Search: water chestnut

Foresteria fruit brining. Photo by Green Deane

Tropical Sage, Salvia coccinea. Photo by Green Deane

There is little room in foraging for experimentation. It can be deadly as we have previously reported with a hiker dying in South Carolina last October from eating Sesbania. It is well-known that all but perhaps one Sesbania are toxic. The wild pea/legume family is a dangerous one. Some 13 years ago I tasted a very tiny piece of a peppery Salvia coccinea blossom, right, and was sick for three weeks, painfully so. Within 40 minutes I was extremely dizzy and had severe stomach pain. Not an experience I want to repeat and why I do not teach “field testing.” In an emergency I would rather cope with hunger than hunger and a debilitating illness. That said I do have three or four musings. 

The red fruit of Asparagus cochinchinensis might be edible.

One is whether we can smoke food with camphor wood, as we have a lot of it locally. Camphor shavings is used to make a smoked schezwan duck dish. Camphor is in the same genus as cinnamon and was once used as a spice. I wonder if anyone smokes food with cinnamon wood? Then there is ornamental asparagus. The headache is which asparagus? Cornucopia II lists one with an edible root and possibly edible berries, Asparagus cochinchinensis, see left. I’ve seen someone eat red asparagus berries and are still living so it needs some investigation. The same can be said for Two-Leaf Nightshade, Solanum diphyllum. I have seen folks eat it and I survived trying one sweet, yellow-ripe berry. I’ve also eaten the pulp off one Ardisia crenata berry (but not the seed.) It tasted like a raw pea.  This all brings me to the genus Foresteria, top of the page. 

I’ve been eyeing Foresterias for several years, wild and ornamental. Foresteria are in the olive family. As far as I know locals only used the fruit of one and then for ink. The fruit is bitter, but so too is the common olive without brining. And one Foresteria, F. neo-mexicana, is used like olives. Thus I am doing an experimental brine of F. legustrina fruit. I see it regularly in Port Orange. That means soaking the fruit in salted water (10% solution) for a month and changing it every week. Salt is often used to reduce tannins and is part of the process of turning Java Plums into wine. 

Western Tansy Mustard in bloom.

The Western Tansy Mustard is one of our shortest-lived wintertime forageables. It’s not flashy and is often either too small or too old to be seen. It also likes very dry places and cool temperatures. I often find it dusty areas where you find livestock such as paddocks and corrals. Of all the micro-mustards it is the mildest in flavor, at least for humans. The texture is fuzzy. More confusing is there is no Eastern Tansy Mustard. You read about the Western Tansy Mustard here.

Eastern Gamagrass is starting to blossom. Photo by Green Deane

Grass and ice cream are usually not considered at the same thought unless it is Eastern Gamagrass. Why? Because livestock like the clumping Tripsacinae so much cattlemen call in Ice Cream Grass. While it can be used like wheat it’s a distant relative of corn and can be popped. Eastern Gamagrass, also called Fakahatchee Grass, is sod-forming and can reach up to eight-feet tall.  Though it is pollinating and seeding now the grass can seed from now to September.  The frilly male flowers occupy the top three-fourths of the seed spike and the stringy female flowers the bottom fourth. In this species the ladies are brown, hair-like structures. Besides fodder Eastern Gamagrass is also a common ornamental found in parks and residential areas. A bunch can live to be 50-years old or more. Fakahatchee, by the way, means either Forked River or Muddy River. Opinions vary.   To read more about Eastern Gamagrass go here.

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

The coolest weather of the year to date is scheduled for this weekend so dress warmly for the foraging classes, one in Port Charlotte and the other at Meade Garden in Winter Park. 

Saturday January 15th, BECAUSE OF ILLNESS THIS CLASS WILL BE RESCHEDULED.Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte, meet at the parking lot at Bayshore and Ganyard, 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday January 16th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms, 9 a.m. to noon. The entrance is on South Denning. Some GPS directions get it wrong and put it on S. Pennsylvania. 

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

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

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

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

What is a tea? It can be everything from a comforting drink to medicine. Indeed, some teas made from spices can be good for your health. Turmeric or rosemary tea come to mind. There are certainly dozens of wild plants that can be used for tea. In fact we even have a species and varieties locally that is full of caffeine and antioxidants, the Yaupon Holly. But teas can be more than teas. As I teach in my classes teas can often be marinades and the material that is used to make the tea can also be used for flavoring when cooking vegetables or meats. They will flavor a squash as easily as a fish.

Pine needle tea has Vitamin C and shikimic acid. Photo by Green Deane

Besides caffeinated Yaupon Holly the non-caffeine Southern Wax Myrtle has been used a long time for tea though I think to be on the safe side it should be avoided by those who are pregnant. Local natives also smoked the leaves to keep insects at bay. Magnolia leaves have been used for tea and the goldenrod. There’s one species of goldenrod that has a slight anise flavor and is the best of them all. An old stand by, of course, are pine needles for tea. Choose green needles and seep them (not boil, that drives off the Vitamin C.) They also have shikimic acid, which is the main (refined)  ingredient in Tamiflu. Camphor seedlings also have shikimic acid as does Sweet Gum Bark and Sassafras. There’s tea, marinades and medicineall  around us if we know how and where to look.

Silverthorn berries ripen in February. Photo by Green Deane.

In many parts of the world January or February is the depth of winter, the coldest, snowiest, most miserable time of year. But from Georgia south, it’s blossoming and fruiting time for the Silverthorn. Rummaging through a hedge of Silvethorn recently we found a few fruit pretending to be ripe. Most of them were still bitterly tart but some were almost ripe, a hint of sweet things to come. Silverthorn was originally planted as an ornamental from the Carolinas south and west. Birds, who know food when they see it, have helped to naturalized it throughout the South. The distinctive fruit reportedly has the highest amount by percentage of the antioxidant lycopene. The slightly bitter, edible seed has omega-3 fatty acids. Locally we look for totally ripe red fruit around Valentine’s Day. To read more about the Silverthorn 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 170-video USB. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  The USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page or click here. That will take you to an order form. Or you can make a $99 donation, which tells me it is for the USB (include a snail-mail address.)  I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. I had to stop making them as few programs now will read the ISO files to copy them. 

Green Deane Forum

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

his is my weekly newsletter #490. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page. My website, which is data secure, has over 1500 plants on it in some 428 articles. I wrote every one myself, no cut and paste. 

