Scientific name: Smyrnium olusatrum
Family: Apiaceae
This tall plant can grow up to 1.5 meters in height and produces greenish-yellow flowers arranged in umbrella-shaped clusters. The flowers emit a strong, myrrh-like scent. The leaves are bright green and have toothed edges, arranged in groups of three at the end of the leaf stalk. The fruit is round and has ridges, and when fully ripened, it turns blackish in colour.
Contents
— Introduction
— Description
— Habitat and distribution
—
Alexanders has a fascinating past, used as food and medicine since Roman times.
Once called “parsley of Alexandria,” people grew this herb in gardens for years. But then celery became more popular. Even so, Alexanders still grows near the sea today.
What makes Alexanders special is its ability to create aromatic oils. These oils have a strong, sweet smell that attracts many pollinating insects.
This happens because it’s part of the Apiaceae plant family. This family is famous for making fragrant oils.
Pliny, a Roman naturalist from the first century AD, called Alexanders “Smyrnium” because it smelled like myrrh.
This tall plant can grow up to 1.5 meters in height and produces greenish-yellow flowers arranged in umbrella-shaped clusters. The flowers emit a strong, myrrh-like scent. The leaves are bright green and have toothed edges, arranged in groups of three at the end of the leaf stalk. The fruit is round and has ridges, and when fully ripened, it turns blackish in colour.
Biennial. Mediterranean native.
You can find this Mediterranean plant in many places. It grows near the coast, on sea cliffs, and along roadsides. It also does well in old ruins, hedges, banks, and quarries. The plant comes from Asia Minor, Syria, and the Canary Islands. People have brought it to the British Isles, where it now grows naturally.
Leaves, stalks, fruit and root.
Spring to summer.
Alexanders, once called “black potherb,” has black, spicy seeds. It often grows in old monastery ruins where monks grew it as a garden herb.
Cook the leaves and stalks for soups, broths, and stews. Use the flowers as spice and decoration in salads. Eat the buds pickled or fried. Add the root to casseroles and stews like parsnip.
This plant is a valuable source of protein, carbohydrates, and fatty acids, which are all found in its fruits.
Furthermore, the plant is rich in flavonoids and other bioactive compounds that offer a range of health benefits.
Alexanders was a traditional plant for cleansing the blood and a digestive herb for strengthening the stomach.
Seafarers used it to treat scurvy and herbalists used it to relieve stomach and urinary problems.
Alexanders was also a remedy for headaches, toothaches, swellings of the body, cuts and bruises, asthma and consumption, or tuberculosis.
There is not much data on this plant’s toxicity. Talk to a health advisor before using it as medicine.
Guarrera, P. M. & Savo, V. (2016) Wild food plants used in traditional vegetable mixtures in Italy. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. [Online] 185202–234.
Bertoli, A. et al. (2004) Volatile constituents of different parts (roots, stems and leaves) of Smyrnium olusatrum L. Flavour and Fragrance Journal. [Online] 19 (6), 522–525.
Traveller’s-joy, Old Man’s Beard (Clematis vitalba) is a climbing plant. It adorns hedgerows and shrubs across Europe. Many admire its white flowers and feathery seed heads.
This plant also has a lesser-known history of use in cooking. From ancient Roman times to now, people have written about and enjoyed eating it. It has been a part of Tuscan cuisine for generations.
Note that the plant is toxic, so eat with caution.
Sakura cherry, Japanese cherry, Ornamental cherry
Prunus serrulata Lindl.
Rosaceae
Sakura cherry is a deciduous tree that typically grows 20-40 feet tall with a spreading, rounded crown. The bark is smooth and grey, becoming fissured with age. Leaves are simple, alternate, ovate to obovate, 2-5 inches long, with serrated margins and acuminate tips. Flowers are pale pink to white, 1-1.5 inches in diameter, with 5 petals, and appear in clusters of 2-5 before the leaves emerge in spring. Fruits are small, globose drupes, red to black, and about 0.5 inches in diameter.
Cultivated ornamental.
Native to Japan, Korea, and China, but widely cultivated as an ornamental tree in temperate regions worldwide.
Flowers: early spring; Leaves: spring to summer; Fruits: summer.
Sakura flowers are pickled in salt and used as a condiment or garnish in Japanese cuisine. The leaves are used to wrap rice cakes or dumplings. The fruits are edible but not commonly consumed.
