Search: Cereus

The best persimmons are the ones you have to fight the ants for. Photo by Green Deane

In nature close is often good enough. Locally we expect grapes to ripen about the first of September but they can show up in late July or early November. This year the persimmons seems to be late. Usually some are ripe by early October. I saw trees Monday that still had green fruit on them. I think the latest I’ve found edible persimmons is early January. The timing is also way off for the Pineapple Guava.

Ripe and unripe Pineapple Guava looks the same. Photo by Green Deane

Usually in early September the green fruit, left, softens to edible. It is now past mid-October and the fruit is still hard. Does that mean a late-lasting winter so to provide creatures with food later in the season? And Saturday in Sarasota we saw Pellitory. It’s a winter annual that usually becomes noticeable in late November. We saw and sampled six-inch high plants. So far the ringless honey mushrooms have not flushed. Locally they are usually pushing up near Veteran’s Day in November. Wintertime foraging varies where you live. In moderate Florida we can forage all year and the wintertime provides some of the best opportunities. But what of northern climates?

I grew up where winter night temperatures easily dropped into the 30-plus below zero (-40 celsius.) Sometimes the schools had to close for several days because they could not be kept warm or there was too much snow to plow the roads. And once we went skating at 50 below just to say we did. (Chilblains from that night some 60 years ago still bother me in air conditioned buildings. It’s wasn’t the skating with a bonfire that did permanent damage but rather the arctic one-mile walk from and to home.) We did that skating on Gowen’s Pond, our local natural skating rink. It had one tree-stump island which probably had been a water-tolerant hackmatack. That speck of protrusion through the ice was perhaps six square feet in total area. The ice was thinner there and one winter I saw a turtle under the ice feeding some some green pond plant. That generated several thoughts. One was that it was warm enough for the turtle to go looking for food. Two, that the turtle found food, and, three, that the turtle was food even in the winter.  Like the turtle or deer or the horses I grew up with you can find food in hostile winter climates if you know where to dig or browse. You can read more about wintertime foraging here. 

Monstera does not want to be eaten until the right time. Photo by Green Deane

Fall is a good time to look for Yellow Pond Lilys. While they fruit rather continuously these pond residents are putting forth a crop now. Plants may not have a brain they can have a strategy, or at least so it seems. Many of them protect their seeds in various ways until they are ready to germinate. The Persimmon Tree above comes to mind. The fruit is astringent until the seeds are mature enough to germinate. Then the fruit turns sweet attracting various animals to eat it — those that can taste sweet — and spread the seeds around. The Monstera deliciosa , left, has the same sugar strategy. The seeds are acrid until ready to germinate then they turn sweet. They have a flavor reminiscent of pineapple and/or wild chamomile. The Yellow Pond Lily works in a similar fashion, almost. It does not turn sweet but the bitterness goes away. Seeds that are not ready to germinate are bitter. As the plant dies the floating seed pod rots over a three-week period. When the seeds are ready to germinate the protective bitterness is removed by enzymatic action. This also makes the seeds edible. Of course we humans can take advantage of the system by collecting the seed pods ourselves and controlling the rotting process. Then we get the seeds and dry them for use in various ways. You can read more about the Yellow Pond Lily here.

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

Foraging Classes: Making a foraging loop this weekend around south Florida with a class in West Palm Beach Saturday and Port Charlotte Sunday. Might so some fishing in one place or the other or both. 

Saturday October 23rd, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a.m. to noon, meet just north of the science center.

Sunday October 24th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte.  9 a.m. to noon, meet at the parking lot of Bayshore and Ganyard.

Saturday November 6th, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. Meet at the picnic tables next to the pump house. 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday November 7th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. to noon, meet by the tennis courts. 

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

True Turkey Tails. Photo by Green Deane

Turkey Tails are a fairly easy-to-identify medicinal mushroom.  For a common type of mushroom I don’t see them that often… two or three times a year. I see False Turkey Tails far more often. More on that later.  A seven-year study funded by the National Institutes of Health found Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor) boosted the immunity in women who had been treated for breast cancer. Researchers at the University of Minnesota and Bastyr University conducted the study in women with stages I-III breast cancer who had completed radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Results showed that immune function was enhanced in the women who took daily doses of Turkey Tail in pill form. They reported that the improved immune response was dose dependent and that none of the subjects suffered any adverse effects. Trametes versicolor can be chewed whole, eaten ground, or made into a tea, or a tincture. The question that always follows such comments is are False Turkey Tails, Stereum ostrea, medicinal?  Informally one hears herbalists saying False Turkey Tails can be used but there are few specifics though they have a long herbalism history.  A study in 2007 found that water extracts of Stereum ostrea were antibacterial and antifungal. That’s not cancer fighting or immune system stimulating but useful nonetheless. You can read that article here. 

Easy to identify, difficult to remember, the Golden Rain Tree. Photo by Green Deane

And now the Golden Rain Tree… of all the species I have written about over the years this is one I have perhaps the least personal experience with.  I have a good reason: I always recognize it at the wrong time of the year when it’s sporting pink seed pods. It is the tree’s springtime boiled shoots that are the most edible part of this species. In the spring, however, the tree is a rather drab Elm/Chinaberry-lookalike. Inside the pink boxy seed pods one usually finds two or four black seeds that are reportedly edible. The problem is they have unrefined erucic acid (oil) which is the same irritating oil in unprocessed rape seed oil which when idustrially processed is called Canola. If you have an undisciplined memory like mind the mentioning of erucic acid makes you think of a movie you did not see: Lorenzo’s Oil. The oil, now made from olive oil and erucic aicd, is used to treat ALD, adrenoleukodystrophy. The 1992 movie was based on the true story of parents looking for a treatment for their son. ALD is a genetic disease that causes a metabolic error that in time reduces cognitive function by making an excessive amount of a very-long-chain fat (cerotic acid.) Consumption of the man-made oil can moderate that. Lorenzo himself died of pneumonia in 2008 at age 30.) The seeds I never get around to working with are peppery — Ma Nature is giving us a warning there — and do have a small amount of cyanide. You can read about the Koelreuteria paniculata here.  

Cereus cactus fruit is wild Dragon Fruit. Photo by Green Deane

Also fruiting now are Cereus cactus. Like grapes Cereus are fairly easy to identify by genus but exactly what species is a challenge. Frankly it is a challenge one does not have to accept. Most Cereus cactus, except perhaps the commercial “Dragon Fruit” are shaped like small pink footballs about four inches long.  They are attached rather strongly so nippers or the like are best to cut them off.  Toss the fruit in the refrigerator for a while then cut them open like two little row boats. The white flesh has the texture of overripe watermelon. The black seeds are soft and edible (unlike most cactus seeds which are extremely hard.) The cactus themselves are called “candle” cactus as they are usually but not always an unbranching trunk. Also called Peruvian Cactus the headache associated with species identification is that there are a lot of “fake” botanical names made up by sellers.  Another problem that can make cactus tough plants to identify is having to resort to counting spines and length.  You can read more about them 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. 

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 my weekly free newsletter #478. 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.

If you’re thinking Eucalyptus you’re close. Photo by Green Deane

Count Torelli had the bright idea of using eucalyptus trees to drain malarial swamps.

 I add about one new species a month to my data base. After a class Saturday in southwest Florida a gentleman asked me to look at a tree he was having a hard time identifying. Like him I, too, had no idea what it was though I could guess where it was from and some of its relatives. 

The seeds are not edible. Photo by Green Deane

On Drance Street in Port Charlotte, the tree is very tall. It immediately reminds one of a eucalyptus. I first thought it was an Alectryon excelsus, or the Titoki tree from New Zealand. My only problem with that was the Titoki tree is a sub-canopy species to 30 feet. This tree far exceeds that height and not all the leaves were right. After a lot of rummaging I have settled on Corymbia torelliana. It used to be called Eucalyptus torelliana. Corymbia is from corym, a flower cluster. Torelliana honors Count Luigi de Torelli of the Italian senate (d. 1887) who promoted the use of eucalyptus to dry the malarial Pontine mashes near Rome. 

