranesbill or a Stork’s Bill but it has more of a bottle brush blossom than five petals you might have the non-edible Fumaria. It comes up this time of year and from a distance the leaves can remind one of the wild geraniums. To read more about them go here. 

Dandelions are a common green, photo by Green Deane.

While looking for yellow-blossomed Dandelions also start looking for the more extroverted yellow-blossomed Wild Radish and Wild Mustard. These two peppery species look very similar and are used the same way. There are several ways to tell them apart but on a glance one identifier of the radish is that it grows in a windrow way whereas mustards tend to grow straight up. Radish blossoms are always yellow, mustard blossoms can be yellow or white.  I usually start to find tasty Wild Radishes and Wild Mustards when the nights start getting cooler.  To read more about Wild Radish, go here. Wild Mustards click here.  

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 left is native, the Dwarf Plantain. We saw one Sunday in our foraging class at Mead Gardens. 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 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. You can read about the Plantains here.

Panera’s in Winter Park where we start and finish the Urban Crawl.

My annual Urban Crawl #12 is coming up, on Dec. 22nd, 2023. A reasonable question is what about foraging in a city? There is some surprising research. Dan Brabaner is a geoscience professor at Wellesley College, Boston. With some undergraduate students they studied preserved food collected from fruit trees and the like in the urban Boston area. What they found was cherries, apples, peaches and herbs were relatively low in lead and arsenic. That is, a serving had less amounts of these toxins than the allowed daily amount for a child. The team also did not find a significant difference between peeled and unpeeled fruit. The fruit was low in toxic chemical because they are the furthest away from any toxins in the soil. This would apply to tree nuts as well. Leafy greens faired well, too, because they grow fast and 1) don’t have time to accumulate toxins and 2) most air pollution on them can be washed off. Brabander also analyzed foraged food from plants growing in the urban environment not growing on agricultural soil. These foods had higher micronutrients because they were not growing on worn-out agricultural soil. Calcium and iron were higher as were manganese, zinc, magnesium and potassium. Thus we know that not only do “weeds” pack more of a nutritional punch because they are wild but also because they can be growing in better soil. My Urban Crawl is a free class Friday Dec. 22nd in Downtown Winter Park. We meet in front of Panera’s at 10 a.m. We wander south to the college, stop at Starbucks, go east to the public library area, then back to Panera’s. Park in the parking garage behind Paneras. If you park more than three hours on the streets of Winter Park you can get a ticket (this has happened in previous years.) 

You get the USB, not the key.

172-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.

Finally, a physical copy of the book.

Now in print is EatTheWeeds, the book. It has 274 plants, 367 pages, index, nutrition charts and color photos. Several hundred have been pre-ordered on Amazon.  Most of the entries include a nutritional profile. Officially it will be published December 13th (to suit the publisher publicity demands) and apparently to appeal to the winter market. Orders via Amazon are scheduled to arrive Dec. 5th. 

This is weekly newsletter #580. 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.

This newsletter is late because mail chimp is increasingly difficult to wok with. Any one have a suggestion for a mailing service?

Dan Dowling with a prime example of an Alata root. They break easily when being dug up. Photo by Green Deane

The root of the winged yam. Photo by Green Deane

Yams can be confusing. Regionally there are almost a dozen yams you can find in the wild. Eight do not produce “air” potatoes or put on starch-sequestering roots. So we are not interested in them. That leaves two  (not counting deliberately cultivated species.) The winged yam and the bulbifera (bulbifera means bulb producing.) Their seasons don’t coincide. The bulbifera dies back first in the fall, about November, the Winged yam dies back in December or January depending up how much cold weather there is. The bulbifera if first to pop up in the spring, usually March or April. The winged yam is second in late April or May. Over the season both make non-edible air potatoes but only the winged yam locally produces a huge edible root. The bulbifera usually doesn’t (although in Australia it does.) Winged yam shoots are now about a yard long and can be used to find the tasty root. The thicker the vine now the larger the root. The top of the root will feel like a tent stake in the soil. Thin vines will be from last year’s “air potatoes” which is how the species reproduces vegetatively.

With the help of Chef Steve we dug one up during our Port Chartlotte foraging class last Sunday. One boils the root then uses it like a potato (of which it has a similar nutritional profile.) If you can identify this plant — the winged yam — you won’t starve.