Sakura flowers contain anthocyanins, flavonoids, and phenolic acids. Nutritional data for other parts is limited.
In traditional Chinese medicine, sakura flowers and bark have been used to treat coughs, allergies, and digestive issues.
Sakura trees are widely cultivated as ornamental plants for their attractive flowers. The wood is used for woodworking and the production of small objects.
Sakura cherries are generally considered safe for consumption, but the seeds contain amygdalin, which can release cyanide when metabolised. Consuming large amounts of seeds may be harmful.
Acevedo, I. (2021). Sakura Storytellers: Cherry Blossoms as Indicators of Change in More-Than-Human Environments.
Facciola, S. (1998). Cornucopia II: A source book of edible plants. Kampong Publications.
Hosking, R. (2015). Dictionary of Japanese Food: Ingredients & Culture. Tuttle Publishing.
Kern, J. dePeiza. (2023). Sakura Storytellers. Arnold Arboretum.
Common camellia, Japanese camellia, tsubaki
Camellia japonica L.
Theaceae
Camellia japonica is an evergreen shrub or small tree that can grow up to 10 meters tall. It has alternately arranged, simple, glossy, dark green leaves with serrated margins. The flowers are large, showy, and typically red, pink, or white in colour, appearing from late winter to early spring. The fruit is a globose capsule containing several seeds.
Cultivated and naturalised in various parts of the world.
Native to Japan, Korea, and China. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions worldwide.
Young leaves, flowers, and seeds.
Young leaves can be harvested throughout the year, while flowers are collected during the blooming period.
People use the dried flowers as a vegetable and the leaves as a substitute for tea.
In Japan, the dried flowers of Camellia are used in cooking, either as a vegetable or mixed into sticky rice to create a delicious dish called mochi.
The petals, which are rich in antioxidants and have a lovely fragrance, can also be used as a beautiful garnish to elevate any meal.
Camellia oil, derived from the seeds of C. japonica, is another culinary gem. While it’s not as widely produced in Japan as it is in China, this oil is gaining recognition as a heart-healthy cooking oil.
Rich in oleic acid, a type of fat that helps lower bad cholesterol, camellia oil has even been shown to make fried foods taste better than those cooked in regular oil.
Roasted C. japonica leaf, particularly those that have been roasted for a longer time, show promise as a tasty, fat-blocking ingredient in various food products.
The flowers are packed with carbohydrates, protein, omega-3 fats, and important minerals, so they could be a nutritious and functional addition to many different foods.
Camellia japonica leaves contain polyphenols, including flavonoids and catechins. The seed oil is rich in oleic acid and other unsaturated fatty acids.
In traditional Chinese medicine, Camellia japonica has been used to treat various ailments, including bleeding, inflammation, and digestive disorders.
The leaves and flowers have been used in folk medicine for their astringent and hemostatic properties.
Preclinical studies have revealed that different parts of the plant, especially the leaves and flowers, contain compounds that could help fight disease and promote overall health.
One of the most impressive features of C. japonica is its antioxidant power. The petals, in particular, are loaded with phenolic compounds and flavonoids that can scavenge harmful free radicals.
In traditional medicine, C. japonica flowers and leaves have been used as functional herbs to treat various ailments.
Modern research suggests that the plant’s medicinal benefits may stem from its ability to shield against oxidative damage, lipid peroxidation, and DNA damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS).
The leaf extracts have also been shown to inhibit an enzyme involved in carbohydrate digestion, which could potentially help manage diabetes.
The leaf and flower extracts have demonstrated antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties.
The oil and extracts have been found to reduce inflammation markers and pathways, suggesting possible applications for treating inflammatory conditions.
And some extracts have even shown anti-cancer effects against several cancer cell lines.
Exciting preliminary studies also point to C. japonica‘s potential in oral health, wound healing, stomach protection, and treating conditions like high uric acid levels.
The fruit extract, in particular, has exhibited strong antioxidant activities and the ability to reduce ROS levels in breast cancer cells by activating a protective pathway called Nrf2 [12].
It has even shown potential anti-metastatic effects by inhibiting breast cancer cell migration in a lab setting.
Camellia japonica is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant for its attractive flowers. The seed oil has been used in cosmetics and as a hair oil.