There were several Chaya shrubs nearby. Photo by Green Deane

Aboriginal names for the tree are Cadaga and Cadaghi. Australians also call it the Blood-Leaf Gum. It is also known as Torell’s eucalyptus. Originally brought to Florida for windbreaks they can grow 50 feet in 20 years. Adult height is between 90 and 100 feet. For a windbreak they are planted six to 10 feet apart in a single row. As it grows straight and tall it requires little if any pruning. The tree is useful for honey production. Interestingly the building near the tree in Port Charlotte has several planted Chaya shrubs. They have leaves that are edible cooked. (Pick with gloves and long sleeves on as they are related to our stinging Spurge Nettle.) You can read about Chaya here. 

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

Scheduling foraging classes is iffy this time of year. It can be truly too hot in the southern end of the state for a three-hour class. One also has to outguess the weather and look long term whereas in the fall one can book out three months. Last Saturday Tropical Storm Fred decided to stay south a few hours longer and we had a cloud-covered but dry class in Port Charlotte. The trip north, however, was drenching. Saturday’s class is in Largo, always a nice location to visit. It used to be a working farm. Sunday’s class is not held too often and is about 10 miles north of downtown Orlando at Sanlando Park. We skirt some athletic fields and visit the Little Wekiva. It’s also a location that often has huge amount of Creeping Cucumber.

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

Sunday August 22nd, Seminole Wekiva Trail, Sanlando Park, 401 West Highland St. Altamonte Springs, Florida 32714 (at the intersection with Laura Avenue.) We meet in the first parking lot on your right immediately after the entrance. 9 a.m. to noon.

Saturday August 28th, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. Meet at the picnic tables next to the pump house. 9 a.m. to noon.

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

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

Guavas are common around old Florida homesteads.

The other surprise this week came at a private class west of Daytona Beach. A shrub had one, shriveling, fruit. As with the tree above one could guess its relatives. I used to have a Strawberry Guava and this fruit was similar except larger and a different color. However the shape, texture and flavor was right. Most likely it was intentionally planted as there were two Loquats nearby and a Bauhinia nearby (the latter has edible blossoms.) Again after some digging I settled on Psidium littorale (said SID-ee-um lit-aw-RAY-lee) the Lemon Guava or P. guajava (a closer look at the leaves should sort that out.) They are usually found in south Florida and are native to Brazil. The fruit contains a high amount of vitamin A and folate. It also has vitamins C (with higher concentrations in the skin) and B-complex vitamins as well as potassium. It also provides  flavonoids, terpenoids, carotene, lycopene, soluble fibers, and amino acids. It was a nice find. Leaf tea has been used to reduce blood glucose levels. The species grows easily from seeds and fruits in about seven years. In many areas the Guavas are invasive.

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

It was fruit day Saturday during our class in Port Charlotte. The mangoes were done but the Java Plum (Jambul) was just starting and Star Fruit littered the ground.  A great tasty surprise was many ground cherries. There are several species locally and those were Physalis viscosa. I pocketed some seeds for planting. Also fruiting in profusion were coco-plums. There were so many I picked ten pounds and will try to make a couple experimental gallons of wine. Also fruiting was the Natal Plum which is not really a plum but a close relative to the toxic Oleander. All parts of the Natal Plum are toxic except the ripe fruit. We also got to taste some non-commercial Dragon Fruit from some candle cactus. The Podocarpus is ripening, too. It clearly is the time of year to look for wild edible fruit. 

One can find ripe persimmons from late August to early January though October is a good target month. Photo by Green Deane

During Sunday’s class at Blanchard Park we got to see a fruiting Persimmon Tree up close and personal. They are mostly green this time of year but one has to ripen before the others. While we aim for October for ripe persimmon sometimes you can find one or two already ripe this time of year. Persimmons are much maligned because they are astringent until extremely ripe. From the tree’s perspective it does not want the fruit carried away by animals that can taste sweet until the seeds are ready to germinate. So the fruit stays non-palatable to most creatures until the last moment. The fruit seemingly turns sweet overnight. No frost is needed. The best persimmons are the ones you have to fight the ants for. The place to look for Persimmons trees are along edges…. edges of forests, edges of roads and rivers and paths. To read more about the Persimmon, which is North American’s only ebony, 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. 

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.

Your donations to upgrade the EatTheWeeds website and fund a book were appreciated. A book manuscript has been turned it. It had 425 articles, 1326 plants and a third of a million words. What it will be when the publisher is done with it next year is unknown. It will be published in the spring of 2023. Writing it took a significant chunk of time out of my life from which I have still not recovered. (Many things got put off.) The next phase is to update all the content on the website between now and publication date. Also note as it states above the 135-video DVD set has been phased out for 150-video USB. Times and formats change. Which reminds me I need to revisit many plants and make some new videos. 

The controversial two-leaf nightshade. Photo by Green Deane

And what are we to do with the Two-Leaf Nightshade, Solanum diphyllum? This native to Mexico and Central America was first spied in the United States in Miami in the early to mid-1960s. It has spread since then and is a common shrub in south and Central Florida as well as parts of Texas and in southern France, Italy and Taiwan. It’s almost always reported as toxic. I wrote “almost” because people tell me they have eaten a few ripe berries without noticeable issue. They have also eaten them in my classes with several witnesses.  Our usual sources of plant expertise are no help with this greenery: Daniel Austin in his tome Florida Ethnobotany doesn’t mention the plant though he was a professor of botany in south Florida when the species was proliferating. His University of Miami boss, the crusty Yankee Julia Morton, doesn’t do us much better.

In her book Plants Poisonous To People in Florida she calls it Amatillo. Instead of having it in the main section of the book it’s in the back under “other toxins.” After a description she writes: “The ripe fruit is sweetish, not acrid like the Jerusalem Cherry, but the green fruit and leave probably contain solanine.” She adds “In one pasture, where there were several of these bushes, a horse had optical abnormality, was staggering and weak in the hindquarters and may have grazed on the foliage.” I think that means don’t eat the leaves. Morton finishes her entry with “We must regard it with suspicion until we have actual evidence of toxicity.”  I would add the species in not mentioned in the Journal of Economic Botany which spans some seven decades and was created to bring lesser-known plants to public attention and use. 

Not only is there a dearth of credible references regarding edibility reports fall short in the medicinal realm as well. An “Amatillo” is mentioned in Duke’s Handbook of Medicinal Plants of Latin America. Unfortunately it is a totally different species, Rauvolfia tetraphylla. Apparently there are several species commonly called “Amatillo.” No doubt there is a grandmother in Central America who knows exactly what to do with Solanum diphyllum fruit. The species is conspicuously missing from several publications about fruit in tropical climates. As a Nightshade it probably has some uses. The species might be mentioned in some Spanish texts but while I can misspell in two languages Spanish is not one of them.

This is weekly newsletter #470. 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.

Jambul Fruit being made into wine. Photo by Green Deane

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

Plants remind one that weather is less dependable than we might think. People who makes plans to live off the land often forget several things among them personal illness, crop predation by bug, animal or fungi, limited hours of daylight to work in, and uncooperative weather (either limiting hours one can work, or, affecting plant production.)   We were reminded of the latter this past week with the Java Plum (also called Jambul.) They’re a common tree in south Florida and I know of one and a few relatives in Central Florida. Usually the species fruits in August. That’s a good look- for target month. Last year it was early August if not late July, the year before late August and or September. In West Palm Beach this past weekend some were still blossoming while a couple were dropping unripe, astringent fruit. Usually by now sidewalks near the trees are stained purple with mashed fruit. The trees clearly have a six-week- (or so) window. That’s the effects of weather. Is it because of more or less chill hours? More or less clouds? Is it the amount of rain or timing (and not only for the trees.) Weather can effect pollenating insects. Can they fly when the plant really needs pollinating?  Plants are on a very flexible schedule and you have to be, too. You have to do more than know your land: You have to watch, too. 