Texas Ebony seed pods

It is true you can walk past a useful plant many times and not notice it. That was my experience with the Eastern Red Bud, and perhaps this weekend with the Texas Ebony. One tree of it was identified by a friend’s aunt, so it was added to the edibles’ list. This past week in Dreher park West Palm Beach it was pointed out to me a couple of huge trees also looked like Texas Ebony (this was the first time I recall those two fruiting.) Texas Ebony is is Ebenopsis ebano which means ” spectacular Black ebony” which is better than its last name Pithecellobium flexicaule which is Monkey’s Earring with Bent Stem. What ever it is called it is edible. The seeds of E. ebano are about 35% protein which is comparable to legumes though they are larger than chickpeas. Carbohydrates in 100 grams (before processing) are 29.36 grams, fat 28.16 grams but fiber quite low, 0.51 grams per 100 grams. That’s all about 500 calories. Cooking increases the available protein by some 12% and reduces anti-nutrient phytate 35% and protein inhibitors 96% overall increasing the nutrition. The most common amino acids are leucine, lysine, valine, isoleucine and treosine.

The fungus gall of Gymnosporangium clavipes on a hawthorne

Most foragers would look at this picture (right) 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 huge 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, which is protective against DNA damage from gamma radiation besides making jelly. In fact one hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, the one-seed Hawthorn can be made into a no-cook jelly which can then be dried. 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 Ray Mears’ 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 August in western North Carolina. Botanically Michlla repens, the species has been used for food and as a diureticc and for the pain associalted with 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.

Foraging Classes: Spending my class time on the east coast this weekend. Mebourne and Port Orange. 

May 27th , Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 9 a.m. Meet at the “dog park” inside the park (turn right after entrance.) 9 a.m.

 May 28th,  Spruce Creek Park, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 9 a.m.,meet at the pavilion.

June 3rd, Eagle Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. Meet at the pavilion near the dog park, 9 a.m.

June 4th, Mead Gaden, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 a.m.

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

After cooking slice the seeds, remove the small bitter plant inside, eat the rest. Photo by Green Deane

Yellow ponds, that’s how I think of it, or in some places, yellow rivers. That’s because the American Lotus will soon be in blossom. The first time I saw a small lake of these blossoms was when an old dry lake was deepened for a housing development. The next spring suddenly what was for decades a dry lake was full of American Lotus blossoms. This is because the seeds can stay viable some 400 years, or so the experts report. Talk about a survival food! There are multiple edible parts on the American Lotus but I prefer the seeds. I also think when collecting by hand the seeds proved to be the most calories for the amount of work. The roots are edible but digging them up can be a messy, laborious job. Locally American Lotus are easy to find: Just look for a lake with large yellow blossoms on long stems. Further north and west they are a favorite sight on rivers such as the Mississippi. To read more about the American Lotus 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 #559. 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.

Little Econ River at Blanchard Park, west of Michael’s Dam, in east Orlando. Photo by Green Deane

The Econ’s water rose from below Michael’s dam — center right — to flood the YMCA, pool and parking lot, lower left.

When Hurricane Irma came through in 2017 it left 134 people dead and some flooding. One location that saw high water was Blanchard Park east of Orlando. It is on the Little Econ river which has eight dams to control flooding. Irma, from a foraging point of view made changes. It removed several edible species and left new ones. Not long ago Hurricane Ian also flooded the Little Eco in the same area significantly rising far higher than Irma did. At our foraging class there last week it was clear flood waters carried and deposited seeds. Several edible species not seen there before were sprouting, and several that previously were only waterside were several hundred feet from the main river. There were also many piles of debris which are always a foraging opportunity. Flooding can do great damage but it also changes plant species and their distribution creating new opportunities. Something to watch for when foraging

Goji berries are ripening.

As for Goji berries, this time of year we often find them sat Sprue Creek in Port Orange. Because of a rising tide we could not visit out usual location but we spotted some which we would have harvested if we had a canoe or kayak with us. Goji berries are a food/medicinal fruit popular in Asia and naturalized in Southern England. We have our own native species locally, Lycium carolinianum. The ripe fruit have a taste similar to tomatoes which they are related to.