 To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Chickweed is highly seasonal. Photo by Green Deane

Richardia grandiflora is not a wild edible though some have mistakenly tried it without apparent immediate harm.

Finicky chickweed is up. We’re calling it finicky because while it is the right time of year you are not going to find it at every usual location. We saw it two weeks ago at Blanchard Park in east Orlando, then could not find any at Mead Garden Sunday, which was about eight miles west of Blanchard. Then Monday it was abundant at a location in Groveland (west 40 more miles.) As wild edible goes it’s an easy plant to identify if you examine several characteristics of the plant, not just the blossom. It has a small five-petaled flower that is deeply incised so it looks like ten petals. It has a single line of hair down one side of the stem that changes sides at every pair of leaves, it has a stretchy inner core and tastes like corn silk. A local plant locals confuse for it is Richardia grandiflora which is much larger, coarser, totally hairy, has a large five-petaled blossom and no stretchy core and does not taste like corn silk. 

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

We are also approaching the end of Winged Yam season, Dioscorea alata. They don’t go away this time of year, they are just more difficult to locate. Their long vines start dying off from the ground up. Thus you can see the upper vines still green but as they approach the ground they turn brown and break off making it difficult to see where it went into the ground. They’ll come up again about April. We found several during our foraging class Sunday, some of good size. First you cook them like potato then use them. Mashed potatoes and shepherd’s pie are favorite forms. Eating a plant the state wants to get rid of is a win-win civic duty.

Malvaviscus pendiflorus. Photo by Green Deane

Many Foragers know “Turk’s Cap” or “Sleepy Hibiscus” blossoms are edible. They are a common sight locally and we ate several during our foraging class last Sunday. They are a red hibiscus blossom that never opens thus is called “sleepy.” There are actually two species of them, Malvaviscus arboreus and M. penduliflorus. How do you tell them apart though they are equally edible? M. penduliflorus is thought to be a native of Mexico. It has downward-pointing, wrapped-up flowers that are about two and a half inches long. M. arboreus is native to Texas, Mexico, parts of the West Indies, Central America, and northern South America. It has short, less wrapped blossoms (1.5 inches) that point up. They don’t droop. A hundred grams of fresh flower has: 16 calories, 2.68 grams of protein, 0.89 grams of carbohydrates. It has 67 mg of calcium, 1.21 grams of iron, and 379 mg of sodium. A hundred grams of dried flower has: 100 calories, 20 grams of carbohydrates, 520 mg of calcium, 21.6 grams of iron, 48 grams of vitamin C. No fat, no fiber, no protein or sodium reported.

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

One foraging class this holiday weekend, a new location and no fee ’cause we’re checking the location out for possible future classes. And… the weather this coming Sunday is supposed to be good, mid-60s Saturday night, lower 80’s Sunday, a low chance of rain. Might be windy. Start your new year off on the beach studying plants. 

Sunday January 2nd, as Monty Python used to say, “and now for something different.” Let’s meet at 10 a.m. (at the bathrooms) and wander around Lori Wilson Park, Cocoa Beach, for a couple of  hours. No fee. I did a short private class there a couple of years ago for a Mensa event. Not sure it is extensive enough for a regular class. If the weather’s pleasant it will be a nice way to start the new year. 1500 N. Atlantic Avenue, Cocoa Beach Fl 32931.  10 a.m. 

Saturday January 8th, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a.m to noon, meet just north of the science center. 

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

Saturday January 15th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte, meet at the parking lot at Bayshore and Ganyard, 9 a.m. to noon.

Sunday January 16th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms, 9 a.m. to noon. The entrance is on South Denning. Some GPS directions get it wrong and put it on S. Pennsylvania. 

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

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 one 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.”  That problem I have is that the fruit on the palm pictured right was not “sweet” but rather foul tasting. So, either the identification is wrong, the fruit was eaten at the wrong time (though it was totally white) or the flavor varies tree to tree. It will need sorting out.  

Like all mustards Sea Rocket has four-petal blossoms. Photo by Green Deane

One of two species of mustard we should see this coming Sunday’s class at Lori Wilson park is Sea Rocket. We have two species of Cakile or Sea Rocket locally.  They show themselves in our winter and preferably on the beach above the rack line. You can also find them blossoming in coastal dunes. The leaves are a bit fleshy but as they are in a tough environment that helps them preserve water. While Sea Rocket can be found along most coasts of the United States, Maine to Washington State, Florida has its own variety, C. lancelolate. There is a video on them here and you can read more about them here.

Nagi fruit is not edible but the seed oil is.

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

My nine-DVD set of 135 videos has been phased out and replaced by a 170-video USB. The USB videos are the same videos I have on You Tube. Some people like to have their own copy.  The USB videos have to be copied to your computer to play. If you want to order the USB go to the DVD/USB order button on the top right of this page or click here. That will take you to an order form. Or you can make a $99 donation, which tells me it is for the USB (include a snail-mail address.)  I’d like to thank all of you who ordered the DVD set over the years which required me to burn over 5,000 DVDs individually. I had to stop making them as few programs now will read the ISO files to copy them. 

Green Deane Forum

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

This is my weekly newsletter #488. If you want to subscribe to this free newsletter you can find the sign-up form in the menu at the top of the page. My website, which is data secure, has over 1500 plants on it in some 428 articles. I wrote every one myself, no cut and paste. 

 To donate to the Green Deane Newsletter click here.

Ghost Pipes on Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina.

Ghost Pipes, Melbourne Florida. Photo by Green Deane

Time does not make a plant taste better.  In 1904 one Walter Prest wrote that the Monotropa uniflora if parboiled, then boiled or roasted was comparable to asparagus. Merritt Fernald, who wrote a foraging book after WWI  and was the big botanical man at Harvard from 1900 to 1950, gave them a try and said “Our own single experiment was not gratifying in its result.”  Maybe Prest knew something we don’t. There is indeed an asparagus-like flavor to them but they are bitter. Maybe boiling twice would help. Pictures of them show up in profusion this time of year on mushroom pages for two reasons: This is their season and they are parasitic on several species of mushroom so mushroom hunters see them and wonder what they are. I wrote about them a decade ago. At the time they weren’t considered controversial. Now many people view them as special and needing protection. As the plants are quite bitter I’m not sure they need much protecting. You can read about them here. 