Wild Chanterelles and wild rice waiting to be cooked. Photo by Green Deane

I was asked recently by one of the retired fellows I bike with if the rain was helping my plants. That’s kind of on par with “is sunshine helping your plants?”  What he meant but did not say was did the recent rains make a difference. I’m not sure it moved the chlorophylic needle much on green plants but it did stimulate a flush of edible Chanterelles. Several friends and I collected them for several days and did not put a dent in the abundance. (By the way harvesting wild mushrooms is what the mushroom wants just as an an apple tree wants its apples moved.)  All mushroom should be stored in paper bags (not plastic) and washed only right before cooking. (I’m certified to sell wild mushrooms in several states, and that is among the instructions.) Interestingly those who study such things now say no mushrooms — wild or cultivated — should be eaten raw. Over a life time, they say, eating raw mushrooms can increase the risk for mitochondria-based cancer. Cook your mushrooms. 

One way to remove glochids from tunas is to sweep them off.

One of the disappointments this time of year is that the Seagrapes are not quite ripe, as we saw in West Palm Beach Sunday. They usually ripen in september, That said the Tuna are running… well… actually ripening: Cactus fruit are called Tuna. We saw plenty of those. There are two or three general types of cactus locally, Opuntia and Nopales and a third with edible fruit, the Cereus, which is more an ornamental Dragon Fruit.  How do you pick a Tuna (or cactus pad?) In a word carefully. Most foragers know cactus have edible parts but what does one look for, generally? First make sure it’s a pad, segmented often oval or tear-drop shaped. You do not want anything that looks serpentine. Also no white sap. White sap in plants that resemble cactus can be very deadly even after being dry many years. In one case smoke from burning desiccated Euphorbia branches killed some stranded people. They were  trying to stay warm around the fire on a cold desert night. So, pads, no white sap.

Cereus fruit is soft and semi-sweet. Photo by Green Deane

While which cactus you collect (Opuntia, Nopales, or Cereus) might be the luck of the draw, the less spines the better, and the less glochids the much better. Glochids are tiny tuffs of sharp hair that hurt, are hard to dig out, and last for days. Ma Natures knows the pads and Tuna are good food so she protects them mightily. Big spines can be cut, burned or scraped off, glochids burned or washed off. Just scraping is not so successful with glochids. Wear stiff gloves without seams. Those little glochids will pass right through seams and get ya. Hint: Young pads, the ones we want anyway, often have not developed glochids. The Tuna have them so pick with tongs and sweep, wash or burn the painful parts off. Let us presume you have a spineless, glochidless young pad or tuna. What do you do with it? You can eat it raw, skin and all, or roast it or boil it. I know one restuarant that steams pads (preserving color) then lightly grills them inserting them whole on Mexican-esque hamburgers.  With older (de-spined) pads you can still eat them raw or cook. Usually the tougher spine “eyes” are removed just like you would with a potato. And the pad can be peeled as well. Pads at a certain point become woody and too tough to eat.  The tunas can have a raspberry flavor. The seeds are edible, too, but are extremely tough. You have to grind or roast them The pink foot-ball shaped fruit of the Cereus are spineless and totally edible, skin soft seeds and white pulp usually raw. To read more about cactus click here.

Sugarberries/Hackberries are starting to ripen.

There is a tree you should be scouting for now so when the fruit ripens next month you’ll have some already located. As in real estate so in foraging: Location, location, location. Hackberries (also widely know as Sugarberries) like to be near but not in fresh water. You can often find them about 10 feet above the local water table but I’ve seen them as low as three feet. Usually you can find them up the bank from the water. Older Hackberry bark will often be warty, sometimes heavily so. Leaves have uneven shoulders, and on the back side of the leaf notice three prominent veins at the base, unusual for tree leaves. The small-pea sized fruit is green now but will ripen this month or early September into a burnt orange. The entire fruit is edible though the seed is hard. To read more about them go here.

Doveweed

Doveweed, Murdannia, might be the smallest non-floating edible plant in the United States. Barely known, easily overlooked, yet very invasive. It pays to be small. For some young Doveweed is prime for soups, others view it as famine food. I can understand that. It’s closely related to a genus that gives me an upset stomach, the Commelinas (Dayflowers.)  I use only Doveweed blossoms in my salad. To anyone used to finding Dayflowers the Doveweed will look familiar but only a few inches tall. It also has a lot of common names around the world including “Micky Mouse.” To read more about the Doveweed, go here.

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

Foraging Classes this week depend upon the weather, which is always a challenge this time of year. If the tropical storm that is bewing – Fred — slows or weakens a little and there is just rain in southwest Florida the Port Charlotte class will go on. If it is blowing a gale, no. Same with Banchard Park on Sunday, which has a greater possibility of happening. I hold classes in the rain regularly. It is rain and wind that gets in the way. We’ll just have to watch the weather. You can also email me at GreenDeane@gmail.con.  

Saturday August 14th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the parking lot in the park on Bayshore at Ganyard Street.

Sunday August 15th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. till noon. Meet at the pavilion next to the tennis courts. 

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

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

The Isabelline Wheateater

To my knowledge I’ve never met anyone named Isabell. So when the word “isabelline” crossed my optical path I had to look into it. “Isabell” means “God’s promise” presumably a positive one. It was very popular girl’s name in the 1880s, all but disappear until 2003 whereupon it had a resurgence in popularity until 2007. Now it is on the wane again. But what is isabelline?  There are three application: One is what we could call Spanish Gothic Architecture. King and queen Ferdinand and Isabella got Columbus launched then turned to building cathedrals and the like. That style is called Isabelline, properly capitalized. I’m surprised they didn’t called it Ferdinine. The second use is a color: Isabelline. A color? Yes, and the word has been in use for at least 400 years so it is not a paint-store invention like “Baby Fawn.”

A Himalayan Brown Bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus.)

Isabelline “means a light yellow-gray and used mostly to describe mushrooms, animals and birds. There is the Isabelline Wheateater, see above left, the Isabelline Shrike, and the Isabelline Bear, right. Horses that are a cross between a Golden Palomino and a Champagne Palomino are also called Isabelline. Now, what of the third use? Well… ahem….Isabelline is also a reference to faded underwear. The story comes from when Philip II of Spain laid siege to the city of Ostend in 1601. His daughter, Isabella, Archduchess of Austria, made a rather presumptuous vow not to change her underwear until the city was taken, thinking dad would be home by supper, lunch by Sunday for sure… Unfortunately for Isabell — and those around her — the siege took three years. Thus the color of dingy underwear is called “isabelline.” 

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. 

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.

Your donations to upgrade the EatTheWeeds website and fund a book were appreciated. A book manuscript has been turned it. It had 425 articles, 1326 plants and a third of a million words. What it will be when the publisher is done with it next year is unknown. It will be published in the spring of 2023. Writing it took a significant chunk of time out of my life from which I have still not recovered. (Many things got put off.) The next phase is to update all the content on the website between now and publication date. Also note as it states above the 135-video DVD set has been phased out for 150-video USB. Times and formats change. Which reminds me I need to revisit many plants and make some new videos. 

This is weekly newsletter #469. 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 white fruit of the Thrinax radiata… I think… Photo by Green Deane

The Florida Thatch Palm might be found more in landscaping than in nature.