Related to Alfalfa, Black Medic is not a true clover. Photo by Green Deane

Saw Black Medic for the first time this season. It’s generally considered edible and like many weeds is from Europe. That kind of excludes it from being a significant Native American food (though some sources call it that… It’s a long story.) The headache is that from a distance of about five or six feet (where most people’s eyes are from the ground) Black Medic can look like Hop Clover. Here’s quick way to tell them apart: Hop Clover tends to have red stems, Black Medic has green stems covered with fine white hair and has a longer stem on the center leaf. After the two species go to seed they are easy to sort out: Black Medic has black seeds… hence the name. Hop Clover brown seeds. You can read more about it here.

Nagi Trees are very prolific. Photo by Green Deane

The Nagi Tree is odd in that the seed oil is edible but the seed isn’t nor is the fruit. You can boil young leaves but they are kind of on par with pine needles (which are a distant relative). One odd thing is that the leaves clearly look like a monocot, that is, they don’t have branching veins but all parallel veins and no mid-rib in the leaf. The confusion is there are no monocot trees. These hurricane-proof trees produce piles of pretty blue berries that sprout easily (on their own in fact.) It’s just too bad they are not edible (neither are the blue fruit of the Japanese Blueberry Tree that resembles an olive.) You can read about the Nagi Tree here. 

Red Glasswort shows it salty age. Photo by Green Deane

Botany Builder #26: Torose, also torulose: Cylindrical with swelling or contractions at intervals. It comes from the Dead Latin “torus” meaning a bulge or protuberance. Some might immediately think of certain cactus as torose, and some are. But other plants are torose as well, such as Glasswort, Salicornia bigelovii, found growing in salt marshes. We saw a lot of it this past week at Ft. Desoto. When young the plant is green but as the season goes on it sequesters salt in various area which then turn pink. So the green parts can be eaten raw or cooked and the pink parts used when you want a salty flavor. While the plant can be boiled to reduce the salty flavor the greens can also be put in what you’re cooking or flavor it such as a fresh caught fish or harvested squash. To read more about Glasswort go here. 

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

Foraging Classes: With the threat of weather lessened we can schedule further out. This week’s classes span the state. 

Saturday December 17th, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. Meet just north of the science center, 9 a.m.

Sunday December 18th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771.Meet in the pavilion next to the dog park. 9 a.m.

Saturday December 31st   Blanchard Park, 2451 N Dean RD
Orlando, FL 32817. Meet at the pavilion next to the tennis courts.

Saturday January 7th  Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 a.m

Sunday January 8th, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 32935-2335. Meet at the “dog park” inside the park. 9 a.m. 

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

December 23rd: 12th Urban Crawl it is also time to mark your calendar for my 12th annual Urban Crawl. It will be Friday December 23rd at 10 a.m. in Winter Park, Florida. We meet in front of Panera’s, park avenue. It’s difficult to believe I’ve had that walk for twelve years now. The Urban Crawl is free to all.

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

The blossom of the Black Calabash. Photo by Green Deane

We should see a  a mystery during my Saturday class in West Palm Beach.WE should find the blossom to the right. The dreee has large, dark-leaves. It is the  Black Calabash, Amphitecna latifolia. Reports vary on edibility. Most agree the black seeds are edible. One book, A Field Guide to Plants of Costa Rica, says the spongy white pulp is edible but does not mention the seeds which makes me cautious (in that the authors might confuse edible seeds for edible pulp.)  Other reports say the tree does not fruit often unless the blossoms are intentionally pollenated. One last thing: The skin was dried and used like cups. It is pollenated by bats (which do not live in the area, making some believe it is not native and should be allowed to die off.) 

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

A 150-video USB or 135 video DVD set would be a good winter present and either is now $99. My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been selling for seven years and are still available. They are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have a separate copy.  A second option is a16-gig USB that has those 135 videos plus 15 more. While the videos can be run from the DVDs the videos on the USB have to be copied to your computer to play. They are MP4 files. The150-video USB is $99 and the 135-video DVD set is now $99. The DVDs will be sold until they run out then will be exclusively replaced by the USB. This is a change I’ve been trying to make for several years. So if you have been wanting the 135-video DVD set order it now as the price is reduced and the supply limited. Or you can order the USB. My headache is getting my WordPress Order page changed to reflect these changes. We’ve been working on it for several months. However, if you want to order now either the USB or the DVD set 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 in the note say if you want the DVD set or the USB. 

This is weekly newsletter #535. 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.

Swinecress is an easy to identify winter mustards.