Swinecress is easy to identify. Photo by Green Deane

Swinecress is up, and Hairy Bitter Cress, too. They are little mustards one finds in the cooler weather. There are two interesting aspects to Swinecress. Once it has seeded it’s fairly easy to identify. Also Swinecress’ flavor intensifies after you eat it. It also has a naughty name. In fact, many plants have risque names ’cause the fellow who originally named them, Carl Linneas, either had a dirty mind or called them as he saw them. The species name, didymus, means a pair of testes and that is how the seed pod appears. Euphamistic writers try all kinds of ways to get around the obvious. It’s a good cooked green.

A 1944 study looked at some of the nutrients in C. didymus which at the time was also called C. pinnatifidus. They analyzed three samples. The protein content was 3.58 to 4.54%. Carbohydrates were low, 0.937 to 0.975%. Calcium was 0.081 to 0.181 grams per 100 gram sample, phosphorus 0.066 to 0.083 grams and sodium 0.014 to 0026 grams. Iron was 11.43 to 15.11 mg per 100 grams, high, copper 0.210 to 0.263 mg and manganese 0.583 to 0.875 mg. Curiously they tested the manganese not the magnesium. You can read about Swinecress here., and Hairy Bitter Cress here.  

Chinquapins pack a lot of nutrition.

One way to think of Chinquapins is they are small Chestnuts that survived. In the same genus as their bigger relative — Castenea — when the blight wiped out the Chestnuts Chinquepins suffered but some managed to survive. One can see the  Allegany Chinquepin (C. pumila) while hiking the Appalachian Trail. Their nut is about half of the size of their deceased relative but still worth collecting. We also know some of the nutrition of another edible Chinquepin, the Ozark Chinkapin (C.  ozarkensis.)

Per 100 grams it has 443 calories, 18 grams of fat, 57 grams of carbohydrates, 13 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber. The fat is 10 grams monounsaturated, 4 grams polyunsaturated and 4 grams saturated. Potassium is 77 mg, no sodium reported. A second report says they are 5% fat, 55 protein, 40% starch and 50% water with 4736 calories per kilo. European chestnuts, not affected by blight, are the only cultivated and consumed nut that has vitamin C, about 40 mg per 3.5 ounce serving.

Dick Deuerling on a Native Plant Society dig when the Orlando Airport was expanding eastward in the mid-1990’s.

In the Beech family the Chinkapin has been called the most ignored and undervalued native North American nut tree. It has a sweet and edible nut and the tree has been used for fuel, charcoal, fence posts, railroad ties and a coffee and chocolate substitute (as are the seeds of the Blue Beech, aka the American Hornbean, Carpinus caroliniana.) Chinkapin’s native range is New Jersey and West Virginia, west to Missouri and Oklahoma, and south to Texas and Florida. It’s been planted in Wisconsin and Michigan. Dick Deuerling, who was Forager Emeritus locally until his death in July 2013, wrote there was a Chinkapin in Wekiva State Park but did not say where it was. One suspects where there is one there is two but I’ve not found them in the park. 

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

Foraging Classes: Sticking to the east side of the state this weekend with classes in West Palm Beach and just south of Daytona Beach in Port Orange where we should see Goj berries blossoming and or fruiting. 

Saturday November 27th, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet just north of the science center.

Sunday November 28th, Spruce Creek Park, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 32127. 9 a.m. to noon, meet at the pavilion. 

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

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

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

My annual Urban Crawl is coming up, my twelfth, on Friday, December 17th. A reasonable question is what about foraging in a city? There is some surprising research. Dan Brabaner is a geoscience professor at Wellesley College, Boston. With some undergraduate students they studied preserved food collected from fruit trees and the like in the urban Boston area. What they found was cherries, apples, peaches and herbs were relatively low in lead and arsenic. That is, a serving had less amounts of these toxins than the allowed daily amount for a child. The team also did not find a significant difference between peeled and unpeeled fruit. The fruit was low in toxic chemical because they are the furthest away from any toxins in the soil. This would apply to tree nuts as well. Leafy greens faired well, too, because they grow fast and 1) don’t have time to accumulate toxins and 2) most air pollution on them can be washed off. Brabander also analyzed foraged food from plants growing in the urban environment not growing on agricultural soil. These foods had higher micronutrients because they were not growing on worn-out agricultural soil. Calcium and iron were higher as were manganese, zinc, magnesium and potassium. Thus we know that not only do “weeds” pack more of a nutritional punch because they are wild but also because they can be growing in better soil. My Urban Crawl is a free class. We meet in front of Panera’s at 10 a.m. in Winter Park. We wander south to the college, stop at Starbucks for a restroom break, go east to the public library area, then back to Panera’s. There is a free parking garage behind (west) of Paneras if you go to the upper floors. If you park on the city streets you chance a ticket as the class is longer than parking hours allow. 

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 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.

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

The tree is easy to find but is it edible? The answer is yes, maybe, barely. It depends on which part you’re referring to. The problem is the more edible parts are around when you don’t notice the tree — spring time — and the least edible parts are around when you do notice it. Thus I never quite get around to knowing all that the Golden Rain tree has to offer. In the spring it has tender young shoots and leaves. They are edible after cooking. Don’t try them raw, they have a bit of cyanide in them. Months later in the fall the seeds are reported as a famine food, not exactly a glowing endorsement. In between the yellow flowers are used for a dye as is the bark. Those boiled leaves and shoots do have some antioxidant and anti-tumor capacity but the research is slow making it way out of arcane journals to common knolwedge. As for the seeds… they are kind of in the same position as the particular mustard seed which is used to make Canola Oil. They are edible but like unrefined Canola Oil they can be irritating. What I might try to do is collect some seeds, sprout them, boil them, and give them a try… but let me do that first instead of you.  You can read about the Golden Rain Tree here.

his is my weekly newsletter #483. 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 little chestnut that survived. Photo by Will Cook, North Carolina Plant Photos.

One way to think of Chinquapins is they are small Chestnuts that survived. In the same genus as their bigger relative — Castenea — when the  blight wipeout the Chestnuts Chinquepins suffered but some managed to survive. One can see the  Allegany Chinquepin (C. pumila) while hiking the Appalachian Trail. Their nut is about half of the size of their deceased relative but still worth collecting. We also know some of the nutrition of another edible Chinquepin, the Ozark Chinkapin (C.  ozarkensis.) 

Chinquapins pack a lot of nutrition.