Camellia japonica is generally considered safe when consumed in normal amounts as food or tea. However, the plant contains saponins, which can be toxic in large doses. Allergic reactions to the pollen have been reported in sensitive individuals.
Fernandes, L., Ramalhosa, E., Pereira, J.A., Saraiva, J.A. and Casal, S. (2020) ‘Borage, camellia, centaurea and pansies: Nutritional, fatty acids, free sugars, vitamin E, carotenoids and organic acids characterisation’, Food Research International, 132, p. 109070. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2020.109070.
Kanth, B.K., Lee, K.Y. and Lee, G.-J. (2014) ‘Antioxidant and radical-scavenging activities of petal extracts of Camellia japonica ecotypes’, Horticulture, Environment, and Biotechnology, 55(4), pp. 335–341. doi: 10.1007/s13580-014-0024-7.
Lee, Y.-J., Yang, S.-H., Choi, M.-H., Oh, D.-S. and Shin, H.-J. (2023) ‘Antioxidant and anti-obesity activities of roasted Camellia japonica leaves extract’, Korean Society of Biotechnology and Bioengineering Journal, 38(3), pp. 177–187. doi: 10.7841/ksbbj.2023.38.3.177.
Liang, H., Hao, B.-Q., Chen, G.-C., Ye, H. and Ma, J. (2017) ‘Camellia as an oilseed crop’, HortScience, 52(4), pp. 488–497. doi: 10.21273/HORTSCI11570-16.
Lim, T.K. (2014) Edible Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Plants: Volume 8, Flowers. 2014th edn. Springer.
Pereira, A.G., Cassani, L., Liu, C., Li, N., Chamorro, F., Barreira, J.C.M., Simal-Gandara, J. and Prieto, M.A. (2023) ‘Camellia japonica flowers as a source of nutritional and bioactive compounds’, Foods, 12(15), p. 2825. doi: 10.3390/foods12152825.
Pereira, A.G., Garcia-Perez, P., Cassani, L., Chamorro, F., Cao, H., Barba, F.J., Simal-Gandara, J. and Prieto, M.A. (2022) ‘Camellia japonica: A phytochemical perspective and current applications facing its industrial exploitation’, Food Chemistry: X, 13, p. 100258. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2022.100258.
Teixeira, A.M. and Sousa, C. (2021) ‘A review on the biological activity of Camellia species’, Molecules, 26(8), p. 2178. doi: 10.3390/molecules26082178.
Tokie, H. and Ochiai, T. (2005) ‘Effects and antioxidant properties of camellia oil as an edible oil’, Journal of the Japanese Society of Food Preservation Science, 31(5), pp. 253–260. doi: 10.5891/jafps.31.253.
Woo, Y., Lee, H., Jeong, Y.-S., Shin, G.Y., Oh, J.G., Kim, J.-S. and Oh, J. (2017) ‘Antioxidant potential of selected Korean edible plant extracts’, BioMed Research International, 2017, pp. 1–9. doi: 10.1155/2017/7695605.
Acorus calamus, commonly known as Sweet flag is a plant typically found in marginal water areas, wetlands, alongside ponds, and in marshy areas.
It favours moist, boggy sites and can be found in various regions across the British Isles, thriving in the wet, mild climate.
The tender core of young roots (rhizome) is suitable for salads, and the lower part of the stem is ideal for candying.
The root can be candied, eaten raw, roasted, or used as a spice substitute for ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It also imparts flavour to tea.
The young and tender flowers and the inner portion of young stems are edible, making a palatable salad.
The leaves contain oxalic acid and are cooked or used to flavour custards.
However, it is important to exercise caution due to the plant’s potential toxicity. The essential oil in the root contains asarone, a compound with potential carcinogenic properties. See here, here and here.
While these studies provide strong evidence for the genotoxic and carcinogenic potential of asarone, further research is needed to determine its specific effects in humans.
European varieties of Acorus calamus have significantly lower levels of asarone than Indian-Chinese varieties, reducing the concern in European plants.
In culinary uses, calamus oil flavours liqueurs, cordials, bitters, ice cream, soft drinks, and vinegar.
Leaves and stalks of the plant, with a delicate tangerine tang, are used to flavour milk puddings and can substitute for orange zest.
Despite some concerns about its constituents, Acorus calamus has a rich history in herbal remedies and culinary practices, valued for its unique flavour and potential health benefits.