It’s our mustard time of year. Harvested this week were half a dozen related species: hairy bitter cress, wild mustard, wild radish, pepper grass and swine cress. Hairy bittercress (above) is the mildest and smallest of the lineup, swinecress (right) s the strongest (in fact its taste grows stronger the more you chew it.) These mustards can be pickled and or dried for later use.  Not surprisingly different mustards like different environments. Swinecress likes lawns as it is a low- growing rosette, Hairy bittercress like rich damp soil including shady creek banks, Pepper grass like sunny dry areas, as do wild mustard and wild radish (as they are taller they can grow in higher grass. Another mustard family member also seen this time of year, but not last weekend, is Western Tansy Mustard, it’s very mild and like very dry arreas (think dusty horse corrals and the like.) 

Dead Man’s Fingers

Botany Builder #8: The endings of botanical names in Dead Latin can often give us a clue about the species especially -ifera (producing) and -oides (resmebles)  [and variations such as -iferum.] Often the botanical name is virtually no help in identifying a plant, such as when the genus and the species honor two different people. A good example is Decaisnea fargesii, (left) Dead Man’s Fingers. It’s named after Joseph Decaisne and Pere Farges. No description there.. seems like a lost opportunity to me… Sometimes the species name is misleading as in Pinus palustris, which means a pine that likes to grow in swamps. Unfortunately Pinus palustris only grows on the top of dry sandy hills. That the descriptive name is very wrong is not enough to get it changed. The reason has to be botanical even if flimsy botanical.

Paper Birch, Betual papyrifera, paper bearing

-ifera and -oides however usually are helpful. -ifera again means “producing” or bearaing.” Papyrifera means paper bearing, as in Betula papyrifera, the Paper Birch, right. Bulbifera means bulb bearing, such as the Dioscorea bulbifera, the Air Potato. Cerifera  means wax bearing like the Southern wax Myrtle, Myrica cerifera . The Myrica cerifera produces a green wax that was traditionally used to make Bayberry Candles.       

-oides again means “resembling” or ‘looks like.” Tillandsia usneoides (Spanish Moss) means looks like the lichen usnea. ranunculoides means looks like ranunculus (butter cups.) Centruroides means … like sharp (and is a genus of scorpions are in reference to their stingers.) While the word “folia” can mean leaves it is also used to mean look like. Aquifolium means holly-like leaves. Tiliifolia means basswood-like leaves. Sonchifolia means leaves like a sow thistle. So if you have an -ifera in front of you it should be producing something. If you have an oides it should look like something else you probably already know.

Foraging classes: With most of the rainy season over all we have to contend with now is cool weather. 

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

Saturday December 3rd Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 a.m.

Sunday December 4th Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. 9 a.m. Meet at bayshore and Ganyard Street. 

Saturday December 10th Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. meet by the tennis courts.

Sunday December 11th Spruce Creek Park, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 32127. 9 a.m. Meet at the pavilion.

For more information about the classes, to pre-pay, or to sign up go here.    For all communication with me use GreenDeane@gmail.com

FRIDAY December 23rd: 12th Urban Crawl it is  time to mark your calendar for my 12th annual Urban Crawl. It will be Friday December 23rd at 10 a.m. in Winter Park, Florida. We meet in front of Panera’s on Park Avenue. It’s difficult to believe I’ve had that walk for twelve years now. The Urban Crawl is free to all, and is wheel chair friendly.

The Australian Pine has branchlets not needles. Photo by Green Deane

The Australian Pine is not a pine and is more closely related to the oaks. In fact it is often called the “she oak.” It’s a prime source of firewood (and can be burned immediately after cutting.) It is also used for smoking meat and fish as are the “needles” after soaking them in salt water. And those whispy rhapidophyllum are not needles. They are branchlets.  (Rhapidophyllum, from the Greek, is the botanical name for needle-leaf whereas in the animal world the same shape is hystrix also from the Greek ὕστριξ meaning porcupine.) And as one might guess the Needle Palm is Rhapidophyllum hystrix, a bit of drunk botanist overkill. It’s a cold-hardly palm that hurts like hell and will grow as far north as Long Island and Seattle.

Cones from the Australian Pine minus seeds. Photo by Green Deane

In Florida Australian Pines are seen as far north as Haul Over Canal, just north of the space center where they hold the dirt banks of the canal in place. And they are also in the center of the state in Deland, home of Stetson College. The species barely fits into the edible realm. It’s sap is drinkable, the branchlets are edible as are the cones but better are the roasted seed. You can watch my video it here.