Per 100 grams it has 443 calories, 18 grams of fat, 57 grams of carbohydrates, 13 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber. The fat is 10 grams monounsaturated, 4 grams polyunsaturated and 4 grams saturated. Potassium is 77 mg, no sodium reported. A second report says they are 5% fat, 55 protein, 40% starch and 50% water with 4736 calories per kilo. European chestnuts, not affected by blight,  are the only cultivated and consumed nut that has vitamin C, about 40 mg per 3.5 ounce serving. 

In the Beech family the Chinkapin has been called them most  ignored and undervalued native North American nut tree. It has a sweet and edible nut and has been used for fuel, charcoal, fence posts, railroad ties and a coffee and chocolate substitute (as are the seeds of the Blue Beech, aka the American Hornbean, Carpinus caroliniana.)

 Just how many “Castanea” species there are is anyone’s guess. For example the USDA uses the name Castanea pumila for the Allegany Chinkepin. They say it is also called American chinquapin, C. alnifolia, C. ashei, C. floridana, C. margaretta, C. nana, C. paucispina, chinquapin, dwarf chestnut, Fagus pumila, and Golden Chinquapin. We are fairly sure C. ozarkensis is a separate species.  C. davidii, C. seguinii, C. mollissima and C. henryi are from Asia, C. creanata, Japan. To my knowledge all of them have edible nuts. Chinkapin’s native range is New Jersey and West Virginia, west to Missouri and Oklahoma, and south to Texas and Florida. It’s been planted in Wisconsin and Michigan. 

Green Deane Itemized Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION: Chinkapin is a small tree or large shrub that grows six to 15 feet tall. Twigs are densely hairy when young becoming shiny brown with reddish-hairy buds. The leaves alternate, are simple, short-stemmed, prominently veined, oblong with fine pointed teeth or bristles, and hairy on the lower surface. The fruit is a spiny bur with a single nut. Bur opens like a clam shell. 

TIME OF YEAR: Early September with some leeway for location.

ENVIRONMENT: It does not like limestone or sand dunes. Prefers mixed hardwood forests with pines and oaks on ridges and slopes, under 4450 feet. Heat tolerant but intolerant of salt spay or shade.  

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Shelled nuts eaten raw or roasted. 

Dandelions are sporadic locally. Photo by Green Deane

Dandelion blossoms, ten pounds of sugar, and two cakes of bread yeast became my first batch of wine. I was in grammar school at the time but an old hand by then having already made two five-gallon batches of beer out of cooking malt. The wine came out far better than the beer which was made in a five-gallon crock in the basement. (I had to use an oil lamp under it to keep it warm enough to ferment in the winter.) Back then all soda bottles took a cap and we had a capper for making homemade root beer. Thus most of the beer and later the wine went into 16-ounce used Coca-Cola bottles. I can remember one of our neighbors — a Mr. Gowen — getting quite drunk on that Dandelion wine one night. To an 8th grader that was success.

Dandelion after all the seeds have floated away. Photo by Green Deane

The Dandelions I used were huge with blossoms nearly two inches across. They grew in large colonies so it took very little time to collected several pounds of them (and one had the greens for supper.) Unfortunately that is not possible here in warm Florida. Dandelions hate hot weather which is why this abundant northern blossom is seen sporadically during our winter, and then often an anemic version of the real thing. Look around oaks in our cooler months. Dandelions are, of course, not only prime food but medicine as well. If you want to know more about them and a wine recipe you can go here.

Gooseberries come in several colors.

You won’t find wild Gooseberries or currants anywhere near The South. They like cool, humid weather: Think New England, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and west of there (and also possibly the tops of the Appalachian Mountain Chain.) There were several “blights” in the last century. One took out the American Elm and another the great Chestnut. A third took its toll on Gooseberries. They did not get the disease themselves, the White Pine Blister, but they were the intermediate host of the disease. As one might imagine a pine blister in the the Pine Tree State was serious business thus Gooseberries and currants had to go. Legions of Boy Scouts and WPA workers destroyed it where they found it.  But, I do remember seeing them in the wild. We often rode horseback over abandoned woods roads where there were also abandoned farm houses. There I saw Gooseberries and currants self-seeding. A ban on the plants was federally imposted in 1911 then shifted to the states in 1966. You can harvest Gooseberries now here and there at picking farms and no doubt there are some wild one still. You can read about Gooseberries here.

Sea Purslane mounds. Photo by Green Deane

Sea purslane is not seasonal but it does favor the spring by putting on a lot of new shoots. By the time autumn falls the plant has been isolating salt from the water which turns its stems red. Thus one uses green stems as greens (boiled, roasted or stuffed in a fish or the like you are cooking) and the red stems for salt or seasoning. The older stems also get a woody core so one usually does not eat them. Young greens can be tossed right on the grill and wilted for a wonderful flavor. Sea purslane will also happily grow in your non-salty garden. It competes successfully in salty areas but does not have to be in salty ground. If you grow it at home it is not salty. To read more about sea purslane go here.

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

Foraging Classes: Heading north for Saturday’s class, dress warmly as Gainesville will be dipping into the low 50’s. 

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. Remember this is time-change weekend.

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

Sunday November 14th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789.  Meet at the bathrooms. 9 to noon. The park entrance is on South Denning. Some GPS directions get it wrong. 

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

My annual Urban Crawl is coming up, my twelfth, on Frkiday, December 17th. A reasonable question is what about foraging in a city? There is some surprising research. Dan Brabaner is a geoscience professor at Wellesley College, Boston. With some undergraduate students they studied preserved food collected from fruit trees and the like in the urban Boston area. What they found was cherries, apples, peaches and herbs were relatively low in lead and arsenic. That is, a serving had less amounts of these toxins than the allowed daily amount for a child. The team also did not find a significant difference between peeled and unpeeled fruit. The fruit was low in toxic chemical because they are the furthest away from any toxins in the soil. This would apply to tree nuts as well. Leafy greens faired well, too, because they grow fast and 1) don’t have time to accumulate toxins and 2) most air pollution on them can be washed off. Brabander also analyzed foraged food from plants growing in the urban environment not growing on agricultural soil. These foods had higher micronutrients because they were not growing on worn-out agricultural soil. Calcium and iron were higher as were manganese, zinc, magnesium and potassium. Thus we know that not only do “weeds” pack more of a nutritional punch because they are wild but also because they can be growing in better soil. My Urban Crawl is a free class We meet in front of Panera’s at 10 a.m. We wander south to the college, stop at Starbucks, go east to the public library area, then back to Panera’s. 