At what point does a “wild” plant become an edible plant? Good question. Occasionally on teaching trips to south Florida I saw a palm with small white fruit. Twice I tasted them. No particular flavor but more importantly no burning from calcium oxalates (which is usually the first sign a palm fruit is not edible.)  On my last trip I took some pictures aiming for identification. What I got tentatively was Thrinax radiata, the Florida Thatch Palm, so called because it was used to thatch hut roofs. Thrinax by the way means “trident” in Greek, radiata radiating. If the identification is correct then are the fruit edible? On page 670 of Florida Ethnobotany by Daniel Austin he writes: “Fruits are sweet and edible.” Then he says “the fiber has been used to stuff pillows and mattresses.” So if this is the right identification I might be able to add one more edible to the list. 

Orchid Tree blossoms are edible. Photo by Green Deane

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 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.

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

Foraging Classes: Only two foraging classes in the next two weeks so you can concentrate on the holidays. This Sunday is a class in St. Petersburg at Ft. Desoto, a location we visit perhaps three times a year. We start beach side near the fishing pier so if it is cool or windy dress warmly. 

Sunday, December 27th, Ft. Desoto Park, 3500 Pinellas Bayway S. St. Petersburg Fl 33715. 9 a.m. to noon. There is an entrance fee to the park. After you enter the park you arrive at a T-intersection. Turn right. Close to a mile later on your left is the fishing pier and parking lot. Meet near the bathrooms. There is considerable walking at this location. 

Sunday, January 3rd, Jervey Gantt Recreation Complex, 2390 SE 36th Ave., Ocala, FL, 34471. 9 a.m to noon. Meet at the entrance to the pool, aka Aquatic Fun Center. There is no fee for this class. However, if you want to make a donation afterwards that’s up to you. 

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

Tropical Soda Apple. Photo by Green Deane

No. It is not edible. No. It is not medicinal. Well… maybe it is medicinal, and if anyone says it is edible I ain’t going to try it.

Locally you can see two different “Horse Nettles” this time of year, neither are proven edible as far as I know. One has red fruit, the other yellow (and that can vary, too.)  The latter is Solanum Carolinense and that is definitely off limits. Toxic. The former, Solanum ciliatum is more iffy. It’s also called a Cockroach Berry Soda Apple or the Tropical Soda Apple though that is usually a different species, S. viarum.) 

Cockroach Berry seeds are extremely bitter.

The first problem is S. ciliatum is not native. How it got to the United States is a good guess. Some think the seeds arrived in the intestional track of cattle from South America.  The second problem is some members of this family grow more toxic as they age while others grow less toxic. There are reports of S. ciliatum being used medicinally for things like rheumatism, arthritis, and skin diseases. It does contain steroidal alkaloids. It has also poisoned cattle and sheep (which makes one wonder if it is that toxic to cattle why do they think it was imported in the dung of cattle? However, it might be that leaves and fruit have different toxicities. The poisoning could have come from leaves or green fruit while the ripe fruit seeds were just non-digested hitchhikers.) The third problem is the plant itself has had well over a dozen botanical names, close to a dozen and a half actually. That makes it difficult to know what plant is actually being discussed and if the traits attributed to it are really about that plant.

Note the spines on the leaves.

The worse problem is that about a decade ago I found an American university publication that listed the species as edible. Do not try to eat it because that is just too iffy for a plant that is also widely reported as highly toxic and fatal, especially the green fruit. I suspect the university botany department was just as confused regarding the identification of the plant as are others. What I wonder about is the ripe fruit. I’ve never seen any credible reference with the necessary details. What I would like to know is what if anything did Brazilian natives do with the plant? That could be a credible reference. Perhaps some of our Portuguese speakers can find that out. Indeed, on one Brazilian site it says (if the translation is to be trusted) “every child ate that fruit” and “consumption can only eat the skin with a thin layer of meat. The seeds are bitter and are not intended for consumption. The rind of the fruit can also be used in cooking, using it just like chili.”  But… is it the same species? I am not going to try. 

Silverthorn blossoms are boxy. Photo by Green Deae

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

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

While the Silverthorn fruits around February now is the time to be looking for the shrub and blossoms. The bush hides the blossoms and they are a bit strange looking, if not futuristic. The four-petaled speckled blossom turns into a red jelly bean-like fruit with gold and silver speckles. They are bitter and sour until ripe. The shelled seed is also edible. Altogether the fruit is high in vitamin C, lycopene, and Omega 3 fatty acids. And that is a tasty treat in the middle of winter. To read more about the Silverthorn go here.

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. 

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 #437. 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.

These prime Ringless Honey Mushrooms are cespitose, all growing out of one spot. Photo by Green Deane

Mother Nature has her own schedule: Persimmons are late this year, Ringless Honey Mushrooms are early, and Golden Rain Trees are coloring sidewalks. 

OMG! The Orlando Mushroom Group has a successful mushroom hunt has week with 20 people finding a wide variety of species.

Ringless Honey Mushrooms, Armillaria tabescens aka Desarmillaria tabescens) usually flush locally between the first and second week of November. The further north you are the sooner and the further south later. In the Carolinas I see them in late August, in West Palm Beach December. I actually saw some five weeks ago in east Orlando but that was an isolated sighting. I’ve seen, however, several clumps of them in the last few days. Once the season starts they are around for two or three weeks. Ringless Honey Mushrooms are prolific. It is easy in a season to harvest a 100 pounds of them or more. They are among the most easy of mushrooms to identity. What I usually do is dry the cleanest then wash and eat the rest. As for edibility opinions range from “choice” to not edible. They have a “meaty” texture meaning you can cook them a lot and they keep their firmness. To me they have a flavor (perhaps aroma) that reminds me of maple syrup. I do know two people who can’t eat them even if they cook them twice. The mushroom gives them digestive issues. If the weather is right Ringless Honey Mushrooms also can have a small flush locally around April. That is hit or miss whereas the fall flush is assured. Technically they can grow all year and I once saw them on a Banyan in West Palm Beach in July. I have an article on them here and a video here.

Seed pods of the Golden Rain Tree. Photo by Green Deane

And now the Golden Rain Tree… of all the species I have written about over the years this is one I have perhaps the least personal experience with.  I have a good reason: I always recognize it at the wrong time of the year when it’s dropping yellow petals in the fall. It is the tree’s springtime boiled shoots that are the most edible part of this species. In the spring, however, the tree is a rather drab Elm- Chinaberry-lookalike. This time of year tree also produces pink boxy seed pods. Usually inside one finds two or four black seeds that are reportedly edible. The problem is they have unrefined erucic acid (oil) which is the same irritating oil in unprocessed rape seed oil which when refined is called Canola. If you have an undisciplined memory like mind the mentioning of erucic acid makes you think of a movie you did not see: Lorenzo’s Oil. The oil, now made from olive oil and erucic aicd, is used to treat ALD, adrenoleukodystrophy. The 1992 movie was based on the true story of parents looking for a treatment for their son. ALD is a genetic disease that causes a metabolic error that in time reduces cognitive function by making an excessive amount of a very-long-chain fat (cerotic acid.) Consumption of the man-made oil can moderate that. Lorenzo himself died of pneumonia in 2008 at age 30.) The seeds I never get around to working with are peppery — Ma Nature is giving us a warning there — and do have a small amount of cyanide. You can read about the tree here.  

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

Foraging Classes: Did you know hurricanes hit Florida in October more often than any other month? I was going to have a class in West Palm Beach later this month but long term forecasts predict possible bad weather in south Florida that weekend. Thus I moved the class to early November. 

Saturday, October 18th, Seminole Wekiva Trail, Sanlando Park, 401 West Highland St. Altamonte Springs, Florida 32714 (at the intersection with Laura Avenue.) We meet in the first parking lot on your right immediately after the entrance. 9 a.m. to noon. This compact tour I do once or twice a year includes unmanaged woods, a park, baseball fields, and a visit to the Little Wekiva River. 9 a.m. to noon. 

Saturday, October 24th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m to noon. Meet at the pavilion by the tennis courts by the YMCA building. 