A young Leonotis leonurus  blossom. Photo by Green Deane

There’s an innocent-looking ornamental plant in local parks which in some European countries the possession of which can get you 30 years in prison: Wild Dagga, or, Leonotis leonurus. As a student of Greek I always have an issue with the name because “Leonotis”  means “Lion’s Ear” while “leonurus” is mangled Greek and “new” Latin for “Lion’s Tail.” So it’s name is Lion’s Ear Lion’s Tail…. more drunk botanistl overkill.  They took it all from the historical King of Sparta, λέωνῐ́δᾱς,  or Leonida, which means “son of a lion.” A second species found locally — and more often — is Leonotis nepetifolia (catnip leaf.) The plants look similar except “lion tail” has skinny leaves like marijuana, and the “catnip leaf’ has somewhat large diamond-shaped leaves like catnip. The blossoms and over all growth pattern is similar for both. From tropical South Africa and India Lion’s Tail is used … recreationally…  where as Catnip Leaf is used medicinally. Both have leonurine, Lion’s Tail apparently more than Catnip Leaf. Water extraction — tea — is the common method of use. A 2015 study says Leonotis leonurus seems to be mildly pschoactive. “Research has proven the psychoactive effects of the crude extract of L. leonurus, but confirmation of the presence of psychoactive compounds, as well as isolation and characterization, is still required.” Sounds like a pitch for more research money. Others report both species contain marrubiin which is an analgesic and probably why they have been used in traditional medicine. Bees and humming birds also like the species. A relevant article can be read at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29016795/

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. 

This is weekly newsletter #533. 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.

The toxic Atamasco Lily is prettying lawns now. Photo by Green Deane

The question was about coordination: When you see perennial “rain lilies”  popping up in lawns, is mushroom season is starting? As we had a weekend of heavy rain – which mushroom want this time of year to get going — it’s hard to tell. At any rate the Rain Lilly aka Atamasco lilly.( Zephranthes atamasca.) are up.They are NOT edible which is good because they are a threatened species.Also sometime called Easter Lilies, Atamasca is from a Powhatan word meaning “stained with red.” Zepharanthes is from Zephyrus, which in Greek mythology is the west wind

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 but a well-watered lawn after seasonal rains will do nicely. The problem with the Atamasco is that it resembles wild garlic before it blossoms (and even has a bulb!) However, it does not have the necessary 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/onion aroma. It is not edible. All parts are poisonous. Leave it alone. And while these in the picture have a pink tinge there are also all-white blossoms.

Chinese Banyan photo by Green Deane

Following up: During our foraging class in Largo an app identified a tree as a Chinese banyan. however, there are many varieties of the “Chinese banyan” Ficus microcarpa, and varieties with botanical names. It’s a fogggy genus. Most Ficus microcarpa live out their lives as house plants, — think Ficus benjamin —  or as shade trees in  warm municipalities. The next  questions are which variety is it, is the fruit toxic and/or is the fruit edible? Sorting put figs can be difficult. And in the standard references there are no definitive answers for edibility of these figs for humans. Several references agree the sap should not get in your eyes and that the sap is toxic to dogs, cats and horses,  particularly to dogs. Signs that your dog may have been after your fig tree can include heavy drooling, vomiting, and diarrhea. As for the fruit —like most banyan fruit— it generally considered more not palatable than toxic. The one I tasted was sweet. The same can be said for two strangler figs also found in Florida, one native and one not. I eat them occasionally. They can range in tast from dry sponge to fermented sour.

Jack in the Pulpit. Photo byGreen Deane

Jack In The Pulpit are strange plants. They’re listed among the edible species but barely. One unusual aspect about the species is they readily change sex. After reproducing they become males and do nothing but hang out on the forest floor drinking sunlight and making starch. When enough energy has been collected for reproduction — three or four years — they become females… It’s not a species that does much dating. They like damp, sun-dappled places. We see them often during  foraging class in Jacksonville. They are also common along the bike trail through Big Tree Park in Sanford. To read more about Jacks and my microwave experiments with them you can go here.

Black Cherries are both bitter and sweet.