Lady Thumbs are closely related to Smartweed.

Also happily blossoming now is Smartweed, a hot pepper substitute. We saw a lot of it last weekend in a private class in Mayakka City. There are actually two sources of heat on the plant. The leaves have quite a bite. The blossoms are hot and bitter. The blossoms can be white or pink and the plant always grows in damp places if not in water. One odd thing about the species is that it can also be used to catch fish. To read about Smartweed go here.  I also have a video about Smartweed, filmed in the rain if I remember correctly. You can view it here. 

Southern Wax Myrtle berries. Photo by Green Deane

Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Can you make a bayberry candle? Absolutely. Should you? If you have to, yes. If not you might want to reconsider. Southern Wax Myrtle berries are small. They have a little wax on them and why the species name is cerifera — wax producing. But it takes many gallons and a lot of hot work to get enough bayberry wax to mix with tallow (75/25) to make the famous smokeless candle that keeps away insects. No doubt hundreds of years ago it was worth it when folks had tallow from their own cattle, a lot of Bayberries and mosquitoes. Not so much today. You can also put the berries in your candle mold which is far less work. One can use the dried berries as a spice and the leaves like bay leaves or to make a tea. To read more about the Southern Wax Myrtle go here.

Stinkhorn Mushroom. Photo by Green Deane

There is a strange mushroom you can see this time of year that nearly no one eats, the Column Stinkhorn. It smells like a dead animal, not exactly appetizing. The edibility of the Column Stinkhorn is also debatable. Most list it as not edible and there are reports of sickness in humans eating mature specimens. However, at least one noted expert says when in the egg stage they are mild and edible such as on the left side of the picture. It takes me years of studying a mushroom before I eat it. I think this one needs more study. Their fetid aroma attracts flies which then spread the spores around. Some plants also do that. Pawpaw comes to mind. 

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.

Sea Grapes ready for cooking then fermentation. Photo by Green Deane

My latest country wine adventure is a test gallon of Sea Grape Wine. As most were recovered from the ground they were boiled first and for good measure sulphided as well. The problem with wine making, if there is one, is that it can take years to find out if you were on the right track and the right recipe. That is probably why home winemaking has a less than stellar reputation. The problem with Sea Grapes is they have a unique flavor. When you make them into jelly they lost that unique aspect and taste like apply jelly. I am hoping Sea Grape Wine will taste like Sea Grapes, not apple wine… 

We end on a sad note. A hiker in South Carolina, Devin A. Heald, 37, has died from eating Sesbania vesicaria, also called Bagpod. It’s in a group with Crotalaria, most if not all toxic. He ate it while hiking on the afternoon of Tuesday, the 26th of October, and died early in the morning on Thursday the 28th. It is understandably a difficult time for his family and friends. I teach students in my classes to avoid the legume/pea family. While there are notable exceptions almost all the plants in that group are toxic to humans. They do not want to be eaten. The suspected toxins with this species are saponins though I would not be surprised to learn lectins were also involved. The plants are common as they used to be used as an off-year nitrogen fixer, so called green manure. There are numerous reports of them sickening a variety of animals and fowl including chickens, sheep, cattle, hogs, goats and cats. Cattle, unfortunately, develop a taste for them and gain access when put on new pasture with the plants in the fall. Death from this species is brutally painful.

This is my weekly free newsletter #480. 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.

Lilacs announce summer with edible blossoms.

White Lilac are attractive, too.

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

Green Deane, striped shirt, front row, 1962

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

American Lotus, photo by Green Deane

Seen twice this past week in Gainesville and Winter Garden were blossoming American Lotus. The first time I saw a small lake of these blossoms was when an old dry lakebed was deepened and reflooded for a housing development. The next spring suddenly what was for decades a dry lake was full of American Lotus blossoms. This is because the seeds can stay viable some 400 years, or so the experts report. Talk about a survival food! There are multiple edible parts on the American Lotus but I prefer the seeds. I also think when collecting by hand the seeds proved to be the most calories for the least amount of work. The roots are edible but digging them up can be a messy, laborious job. Locally American Lotus are easy to find now: Just look for a lake with large yellow blossoms on long stems. Further north and west they are a favorite sight on rivers such as the Mississippi. To read more about the American Lotus go here.

Classes are held rain or shine.

Foraging classes: It might be a rainy weekend, dress for the potential weather. Classes are in Palm Harbor and Winter Park.

Saturday, June 5th, John Chestnut County Park: 2200 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor, FL 34685. Meet at the trail head of the Peggy Park Nature Walk, pavilion 1 parking lot. 9 a.m. to noon. 

Sunday, June 6th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the bathrooms. Entrance to the park is on Denning.

Saturday, June 12th, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet just north of the science center. 

Sunday, June 13th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte.  9 a.m to noon, meet at the parking lot at Ganyard and Bayshore.

Saturday, June 19th, Red Bug Slough Preserve, 5200 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL, 34233. 9 a.m. to noon. 

Sunday, June 20th, Colby-Alderman Park: 1099 Massachusetts Street, Cassadaga. Fla. 32706. 9 a.m. to noon, meet at the bathrooms. 

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

The Chinese Tallow tree is also called the Pop Corn Tree.

During a class this weekend I noticed  Chinese Tallow trees are blossoming. The tree poses a challenge. It has an edible fat and a toxic oil. The question is how to easily separate the two. And if “easily” is the wrong descriptor then how can it be made worth a forager’s while?

The tree is an invasive species locally so finding a use for it would help the environment. Also as a source of fat it could literally be a life-saver in time of need because humans cannot survive without fat. In fact one can readily see the fat (also called wax.)  It just doesn’t surrender or render easily.

Each seed has a thick coating of highly saturated fat, one reason why the species is also called the popcorn tree because when in fruit it looks covered by popcorn. By all reports the outer coating is edible and has been used to make candles, hence calling it wax. In fact the tree was imported from Asia by Ben Franklin specifically to start a candle-making industry in the South. As a saturated fat the outside is very solid at room temperature. Inside the seed is a liquid oil called stillingia. It is toxic to humans.

Chinese Tallow seed oil, Stillingia,  is toxic.