Sunday, November 1st, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. Take exit 68 (Southern Boulevard) off Interstate 95 and go east. Entrance to the park is an immediate right at the bottom of the interstate bridge. Follow the convoluted signs to the science center (which is not where the GPS puts you.)  Park anywhere. We meet 300 feet north of the science museum near the banyan tees. 9 a.m. to noon. 

For more information about the classes, updates, to pre-pay, or to sign up go here. 

Cereus cactus fruit is wild Dragon Fruit. Photo by Green Deane

Also fruiting now are Cereus cactus. Like grapes Cereus are fairly easy to identify by genus but exactly what species is a challenge. Frankly it is a challenge one does not have to accept. Most Cereus cactus, except perhaps the commercial “Dragon Fruit” are shaped like small pink footballs about four inches long.  They are attached rather strongly so nippers or the like are best to cut them off.  Toss the fruit in the refrigerator for a while then cut them open like two little row boats. The white flesh has the texture of overripe watermelon. The black seeds are soft and edible (unlike most cactus seeds which are extremely hard.) The cactus themselves are called “candle” cactus as they are usually but not always an unbranching trunk. Allso called Peruvian Cactus the headache associated with species identification is there are a lot of “fake” botanical names made up by sellers.  Another problem that can make cactus tough plants to identify is having to resort to counting spines and length.  You can read more about them here.

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

Partridgeberry is not a fruit I see often in Florida and then only on the north end of the state. I usually see it in August in western North Carolina or eastern Tennessee. As one might expect the Florida Partridgeberry I’ve seen are not as robust as its kin farther north. The vine can be thinner and the leaves not as dark green. This species produces two ovaries that fuse together so one berry has two blossoms which leaves two dimples. It’s a prime identification characteristic you can see on the berry (at right.)  The fruit is edible if not a bit bland. The problem is it likes to hide. It’s low growing and doesn’t mind being crowded. That said it still tries its best with a bright red fruit. The one spot in Gainesville I used to find them has been a swamp since Hurricane Irma in 2017. It clearly no longer grows there. To read more about the Partridgeberry go here.

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

Changing foraging videos:  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 weeks. 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. 

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 #427, 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.

Cous Cous cuddling up to a Bunya Bunya cone. You should be scouting the ground for these now where ever Bunya Bunya grow. You can read more about them here. Photo by Green Deane

The fruit of the Rose Apple found by Rose-Ann.  Photo by Green Deane

There is probably some Syzygium in your kitchen.  Syzygium is a genus with several useful trees. Syzygium cumini produces the Java Plum also called Jambul. Syzygium jambos is the Rose Apple and Syzygium samaragense is the Java Apple (though common names can vary.) The Syzygium in your kitchen is S. aromaticum. You know the dried flower buds as “cloves.”  I know where there is a S. cumini in Orlando (and dozens in West Palm Beach.) Another member of the genus was found recently locally though whether its a S. jambos or S. samaragense requires more investigation. The fruit is cut open on right. If it has a bit of a rose aroma or taste then it’s the S. jambos. If not then perhaps the S. samaragense. I look forward to learning more about it. Thanks to Rose-Ann for bringing it to my attention. 

Wild Chanterelles and wild rice waiting to be cooked. Photo by Green Deane

I was asked this morning by one of the retired fellows I bike with if the rain was helping my plants. That’s kind of on par with “is sunshine helping your plants?”  What he meant but did not say was did the recent rains make a difference. I’m not sure it moved the chlorophylic needle much on green plants but it did stimulate a huge flush of edible Chanterelles. Several friends and I collected them for several days and did not put a dent in the abundance. (By the way harvesting wild mushrooms is what the mushroom wants just as an an apple tree wants its apples moved.)  So I’ve been having chanterelles several times this week. All mushroom should be stored in paper bags (not plastic) and washed only right before cooking. (I’m certified to sell wild mushrooms in several states.) Interestingly those who study such things now say no mushrooms — wild or cultivated — should be eaten raw. Over a life time, they say, eating raw mushrooms can increase the risk for mitochondria-based cancer. Cook your mushrooms. 

One of the disappointments this time of year is that the Seagrapes are not quite ripe, as we saw in Ft. Desoto Sunday. However, the Tuna are running… well… actually ripening: Cactus fruit are called Tuna. We saw plenty of those. There are two or three general types of cactus locally, Opuntia and Nopales and a third with edible fruit, the Cereus, which is more an ornamental Dragon Fruit.  How do you pick a Tuna (or cactus pad?) In a word carefully. 

Sweeping glochids off is another option.

Most foragers know cactus have edible parts but what does one look for, generally? First make sure it’s a pad, segmented often oval or tear-drop shaped. You do not want anything that looks serpentine. Also no white sap. White sap in plants that resemble cactus can be very deadly even after being dry many years. In one case smoke from burning desiccated Euphorbia branches killed some stranded people. They were  trying to stay warm around the fire on a cold desert night. So, pads, no white sap. While which cactus you collect (Opuntia, Nopales, or Cereus) might be the luck of the draw, the less spines the better, and the less glochids the much better. Glochids are tiny tuffs of sharp hair that hurt, are hard to dig out, and last for days. Ma Natures knows the pads and Tuna are good food so she protects them mightily. Big spines can be cut, burned or scraped off, glochids burned or washed off. Just scraping is not so successful with glochids. Wear stiff gloves without seams. Those little glochids will pass right through seams and get ya. Hint: Young pads, the ones we want anyway, often have not developed glochids. The Tuna have them so pick with tongs and sweep, wash or burn the painful spines off. Let us presume you have a spineless, glochidless young pad. What do you do with it? You can eat it raw, skin and all, or roast it or boil it. I know one restuarant that steams them (preserving color) then lightly grills them puting the pads whole on a Mexicanesque hamburgers.  With older (de-spined) pads you can still eat them raw or cook. Usually the tougher spine “eyes” are removed just like you would with a potato. And the pad can be peeled as well. Pads at a certain point become woody and too tough to eat.  The fruit, Tunas, are also edible after ridding them of glochids. They can have a raspberry flavor. The seeds are edible, too, but are extremely tough. You have to grind or roast them To read more about cactus click here.

Sugarberries/Hackberries are starting to ripen Aim for September.

There is a tree you should be scouting for now so when the fruit ripens next month you’ll have some already located. As in real estate so in foraging: Location, location, location. Hackberries (also widely know as Sugarberries) like to be near but not in fresh water. You can often find them about 10 feet above the local water table but I’ve seen them as low as three feet. Usually you can find them up the bank from the water. Older Hackberry bark will often be warty, sometimes heavily so. Leaves have uneven shoulders, and on the back side of the leaf notice three prominent veins at the base, unusual for tree leaves. The small-pea sized fruit is green now but will ripen this month or early September into a burnt orange. The entire fruit is edible though the seed is hard. To read more about them go here.

Doveweed is so small foragers over overlook it.

Doveweed, Murdannia, might be the smallest non-floating edible plant in the United States. Barely known, easily overlooked, yet very invasive. It pays to be small. For some young Doveweed is prime for soups, others view it as famine food. I can understand that. It’s closely related to a genus that gives me an upset stomach, the Commelinas (Dayflowers.)  I use only Doveweed blossoms in my salad. To anyone used to finding Dayflowers the Doveweed will look familiar but only a few inches tall. It also has a lot of common names around the world including “Micky Mouse.” To read more about the Doveweed, go here.

Isabelline Wheateater

To my knowledge I’ve never met anyone named Isabell. So when the word “isabelline” cross my optical path about plants I had to look into it. “Isabell” means “God’s promise” presumably a positive one. It was very popular girl’s name in the 1880s, all but disappear until 2003 whereupon it had a resurgence in popularity until 2007. Now it is on the wane again. But what is isabelline?  There are three application of which I have also apparently never heard of.  One is what we could call Spanish Gothic Architecture. King and queen Ferdinand and Isabella got Columbus launched then turned to building cathedrals and the like. That style is called Isabelline, properly capitalized. I’m surprised they didn’t called it Ferdinine. The second use is a color: Isabelline. A color? Yes, and the word has been in use for at least 400 years so it is not a paint-store invention like “Baby Fawn.”