Its versatility in flavouring various dishes and drinks highlights its importance in traditional and modern cuisine.
Amaranthus spp, commonly known as Amaranth, is in the Amaranthaceae family.
There are numerous species of Amaranth in the British Isles. The BSBI Plant Atlas lists twelve species, and the genus was introduced most likely during the 1700s.
I remember first paying attention to Amaranth when I explored plants in Laos.
I stayed on the forest’s edge for a month in a shack by an icy-cold turquoise pool and waterfall.
It didn’t take long to find my local plant guide, a man named Pon.
Pon had been in the Laos army and had lived continuously in the forest for four years.
Four years straight with lots and lots and lots of creepy crawlies you pray you will never meet.
I can deal with dangerous wild animals; you can usually see them, but those barely visible insects are more dangerous in my mind.
And if you are three days away from medical treatment, well, I’ll leave the consequences to your imagination.
I spent a reasonable amount of time with Pon, photographing and documenting the local uses of the forest food plants.
With Pon, I was in good hands because although I was in Northern Laos, there were still unexploded bombs from the Vietnam War, and the chance of stepping on one was a genuine concern.
Then there were the poachers. More dangerous than the other animals that inhabited the forest.
So, as happens quite often on my adventurous plant journeys, we went into the forest with a gun.
I met Amaranth before I met Pon.
It’s a curious plant. It is a blend between wild and cultivated, and humans have eaten it for thousands of years.
In East Africa, people eat the seeds and use the leaves and young shoots as a delicious vegetable. They consider it a grain crop, similar to how they use maize.
Early in the year, the underlying taste is mild, not spicy or bitter. It can, therefore, be used as a base for many dishes.
The young, tender leaves and shoots can be used raw in salads and vegetable dishes from spring to summer.
You can briefly fry them in oil for vegetable crisps or steam them for a side dish.
Amaranth is excellent as a replacement for spinach, great as a puree, and as fillings for strudels, crepes and oven-baked dishes like lasagna and pizza.
You can finely chop it for patties, sauces, vegetable soups, and bread dough.
In autumn, harvest the mature seeds. Shake or twist the grains from the seed heads. The seeds taste like corn. They can be nibbled raw, roasted, added to patties, sprinkled on salads or dried and processed into a coffee substitute.
You can grind the dried seeds and add them to bread dough or use them as gluten-free flour for pastries.
You can also cook them into a porridge with water or milk. Alternatively, you can sprout the dried seeds.
The plants contain betacyanin pigments (the same found in beetroot) and are rich in vitamin C, B1 and beta-carotene (100g grains cover the daily requirement).
Amaranth has an 18% higher protein and mineral content than traditionally grown grains.
The proteins contain many essential amino acids. The plant is very high in calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc.
In addition, it contains up to 60% carbohydrates, primarily starch. The fat content (9%) is rich in valuable, unsaturated fatty acids.
Not only are amaranth species high in nutrients, but these nutrients are in a very favourable ratio for human nutrition.
However, Amaranth also contains small amounts of indigestible tannins.
It also takes up heavy metals, so be sure to harvest from soil that does not have a history of industrial usage.
It is used a lot by the Acoma of New Mexico. They first roast the seed, then pulverise it into a fine powder. Subsequently, cook this powder until it becomes dense, shape it into balls, and consume it as a type of dumpling.
You can also parch the seeds before cooking them into a mushy porridge.
Amaranth is a traditional plant food of Canadian Indigenous peoples and is nutritionally rich and diverse.
In its stems, leaves, and shoots, per 100 grams of fresh weight, it contains substantial amounts of minerals: 334 mg of calcium, 77 mg of phosphorus, 10 mg of sodium, 622 mg of potassium, 210 mg of magnesium, 0.2 mg of copper, 2.0 mg of zinc, 6.0 mg of iron, 4.2 mg of manganese, and 24.7 mg of chloride.
Additionally, it provides 10 grams of water, 14.5 grams of protein, and 5.9 grams of fat.
This composition makes it a valuable source of macro and micronutrients, offering significant health benefits.
Expanding on the culinary applications of amaranth, a diverse range of recipes highlights its versatility. These additional uses include:
Creamy amaranth porridge: This protein-rich porridge, cooked with milk of choice, offers a hearty breakfast option, especially when topped with nuts, fresh fruit, and chia seeds.