The “wax” is supposed to melt at 104 F. I’ve tried frying the fruit. The outer coating of fat stays solid. I’ve tried boiling. No luck. My readers have tried broiling — the seeds exploded — and micowaving, they got softer but did not melt.  In China, reports Merriwether of Houston Edibles,  they reportedly softened the fruit in boiling water than scraped it over a fine grater with 0.03-0.5 centimeter holes (Merriwether is a scientist so we get details.) Sounds like a great way to grind down ones fingertips. A third reader has a daughter who used it for a science project. Here’s what they did.

First they bought a hand-operated oil expeller. They cost about $150 on the Internet. They put the entire fruit through the press which also heats the material. Out comes a liquid mass that upon cooling has the solid saturated fat on top. the “wax” and the oil on bottom. The student went on to make candles out of the “wax” and used the oil in a lamp. She won three science fairs and two scholarships. Way to go!

The next question we ask is whether the “wax” and the oil will sufficiently separate so the wax can be used as food? Also is it just as stubborn to melt even after being processed this way? My last question would be how digestible is it? The invasive species certainly has a lot of potential. You can read more about the Chinese Tallow tree here.

Waiting for mom to return.

The fir tree called the Easter Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) has edible parts. Young needles are used to make a tea and the inner bark is edible as well. The tree is also quite threatened and down to 1% presence in some places compared to when Europeans first arrived. One reasons is many areas of the country are overpopulated by deer and their urine is threatening the tree’s future. Deer like to nibble on the Eastern Hemlock. They know a good thing when they taste it. Their urine, however,  is high in nitrogen and hemlocks like low nitrogen soil plus they are slow growing. Trees such as the sugar maple, however, like high-nitrogen soil so they are moving in and outgrowing hemlocks. (Don’t confuse the tree called the hemlock with a green herbaceous plant call the hemlock, which is deadly.) And while permaculture is a related speciality and not my area of competency it might be nice to have a cute deer or two in the back yard to recycle “garden waste” and make nitrogen…

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

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

Green Deane Forum

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

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 Toxic Atamasco Lily. Photo by Green Deane

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

This is weekly newsletter #459. 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.

Elderberries always look better than they taste. Photo by Green Deane

This week’s debatable question is “can you eat elderberries raw?” I also call it “arguable” because no matter whether I say yes or no someone will email me and tell me I’m wrong. My answer is yes, and no which means I will irritate both sides. There are a few variables but it’s fairly easy to sort out.

A handful of delicious? Photo by Green Deane

Elderberries contain two kinds of toxins, an alkaloid and cyanide-producing glucosides. The alkaloid is present in unripe berries. It is not a problem in ripe berries but ripe berries still have the cyanide-producing glucosides. If we are referring to dark purple elderberries, such as Sambucus canadensis or Sambucus Mexicana, the answer is yes, you can eat a few if you are an adult, very few if you are a child. If we are talking about red elderberries  (Sambucus pubens and Sambucus racemosa ) the answer is definitely no regardless of your size. You can only eat the cooked pulp of red elderberries and then no seeds. Red elderberries were a staple of some Native Americans but only after much processing. In shirt-sleeve language the cyanide-producing glucosides is usually sugar and cyanide bonded together which break apart on digestion producing a small amount of hydrocyanic acid aka prussic acid… cyanide.  Your body can tolerate some cyanide. Thus eating raw ripe berries becomes a function of how many of these molecules there are, how much you ate of them, how large are you and how much water there is in your digestive system which probably relates to how quickly you digest them which means how quickly is that cyanide release. A few raw ripe berries usually does not bother an adult any more than eating half-a-dozen apple seed. More than a few ripe purple elderberries can make a child ill usually with digestive upset and vomiting. Same with an adult. Raw elderberries are well-known to cause nausea. Cooking (or drying) ripe purple elderberries eliminates the problem completely. I’ve eaten a tablespoon of raw ripe purple elderberries at a time and not been bothered. But, I know of many adults who have eaten a handful and gotten sick, not at death-door’s-ill but sick nonetheless. The amount of toxicity is considered mild which means little when you’re feeling lousy.

Red Elderberries are mostly toxic.

Ripe Red Elderberries are different than purple ones. They have much more potential cyanide material in their seeds and cooking does not get rid of that problem completely. That is why Native Americans ate only cooked red elderberries with the seeds removed, a labor-intensive process. Said another way red elderberry seeds cannot be eaten raw or cooked but red elderberry pulp can be eaten after cooking, and even that is debatable. So the answer is yes you can eat some ripe, raw purple elderberries but no you should not eat a lot, if only to be safe. Personally I think ripe dark purple elderberries taste far better dried or cooked than raw.  Drying or cooking drives off a musty quality they tend to have and improves the flavor. Let me also give you an example using elderberries why on the Green Deane Forum, my Facebook pages and here Wikipedia is not allowed to be referenced (because it is so inaccurate about wild edibles.)  Supposedly referencing an article by the Center for Disease Control Wikipedia reports. “In 1984, a group of twenty-five people were sickened, apparently by elderberry juice pressed from fresh, uncooked Sambucus mexicana berries. All recovered quickly, however, including one individual who was hospitalized after drinking five glasses. Such reported incidents are rare.” What does the report really say?  The incident was in 1983 not 1984. Twenty-five people were at the event, not 25 taken ill. Eleven people were sickened, eight were flown to the hospital. One stayed overnight. The “juice” was not made from just elderberries but elderberries, elderberry stems, and elderberry leaves (as well as apple juice, sugar and water.)  The juice also sat for two days before being consumed. The report does not say the elderberries were “unripe.” This is exactly why you cannot trust Wikipedia for foraging information.

The controversial two-leaf nightshade. Photo by Green Deane

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 some people say they have eaten a few ripe berries without noticeable issue.  In fact I have seen people eat yellow-ripe berries. They say it tastes like papaya. 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 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. 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. 

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

Foraging classes: On the north end of the state this weekend. 

Saturday, May 29th, 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, May 30th, Tide Views Preserve, 1 Begonia Street, Atlantic Beach Fl 32233 (near Jacksonville Fl.) 9 to noon. Meet at the parking lot. 

Saturday, June 5th, John Chestnut County Park: 2200 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor, FL 34685. Meet at the trail head of the Peggy Park Nature Walk, pavilion 1 parking lot. 9 a.m. to noon. 

Sunday, June 6th, Mead Garden: 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the bathrooms. Entrance to the park is on Denning.

Saturday, June 12th, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet just north of the science center. 

Sunday, June 13th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte.  9 a.m to noon, meet at the parking lot at Ganyard and Bayshore.