Black Cherry has been mentioned a couple of times earlier this year and that’s the reason for it being mentioned now: It’s still fruiting. The season seems a bit longer this year than usual and I still see them here and there. It is safe to say Black Cherries look better than they taste. There is an initial cherry sweetness but then a residual bitterness takes over whereas chokecherries are bad start to finish. There were four of those trees on the other side of our lawn where I grew up in Maine. They were quite irritating: They looked wonderful but tasted awful (unless made into wine.)  Black Cherries, like the chokecherries, are much better processed into jelly and wine (or cough medicine from the inner bark.) Do not eat the seeds. To read more about the Black Cherry go here.

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

Foraging classes this weekend rang from southwest Florida to near Orlando, in both locations we can identify edible roots you can eat is the food supply falls apart.

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.

Saturday, June 4th Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the picnic tables next to the pump house.

Sunday June 5th, Spruce Creek Park, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 32127. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the pavilion.

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

Fruit of the Chinese Tallow tree.

During a class recently I noticed the Chinese Tallow trees are blossoming. The tree poses a challenge. It has an edible fat and a toxic oil. The question is how to easily separate the two. And if “easily” is the wrong descriptor then how can it be made worth a forager’s while? The tree, Triadica sebifera, is an invasive species locally so finding a use for it would help the environment. Also as a source of fat it could literally be a life-saver in time of need because humans cannot survive without fat. In fact one can readily see the white fat (also called wax) on the seeds.  It just doesn’t render easily. Each seed has a thick coating of highly saturated fat, one reason why the species is also called the popcorn tree because when in fruit it looks covered by popcorn. By all reports the outer coating is edible and has been used to make candles, hence calling it wax. In fact the tree was imported from Asia by Ben Franklin specifically to start a candle-making industry in the South. As a saturated fat the outside is very solid at room temperature. Inside the seed is a liquid oil called stillingia. It is toxic to humans.

Chinese Tallow seed oil is toxic.

The “wax” is supposed to melt at 104 F. I’ve tried frying the fruit. The outer coating of fat stays solid. I’ve tried boiling. No luck. My readers have tried broiling — the seeds exploded — and micowaving, they got softer but did not melt.  In China they soften the fruit in boiling water than scraped them over a fine grater.  Separating the fat and the oil was also a science project. Here’s what the student did. First she bought a hand-operated oil expeller. They cost about $150 on the Internet.  She put the entire fruit through the press which also heats the material. Out comes a liquid mass that upon cooling has the solid saturated fat on top and the oil on bottom. She went on to make candles out of the “wax” and used the oil in a lamp which won her three science fairs and two scholarships. Way to go! The next question we ask is whether the “wax” (saturated fat) and the oil will sufficiently separate so the fat can be used as food? Also is it just as stubborn to melt even after being processed this way? My last question would be how digestible is it? The invasive species certainly has a lot of potential. You can read more about the Chinese Tallow tree here.

Lilac blossoms are edible

Memories…For more than 60 years I have associated Lilacs with June. In rural Pownal, Maine, I attended four different one-room schools (no running water, outhouses for restrooms, and certainly no telephone. But there was a record player and the girls were in charge of playing one song after lunch… if we were good. Mrs. Tryon ruled with an iron fist.) Each school held two grades. The fifth and sixth were at the north end of the town. Directly behind that school was a wall of white Lilacs. Whenever they blossomed we knew school was soon to be over for the summer. The exact day of our release varied year to year. We always started the Tuesday after Labor Day. When we got out in June depended on how many days of school was called off during the winter because of snow or cold temperatures. So our seasonal parole date varied every year. Seeing those Lilac blossom was always a joyful time: The torture would soon be over.

Green Deane, striped shirt, front row, 1962

In the greater Olive family the most common blossom color for Lilac is … lilac. And just in case you’re interested there is a 10-day Lilac Festival in Rochester N.Y. every May (Covid notwithstanding.) Not bad for a plant with European ancestry. At the festival they have over 500 different lilacs on some 1,200 bushes. You can even sample Lilac wine. Where do I sign up? Lilac blossoms are pungent and on the lemony side. In the language of flowers — very much practiced in the 1800’s as a means of conveying information — they were assigned three meanings: The lilac Lilac humility, the purple Lilac emotional love, and the white Lilac youthful innocence.  Lilacs don’t grow in Florida. Too hot and humid. Their landscaping substitute is the non-edible Crape Myrtle.

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 #509. 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.