A Himalayan Brown Bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus.)

Isabelline “means a light yellow-gray and used mostly to describe mushrooms, animals and birds. There is the Isabelline Wheateater, see above left, the Isabelline Shrike, and the Isabelline Bear, right. Horses that are a cross between a Golden Palomino and a Champagne Palomino are also called Isabelline. Now, what of the third use? Well… ahem….Isabelline is also a reference to faded underwear. The story comes from when Philip II of Spain laid siege to the berg of Ostend in 1601. His daughter, Isabella, Archduchess of Austria, made a rather presumptuous vow not to change her underwear until the city was taken, thinking dad would be home by supper, lunch by Sunday for sure… Unfortunately for Isabell — and those around her — the siege took three years. Thus the color of dingy underwear is “isabelline.”

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

Changing foraging videos:  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 over three weeks. 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. 

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.

Classes are held rain or shine.

Crossing the state this week with a Saturday class in Port Charlotte and another attempt to have a class at Haulover Canal which is north of the space center. 

Saturday, August 15th,  Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the parking lot on Bayshore Road across the street from Ganyard Street. 

Sunday, August 16th, Haulover Canal, Merritt Island National Refuge, north of the Kennedy Space Center. Let’s try this again. An ascending bridge thwarted the last class there. 9 a.m. to noon. No drinking water on site, Port-O-Lets for bathrooms. Lots of Mosquitos (and why it is called Mosquito Lagoon.) We meet at the west end of the northwest side of the canal. This class involves more than three miles of walking and can be strenuous. 

Saturday, August 22nd, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  9 a.m. to noon. The entrance is on the west side of Denning. Some GPS maps put it wrongly on the east side off Pennsylvania.

Sunday, August 23rd, Princess Place Preserve, 2500 Princess Place Road, Palm Coast, FL, 32137. 9 a.m. to noon? This class will be donations only. No charge. I have not been to this location but am visiting it to perhaps make it a permanent class location. As to where to meet … how about the parking lot? Discover the park and plants with me. 

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

This is weekly newsletter #418, 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 Radish and Mustard are in blossom now. Photo by Green Deane

Wild Mustard greens on white marble. Photo by Green Deane

Mustards like chilly weather, or at least locally they do. You can see Wild Mustards and Wild Radish not only along roadsides now but in various fields from farm land to ignored citrus groves. The two species are used interchangeably and look similar. However Wild Radishes tend to be serpentine rather than straight and tall like Wild Mustard. They also have lumpy seed pods, or, more lumpy than mustard seed pods. Usually you will find a stand of one or the other. I don’t recall finding both in the same patch. Blossom colors can range from yellow to white with streaks of purple. But the leaves always have the biggest lobe on the end farthest from the plant. Look for them in sunny areas with fertile soil. Not native they came from Eurasia in the 1700s. And note the seeds can remain viable in the soil for up to 60 years. To read more Wild Radish go here, and for Wild Mustard, here. I have a video on wild radish here, wild mustard here. 

Edible “Ruby” Boletes. Photo by Green Deane

Seasonal rains have been… well… unseasonal. Rain over the past week forced out a lot of species of terrestrial mushrooms often seen at other times of the year. A local hike produced hundreds of the pretty lavender but non-edible Cortinarius iodes. There should be some similar looking edible Clitocybe/Lepista nuda but I have not seen any of those yet. What was also up is a local edible bolete with a 10-syllable name: Pulchroboletus rubricitrinus. The species name used to be shorter until DNA testing came along and got it reclassified. Many locals just call them “Rubies.” Pulchroboletus rubricitrinus (pull-crow-bow-LEET-us roo-bree-sit-TRIN-us) means Pretty Lump Red/Lemon Yellow or Pretty Clump Red/Lemon Yellow. Bolete is from Dead Latin Boletus which is from the Greek βωλίτης, bow-LEE-tis, which is from βῶλος, BOW-los meaning lump or ‘clod. “Latin” is usually just bastardized Greek and/or Etruscan. 

Butter Bolete is on our left, Ruby on our right.

While it is something of a debate it seems most Boletes in Florida are edible cooked unless you don’t like the flavor or the aroma. Some gray Boletes, however, might cause gasto-intentional distress. But, it is agree they are not life-threatening to healthy people. A basic problem with “Rubies” is they look similar to another Bolete with a long-winded name: Butyriboletus floridanus (Beu-tree-ee-bow-LEE-tus flor-ree-DAY-nus) or Butter Lump Florida. And to make it a bit confusing the one with “butter” in it’s name is not buttery yellow but more orange. See the photo by David Raney, left. The Butter Bolete is on our left, the Ruby on our right. The Butter has more orange/red pores and most of the stem is pink/red wtih netting. The Ruby has more yellow stem and pores and tends to have red at the base of the stem, yellow higher, and no netting. Both stain blue/blue-green when bruised. The Ruby has a slightly acid flavor, the Butter has a strong acid tang. There are no Boletus bicolors in Florida which resembles the Ruby.

Foraging classes are held rain or shine, heat or cold.

Foraging Classes: It was lovely weather for our foraging class in Port Charlotte last week. It might be a little rainy for our Winter Park class this Saturday but should warm up and be nice for our class in West Palm Beach Sunday.

Saturday, January 4th, Mead Garden, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL, Meet by the restrooms. 9 a.m. to noon. (Don’t confuse this with Ft. Meade which is a different location above.) 

Sunday, January 5th, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. Meet just north of the science center. 9 a.m. to noon.

Saturday, January 11th, Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga. Fla. 32706. 9 a.m. to Noon. Meet at the restrooms. 

Sunday, January 12th, John Chestnut County Park: 2200 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor, FL 34685. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the beginning of the Peggy Park Trail inside John Chestnut Park. That is on the extreme south end of the park. 

To read more about the classes go here. 

This hibiscus blossoms never opens.

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 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.

Surinam Cherries have eight ribs.

This newsletter has mentioned in previous editions this fall how many species have been blooming out-of-season perhaps because of unusual rain patterns. As in previous classes we saw some grapes blossoming in early December when they should be setting in the spring. But perhaps the most out-of-season display was Surinam Cherries last week. I had Suriname Cherries in my yard for many years. They are indeed a springtime fruit though occasionally one or two fruit would pop up at the end of summer. This time, however, there was a lot of ripe fruit which the foraging class enjoyed. It was also an opportunity for me. I rarely see Black Suriname Cherries and think they have a superior flavor. But I’ve had a hard time starting them from seeds. This time I got a lot of seeds to try and it gives me a head start on spring. To read about the Suriname Cherry go here

Veterinarians annually issued a warning about a plant that is makes horses sick locally, Creeping Indigo, Indigofera spicata. Cold weather causes this pea relative to blossom pink, making it a little easier to see. Unfortunately it is a plant favored by horses with at least one dying and others sickened.  (This highlights that relying on instinctual means to avoid toxic plants is not too reliable for animals or man.) As with many toxic and invasive species Creeping Indigo was intentionally brought to Florida in 1925. The University of Florida imported it from Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) for agricultural experiments. When it killed one of two rabbits the testing stopped but the weed stayed (the second rabbit recovered after the Creeping Indigo was removed from its diet.)  Within eight years Creeping Indigo was raising concerns about poisoning farm animals.