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

Always investigate Morning Glories that have big white blossoms. Photo by Green Deane

While on the beach I noticed a blossoming Morning Glory. I knew instantly that it would be one I would be interested in. Why? Let me tell you what I tell my foraging classes. After about 40 years of foraging I was organizing my Morning Glory information one day. Some are edible, some are famine food — eaten now and then or in small quantities — and some are mind altering. I did not have a flash of brilliance but one of color. Species of Morning Glories with blue blossoms are usually not edible, often can make you ill while simultaneously getting you high by having the LS part of LSD.  Species of Morning Glories with pink blossoms are usually not edible and or are a famine food, kind of 50/50, some edible in small amounts for a while, some not edible at all. They tend to be coastal or ornamental. And I ignore small white Morning Glory blossom or small white Morning Glories with a ruby throat. However… large white Morning Glory blossoms or large white Morning Glory blossoms with a ruby throat usually have something edible. Large in this case means blossom at least three to four inches long or longer. Which part is edible depends upon the species. You can read about them here. 

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

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

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. 

Jack in the Pulpit. Photo by Green Deane

Jack In The Pulpit are strange plants. They’re listed amongst the edible species but they are barely edible. They also readily change sex. After reproducing they become males and do nothing but hang out on the forest floor drinking sunlight and making starch. When enough energy is collected for reproduction they become females… It’s not a species that does much dating. They are usually found in damp areas with dappled sunlight. To read more about Jacks you can go here.

This is weekly newsletter #458. 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.

Chickweed is happy now. Bright green foliage in gray lawns. Photo by Green Deane

Our tasty winter green chickweed  is in its glory; lush, full, blossoming, happy to be alive. With such healthy plants it was easy to find the identifying characteristics: stretchy inner core, a single line of hair on the main stem that switches 90 degrees at the nodes, a five-petal blossom that looks like 10 petals, and uncooked chickweed tastes like raw corn. We saw a lot of it in Ocala Sunday. 

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

When lawns aren’t mowed food grows. The weather is perfect and winter plants a plenty.  We saw the large acorns of the Chestnut Oak, by far the largest locally. In abundance during our foraging classes were Sheep’s Sorrel, Oxalis, Latex Stranger Vine, Pellitory,  Black Medic, Wild Geraniums, Horsemint and Henbit. The latter was a favored spring time green with Native Americans because it’s mild rather than peppery. While in the mint family it is not minty. It’s edible raw or cooked. An edible relative, “Dead Nettle” looks similar but is more purple.  Henbit is called “Henbit” because chickens like it. It’s usually found in sunny, non-dry places. To read more about Henbit go here.  Surprisingly what we didn’t see in Stinging Nettle. 

Shepherd’s Purse Photo by Green Deane

During the class the seasonal mustards were also on display. Poor Man’s Pepper Grass was everywhere. But we also saw mild Western Tansy Mustard. Hairy Bittercress was found nearby as was a plain old mustard. Also well-represented this past week was Shepherd’s Purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris, a much milder relative of Poor Man’s Pepper Grass. They have similar blossoms but differently shaped leaves and seed pods. The Shepherd’s pods look more like hearts than “purses.” One interesting aspect about Shepherd’s Purse — photo left — is that I personally have never seen it growing south of the Ocala area. It’s found in 18 northern counties of Florida, one west central Florida county, Hillsborough, one southern Florida county, Dade, and throughout North America. It’s just kind of sparse in the lower half of the state. 

Our native Plantgo is in season.

There are Plantains that look like tough bananas and there are Plantains that are low and leafy plants. They are not related. Just two different groups with the same common name. Low-growing Plantains can be native or non-native. The one pictured right is native, the Dwarf Plantain. As a genus the plants are well-known. The leaves are edible raw when young. As they age they become more bitter and stringy. Cooking makes them palatable up to a point. Then they move into the astringent medical realm. As such they are used on bites, stings and to help puncture wounds heal. The seeds are edible once produced and are the source of the commercial dietary fiber, psyllium. When finely ground the seeds are sold under the brand name Metamucil. There are numerous species of Plantagos (Plantains) with at least five common locally, P. virginiana, P. major, P. lanceolata and P. rugelii the latter which strongly resembles P. major. They are all used the same way. (P. rugelii is pink at the base of the stem.) One problem beginning foragers have is confusing young Oakleaf Fleabane leaves for Dwarf Plantain leaves (they are both rosette-ish, low-growing green leaves, hairy with fibrous threads in the stem.) But the Dwarf Plantain is essentially a long skinny hairy leaf with a few teeth. The Oakleaf Fleabane is much fatter, has lobes, and does resemble oak leaves found on more northern species. You can read about the Plantains here and I have a video here.    

Wild Radish are reaching peak season.

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.

Calliandra Haematocephala is toxic.

A toxic powder puff shrub we see this time of year is  a native of Malaysia. It’s a small tree that was in the pea family but has been moved to the Mimosa group. It is not edible in any way. It’s just pretty, which has its own value. The name is slightly interesting in that it is all Living Greek mangled by new Dead Latin. Calliandra is a combination of Kallos (beautiful) and Andros (man) but is to mean — when poetically translated — “pretty stamen” (the male part of the flower which creates the powder puff.) Haematocephala means “blood head” or in this case “red head.” Thus pretty stamen red head. You could even stretch it to “pretty redheaded man.” The common name is Red Powder Puff. 

Classes are held rain or shine.

Foraging Classes: Two classes this weekend, Saturday in West Palm Beach and Sunday in Winter Park.

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

Sunday, January 10th, Mead Gardens, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m. to noon. The entrance is on the west side off Denning  not the east side off Pennsylvania. Some GPS maps are wrong. Meet near the bathrooms. 

Saturday, January 16th, Eagle Park Lake, 1800 Keene Road, Largo, FL 33771. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the dog park pavilion. 

Sunday, January 17th, Spruce Creek, 6250 Ridgewood Ave. Port Orange, 32127. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet that the pavilion (first right after house.) 

Saturday, January 23th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. to noon, meet at the pavilion by the tennis courts. 

Sunday, January 24th, Red Bug Slough Preserve, 5200 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL, 34233. 9 a.m. to noon. 

Saturday January 30th, Wickham Park: 2500 Parkway Drive, Melbourne, FL, 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the dog park. 

Sunday January 31st, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Bayshore Drive. Port Charlotte. 9 a.m. to noon, meet in the parking lot at Ganyard and Bayshore. 

Saturday February 6th, Boulware Springs Park, 3420 SE 15th St.,  Gainesville, FL 32641. 9 a.m. to noon, meet at the pavilion by the pump house. 

Sunday, February 7th, Mead Gardens, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m. to noon. The entrance is on the west side off Denning  not the east side off Pennsylvania. Some GPS maps are wrong. Meet near the bathrooms.  

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

Canna can grow in a garden or a pond.

♣ Botany Builder #12. Do you remember the confusion in school over the words immigrant and emigrant? An emigrant is someone leaving a country, and an immigrant is someone entering a country. An emergent plant is one coming out of the water, such as Canna. It likes to grow in about a half a foot of water. It doesn’t like dry land and it doesn’t like deep water. It is emergent. Cattails are emergent, however some species of cattail — there aren’t that many — like to be close to shore and others like deeper water. What it really comes down to, can you get cattails from shore or do you need a canoe?

Green Deane videos are now available on a USB.

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 #439. 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.

Can you identify what’s wrong with this picture? See below.  Photo by Green Deane

Actually there’s nothing wrong with the photo per se, it’s the time of year that’s different. Usually Podocaprus develop non-edible seeds with their edible aril around early August, give or take a week or two. That’s the seasonal mother load so to speak. But for several years I have noticed four Podocarpus trees fruiting near Christmas time. I have also spied one hedge doing the same not far away. As the weather varies year to year I can’t really say that is the cause. My next choice is different species. That might account for it. Thus while we usually harvest the arils in August we have a yuletide treat when I do my free Urban Crawl near these trees December 18th. To read more about Podocarpus go here.

A local city has added an edible to their downtown park. Photo by Green Deane

Shall I craft an alliteration and say I saw an exciting sighting this week in Winter Park? A while ago in their downtown park they removed a Limequat leaving the space empty. I have no idea why the tree had to go in that it was regularly fruiting and while not rare a novelty. It has been replaced by a Acerola Cherry also called Barbados Cherry. This little tree’s claim to fame is a huge amount of acorbic acid which is natural vitamin C. Each fruit has several times your daily need for vitamin C.  This tree has been fruiting and I noticed the fruit was not being picked up. This is a common sight. I routinely see fruit rotting on the ground. This includes mangos, star fruit, loquats, citrus, apples and now Acerola Cherries. I have an article about them waiting to be published. 

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

Foraging Classes: A foraging class in my backyard so to speak Saturday then one in New Port Richey Sunday.

Saturday, December 5th, Blanchard Park, 10501 Jay Blanchard Trail, Orlando, FL 32817. 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the pavilion next to the tennis courts next to the YMCA building.

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

Saturday, December 12th, Dreher Park, 1200 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach, 33405. 9 a.m. to noon. 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 northwest of the science museum near the banyan tees.

Sunday, December 13th, Turtle Mound: Canaveral National Seashore Park, New Smyrna Beach Fl. 9 a.m. to noon. A foraging class at this location requires some flexibility. There is a fee to get into the park. We start at Turtle Mound but there is limited parking. However, there is a ranger station visitor center just south of the mound with parking there, too. After the mound we will drive to the next beachside parking area to look around.  Then we move a second time to visit what is left of Eldora once a busy town on the inland waterway.

Saturday, December 19th, Bayshore Live Oak Park, Port Charlotte, 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at the parking lot at the intersection of Bayshore and Ganyard Street. 

Sunday, December 20th, Mead Gardens, 1500 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park, FL 32789. 9 a.m. to noon. The entrance is on the west side off Denning  not the east side off Pennsylvania. Some GPS maps are wrong. Meet near the bathrooms. 

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. 

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

What to do. It looks like Yellow Nut Sedge but smells like Purple Nut Sedge.

Often when foraging something you aren’t looking for suddenly pops up. That happed Sunday in Sarasota. Actually two plants appeared, Chufa, and Redflowered Ragweed mentioned below. For a common plant I don’t see Chufa too often or more specifically when I find the plant and dig there are no nutlets attached. Sunday it was different. We saw the lesser of the two Cypurus rotundus. It’s easy to identify. The nutlets and underground parts of the plant smell like Vick’s Vapor Rub. C. esculentus does not. That latter has been cultivated for thousands of years as a food crop and is found worldwide. The problem was this looks like the Yellow Nut Sedge but smelled like the Purple Nut Sedge. And… one of the problems in Florida when it comes to identifying sedges is that there are over 100 species of Cypurus. You can read about them here. 

Redflowered Ragweed. Photo by Green Deane

Redlfower Ragweed isn’t a ragweed but I’ve been seeing it for a couple of years now. It reminds me of Fireweed/Burnweed except with red blossoms. Botanically it’s Crassocephalum crepidioides (kras-oh-SEF-uh-lum krep-pid-dee-OY-deez.) Crassocephalum is from the Dead Latin “Crassus” meaning “thick” and “kephale” which is Greek for head. Crepidioides is more mangle Greek. “-oides” in Dead Latin is mispronounced borrowed Greek and means “resembles.” Crepidioides means “resembles Crepis.” Crepis is from an old Greek word for a frilly funeral veil. It works its way into English via French as “crepe” paper.  So “thick head resembles crepe paper” is one way to interpret the plant’s name.” And… even though it is called the Redflower Ragweed its leaves more resemble Fireweed/Burnweed, Erechtites hieraciifolius (which is an even more complicated, naughty story.) Redflower Rageweed’s blossoms, however, more resemble the toxic Florida Tassel Flower. Cornucopia II says of Crassocephalum crepidioides on page 37: “Ebolo, Okinawan Spinach, Young leaves and shoots are used as a potherb, fried, or mixed in Khao yam. The leaves are fleshy, tinged with purple and have a somewhat mucilaginous quality and nutty flavor. Has become quite popular on the island of Okinawa and in Hawaii In Thailand, the roots are eaten with chili sauce or cooked in fish curry. Tropical Africa. Cultivated.”

Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses.

For many years an inexpensive book published by the state of Florida was also a good foraging identification book. Unintentionally I’m sure, about 75% of the plants in the $8 book were edible. I posted a list on my website so folks could identify which one. Apparently the book went out of print but it is free on line here. Just open then down load the page. Then to get a list of what is edible in the book go here.    We have Rose-Ann to thank for this. She found and reported this free edition. I note that a lot of folks are selling the book for forty-some dollars on the internet and one was asking $102. 

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 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 #434. 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.