Besides horses, it is also toxic to cattle, sheep, goats, guinea pigs, rabbits, and birds. Pigs won’t eat it which calls into question reports that it does not bother pigs. Someone might be assuming that since pigs aren’t being reported sick from eating Creeping Indigo they aren’t bothered  by it whereas it could equally be that because pigs avoid it there are no reports porcine poisoning. The prime toxin in Indigofera spicata is indospicine which “inhibits the incorporation of arginine and other amino acids in liver cells result in liver insufficiency.”

Happy New Year! This is weekly newsletter 386, 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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Henbit, one of the few “sweet” springtime greens. Photo by Green Deane

This time of year two wintertime foragables come up, one quite esteemed the other barely edible. They can at first glance look similar so I’ll mention them together. The first is Henbit, pictured above. It’s in the mint family but does not smell or taste minty. It does, however, have a square stem and the blossoms resembles the mints. In northern climates it is one of the first green plants to pop up after the snow goes (it and chickweed.) Locally Henbit likes the cooler months of the year. It was esteemed by the natives because among all the winter and spring 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 see a my video about it here or read about Henbit here.

A Wild Geranium

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. A possible look alike: 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. 

“Sleepy Hibiscus”

We saw several species blooming this past weekend in my foraging class. Among the Hibiscus was the “Sleepy Hibiscus.” It’s a fairly easy shrub to identify because the bright red blossoms never unfurl. The blossoms are usually slightly sweet. (Unlike man, Mother Nature does not have to make thing very sweet, just sweet enough to attract a creature.)  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 but not all — are toxic.) 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. By the way the Bauhinia blakeana is an example of a plant have two people’s name for the genus and the species thus it tells you nothing about the species.

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

It will be jacket time at the beginning of my foraging class in Gainesville this Saturday but should then warm up quickly. We might find some late season terrestrial mushrooms or some edible tree-dwelling fungi. Sunday’s foraging class in Winter Park will be warmer with a southwind, always a pleasant location and one I can leave at 8 a.m. to teach rather than the usual 4 a.m.

Saturday November 30th, 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, December 1st, Mead Garden, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  9 a.m. to noon. Meet near the bathrooms.

Saturday, December 7th, Red Bug Slough Preserve, 5200 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL, 34233. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the play ground.  

Sunday, December 8th, George LeStrange Preserve, 4911 Ralls Road, Fort Pierce, FL, 34981. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the parking lot. This is a rustic location without water or official bathrooms. Plan accordingly. 

To learn more about the classes and location, to sign up for a class, or to pre-pay go here. 

Chickweed has five deeply incised petals. 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 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 and why Morels don’t grow here. Chickweed 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 and an aging video on it here. Also coming on strong is Pellitory. To read about Pellitory click here. I also have a video on Pellitory here. 

Carolina Horse Nettle. photo by Green Deane

No. It is not edible nor is it medicinal. Well… maybe it is medicinal, and if anyone says it is edible I ain’t going to try it. Locally you can see two different well-armed “Horse Nettles” this time of year, neither are proven edible as far as I know.  Solanum Carolinense and it’s close relative Solanum Carolinense var. floridanum are definitely off limits. They are toxic. Each starts out with green and white fruit that turns yellow. There is also a thorny  tropical import Solanum viarum. It’s fruit is red when ripe and is more iffy. Called the Tropical Soda Apple how it got to the United States is a good guess. Some think the seeds arrived in the intestinal track of cattle from South America (which suggest edibility of some sort.) A big problem is some members of this family grow more toxic as they age while others grow less toxic. There are reports of S. viarum being used medicinally for things like rheumatism, arthritis, and skin diseases. It does contain steroidal alkaloids. It has also poisoned cattle and sheep (which makes one wonder if it is that toxic to cattle why do they think it was imported in the dung of cattle? However, it might be that leaves and fruit have different toxicities. The poisoning could have come from leaves or green fruit while the ripe fruit seeds were just non-digested hitchhikers.) 

Tropical Soda Apple. Photo by Green Deane

Adding to the mystery is that about fifteen years ago ago I found an American university publication that listed the S. viarum as edible. Do not try to eat it because that is just too iffy for a plant that is also widely reported as highly toxic and fatal, especially the green fruit. I suspect the university botany department was just as confused regarding the identification of the plant as are others. What I wonder about is the ripe fruit. I’ve never seen any credible reference with the necessary details. What I would like to know is what if anything did Brazilian natives do with the plant? That could be a credible reference. Perhaps some of our Portuguese speakers can find that out. Indeed, on one Brazilian site it says (if the translation is to be trusted) “every child ate that fruit” and “consumption can only eat the skin with a thin layer of meat. The seeds are bitter and are not intended for consumption. The rind of the fruit can also be used in cooking, using it just like chili.”  But… is it the same species? I am not going to try. 

Donations to upgrade EatTheWeeds.com have gone well. Thank you to all who have contributed to either via the Go Fund Me link, the PayPal donation link or by writing to Green Deane POB 941793 Maitland FL, 32794.  There are many needs left such as expanding the foraging teacher page, the page on monotypic edibles and the Plant Archive page. There’s always something and such things get more complex and expensive every year.

A very popular wild edible. Photo by Green Deane

Want to identify a plant or mushroom? 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 Nine DVD set includes 135 videos.

All of Green Deane’s videos are available for free on You Tube and make a good Christmas Gift to watch in the long winter months. They do have ads on them so every time you watch a Green Deane video I get a quarter of one cent. Four views, one cent. Not exactly a large money-maker but it helps pays for the newsletter. If you want to see the videos without ads and some in slightly better quality you can order the DVD set. It is nine DVDs with 15 videos on each. Many people want their own copy of the videos or they have a slow service and its easier to order then to watch them on-line. They make a good Christmas or birthday gift. Individual videos can also be ordered. You can order them by clicking on the button on the top right of this page or you can go here. 

During a foraging class in West Palm Beach this weekend we saw Bananas blossoming. One doesn’t think of Bananas blossoming but they do, a large green and purple blossom that looks like a flower on steroids. The blossoms are edible raw but are usually cooked if not also soaked in salted water first. Chopped and boiled or steamed whole works. The inner pith of Banana trees is also edible as are the seeds of the species that have seeds. Banana water is also medicinal. The trick with Bananas, if one can call it that, is to watch the green bananas carefully. The moment one of the lower green bananas begins to ripen the entire hand is cut off and taken inside. There the Bananas usually ripen from the end up and most of them will ripen off the tree. If you leave them on the tree, a few will ripen and the rest higher up the hand will shrivel up. Unfortunately Bananas trees take two years to produce bananas and then die after producing. A cold winter can wipe out Bananas at the end of one year. Thus one needs two years sandwiching a warm winter to get home-grown bananas. As I sit on the temperate/sub tropical line some years I get Bananas in my yard, other years I do not. To read more about Bananas uses click here.

This is weekly newsletter 381. 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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lf you were wondering, Cinnamon trees do grow in Florida. Photo by Green Deane

As is often the case one can walk past edible species many times and not notice them. What can bring them to your attention is that they change in some way, often fruiting. This was the case with a Spanish Cherry in Dreher Park in West Palm Beach. I walked past it for years until it was fruiting one day. This was also the situation with a Cinnamon Tree we saw in Sarasota last Sunday during a foraging class: It was fruiting. In fact, the back yard it was growing in also has a Loquat and some tropical yellow-blossomed tree. I was walking over to look at those when I saw this third tree crowded in. Large and fruiting, it had slightly aromatic leaves. Someone suggest Cinnamon and I had to admit I had no idea what it was though the fruit reminded of elongated Camphor fruit which is in the same genus as Cinnamon. The leaves were slightly aromatic. It’s the inner bark of the Cinnamon Tree that is used for flavoring and do know two species are used for spice purposes. You might want to make a distinction regarding which one you consume. There is the Chinese Cinnamon, and the Ceylon Cinnamon.

Chinese Cinnamon is the most common, sold in bulk, and the one used in commercial recipes such as cinnamon buns. When you buy “cinnamon” powder or “quills” (bark rolls) in the grocery story it is usually the Chinese Cinnamon, botanically Cinnamomum aromaticum which is also called Cinnamomum cassia. Its quills, which are really rolls of cambium, are dark brown-red in color and have a rough texture.  Ceylon Cinnamon is from India and Sri Lanka. Botanically it is Cinnamomum verum and is also called Cinnamomum zeylanicum. Its quills are tan-brown and have a soft texture. Ceylon Cinnamon is, as one might suspect, significantly more expensive than Chinese Cinnamon. (A quick way to tell them apart before bark processings is the Chinese Cinnamon has longitudinal striations on young branches, below left. )

Young Chinese Cinnamon bark has longitudinal lines. Photo by Green Deane

The key essential oil in both species is cinnamaldehyde. It gives cinnamon its flavor and aroma. However the Ceylon Cinnamon has less of that oil than the Chinese cinnamon so it has a less intense flavor. It is also very low in a chemical call courmarin. Chinese Cinnamon is significantly higher in coumarin.  Courmarin reduces clotting like the drug Coumadin does (and how the medication got it name. See my article on Sweet Clover.) Chinese Cinnamon is 1% coumarin and can amplify the effects of other blood thinners. Ceylon Cinnamon at 0.004% has 250 times less coumarin (if I have my zeros in the right place.) If you eat a lot of cinnamon you might want to switch to the Ceylon variety (sold at Whole Foods et cetera.) One or two teaspoons of Chinese Cinnamon can put you over the daily limit for coumarin. In some European countries commercial bakeries are prevented by law from using the Chinese Cinnamon because of the high coumarin content. On the other hand if you eat a huge amounts of leafy greens that might provide enough Vitamin K1 to off set the reduction of clotting caused by the coumarin. It could be a nutritional balancing act. Just know there are two kinds of cinnamon, they vary in price, availability, intensity of flavor, in their coumarin content, and in their ability to reduce blood clotting… and they will grow in Florida. 

An easy to find and eat wild edible. Photo by Green Deane

One of the easiest wild fruits to identify, especially this time of year, is non-commercial “Dragon Fruit.” They look like small pink footballs on candlestick cactus (species Cereus.) What’s unusual about these pink pods is they are spineless and the seeds are soft thus you can cut them off the cactus and eat them out of hand. Or, you can chill them in the refrigerator. The white inside has the texture of an overripe watermelon and the black seeds are soft. Definitely a treat. While you can cut them off with a knife a pair of nippers works best. Which exact species you have can be elusive though the pink fruit is edible on all of them. The “genus” has many false, wrong and/or archaic names. It does not help that retailers a century ago often just made up names. Often found in landscaping and old lawn-waste piles, they are tall and ribbed with clusters of long thorns on the ribs. The blossoms are cream-green in color, large, and open at night. You can read more about the cactus here. 

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

Foraging Classes: It’s the time of year to begin visiting places a bit too warm in the summer such as Haul Over Canal. Also this weekend there will be a class in Gainesville. As the weather has changed perhaps we’ll see some Ringless Honey Mushrooms. 

Saturday October 19th, 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, October 20th, Haulover Canal, Merritt Island National Refuge, north of the Kennedy Space Center. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the west end of the northwest canal road.  This class meets about twice a year because federal authorities can close the area without notice. This location requires the most walking, about four miles total. 

Saturday October 26th, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the dog park. 

Sunday October 27th, Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga, Fl., 9 a.m. to noon. Meet near the bathrooms. 

Saturday Nov. 2nd, John Chestnut County Park: 2200 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor, FL 34685. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the beginning of the Peggy Park Trail inside the park. 

Sunday, November 3rd, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet in the parking lot near the rest rooms.

Saturday November 9th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet next to the tennis courts by the YMCA building.

Sunday, November 10th, Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, 2045 Mud Lake Road, DeLeon Springs, FL. 9 a.m. to noon. This class is rare because the federal property can be closed without notice. Meet at the first parking lot west of the railroad tracks.

Saturday, November 16th, Florida State College,  south campus, 11901 Beach Blvd.,  Jacksonville, 32246.  9 a.m. to noon. We will meet at building “D”  next to the administration parking lot.

Sunday, November 17th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the pavilion by the dog park. 

Saturday, November 23rd, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet in the parking lot just north of the science center.

Sunday, November 24th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the parking lot at the intersection of Bayshore Road and Ganyard Street. 9 a.m. to noon.

For more information about the classes, to sign up or to pre-pay for one go here.

Winged Sumac, berries are tart like an apple. Photo by Green Deane

Our Sumacs are happy. Everywhere you go now they are sporting terminal clusters of garnet-colored berries. It’s time to harvest Sumacs for use today or next year. There’s a wide variety of Sumacs.  Locally it’s the “Winged Sumac” Rhus copallina which means “sticky red.”  In other areas of the country it can be the Staghorn Sumac. 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 and make a vitamin-C rich “lemonade.” The berries can then be dried, ground, and used as a spice. And in the springs 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.

The best persimmons are the ones you have to fight the ants for. Photo by Green Deane

Besides the aforementioned Sumac what you should also be finding now are Persimmons and Saw Palmetto berries, just about the opposite on the flavor scale, sublime to you-gotta-be-kidding-me. Saw Palmetto berries ripen about mid-September but stay around for a month or more. They are strong flavored so try only a little. Their flavor reminds one of vomit. I also had a ripe persimmon a month ago but they are more an mid-October fruit. They are just coming into season locally where I look for them every year. Sometimes you can find them as lated as January locally. As for other seasonal forageables Creeping Cucumbers are still producing as are Cocoplums and Simpson Stoppers featured in last week’s newsletter. 

Yellow Pond Lily seeds resemble corn kernels. Photo by Green Deane

This might be a good time to write about Yellow Pond Lilys. While they fruit rather continuously the pond residents are putting forth a fall crop now. Plants may not have a brain they can have a strategy, or at least so it seems. Many of them protect their seeds in various ways until they are ready to germinate. The Persimmon Tree above comes to mind. The fruit is astringent until the seeds are mature enough to germinate. Then the fruit turns sweet attracting various animals to eat it — those that can taste sweet — to spread the seeds around. The Yellow Pond Lily works in a similar fashion. Seeds that are not ready to germinate are bitter. As the plant dies the floating seed pod rots over a three week period. When the seeds are ready to germinate the protective bitterness is removed by enzymatic action. This makes the seeds also edible. Of course we humans can take advantage of the system by collecting the seed pods ourselves and controlling the rotting process (by putting them in water for three weeks.) Then we get the seeds and dry them for use in various ways. You can read more about the Yellow Pond Lily here. 

Donations: I had a large donation last week. Thank you very much. It was timely as WordPress went down for several days. If anyone would like to donate to this website and newsletter they can use this Go Fund Me link, this PayPal donation link or by writing to Green Deane POB 941793 Maitland FL, 32794.  Again, thank you. 

Foraging DVDs make a good gift to watch during the lifeless months of winter.

Foraging DVDs make a good gift to watch during the lifeless months of winter. All My Videos are available for free on You Tube. They do have ads on them so every time you watch a Green Deane video I get a quarter of one cent. Four views, one cent. Not exactly a large money-maker but it helps pays for this newsletter. If you want to see the videos without ads and some in slightly better quality you can order the DVD set. It is nine DVDs with 15 videos on each for a total of 135 videos.  Many people want their own copy of the videos or they have a slow service and its easier to order then to watch them on-line. The DVDs make a good gift for that forager you know especially as spring is … springing. Individual DVDs can also be ordered or you can pick and choose. You can order them by clicking on the button on the top right hand side of this page (if your window is open wide enough.)  Or you can go here.

Do you recognize the edible species on the left? Both of them? If you read the Green Deane Forum you would. 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 some 8,000 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.

This is weekly newsletter 376. 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.