Millet amaranth buddha bowls: A healthy dish featuring a blend of curry-spiced millet and amaranth, complemented with tofu, broccoli, kale, avocado, and pine nuts.
Gluten-free savoury amaranth waffles: Offering a crispy and nutty alternative to traditional waffles, these can be served with savoury toppings like a fried or poached egg and a light pear fennel arugula salad.
Gluten-free amaranth tortillas: These nutritious tortillas can be filled with various ingredients to create delicious tacos.
Amaranth granola: Homemade granola using amaranth, naturally sweetened with maple syrup and seasoned with cinnamon, pairs well with Greek yogurt or nut milk.
Amaranth tikki: Savoury Indian patties made from a mixture of grated potatoes, amaranth, yogurt, and green chilli paste, pan-fried until golden brown.
Chocolate puffed amaranth bars: High-protein dessert bars combining wholesome ingredients like pumpkin seeds, dates, dried cranberries, and puffed amaranth, coated in melted chocolate.
Protein power lentils and amaranth patties: Nutrient-rich patties ideal for weeknight dinners, made from red lentils and amaranth, served as burgers or with a side salad and roasted potatoes.
Amaranth spice cookies: Ideal for the holidays, these cookies use amaranth flour and a warming spice blend, with adjustable sugar content for healthfulness.
Tabouli with amaranth grain: A fresh and zesty side dish where amaranth replaces bulgur, complementing grilled proteins.
Amaranth flour tortillas with avocados: Healthy tortillas incorporating amaranth and avocados, suitable for quesadillas with salsa and guacamole.
Akubugwo, I., Obasi, N., Chinyere, G., & Ugbogu, E. A. (2007). Nutritional and chemical value of Amaranthus hybridus L. leaves from Afikpo, Nigeria. African Journal of Biotechnology, 6. doi: 10.5897/AJB2007.000-2452.
Fleischhauer, S. G., Spiegelberger, R., & Guthmann, J. (2020). Enzyklopädie Essbare Wildpflanzen: 2000 Pflanzen Mitteleuropas; Bestimmung, Sammeltipps, Inhaltsstoffe, Heilwirkung, Verwendung in der Küche. AT-Verlag.
Herbalpedia. (2014). The Herb Growing & Marketing Network.
Kuhnlein, H. V., & Turner, N. J. (1991). Traditional Plant Foods of Canadian Indigenous Peoples: Nutrition, Botany and Use. Routledge.
Moerman, D. E. (1998). Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press.
Pennacchio, M., Jefferson, L. V., & Havens, K. (2010). Uses and Abuses of Plant-Derived Smoke: Its Ethnobotany as Hallucinogen, Perfume, Incense, and Medicine. Oxford University Press.
Quattrocchi, U. (2012). CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology (5 Volume Set). CRC press.
The Japanese Pagoda Tree (Styphnolobium japonicum) is grown as an ornamental in the United Kingdom.
It is also known as the Chinese Scholar Tree or the Pagoda Tree. This deciduous tree, native to China and Korea, has been cultivated for centuries.
Many people grow it as an ornamental for its beautiful cascading white flowers, but they also eat many parts of the tree and use them in traditional cuisines and remedies.
One of the most common edible uses is the consumption of its young tender leaves, shoots, and twigs. These can be cooked and eaten with rice, providing a nutritious and flavourful addition to meals.
In some regions, the shoots are sundried and then boiled multiple times to remove bitter elements before being eaten.
People sometimes thoroughly boil the twigs in water and poach an egg in the liquid. The broth is drunk and the poached egg eaten as a home remedy believed to stop haemorrhages.
The flowers and buds of the Japanese Pagoda Tree also have culinary uses. In Hong Kong, they are gathered and used as a main ingredient in the traditional Five Flower Tea (‘Wu Hua Cha’), enjoyed during the hot summer months.
The fragrant flowers add a delicate flavour and aroma to the tea. The leaves can also be dried and used to make a a refreshing tea.
The endosperm, the nutritive tissue inside the seed, is cooked with sugar to create a popular sweet dessert in Northern China.
Moreover, an edible starch can be extracted from the seeds, providing another way to utilise this versatile tree.
Facciola, S. (1998). Cornucopia II: A source book of edible plants. Kampong Publications.
Hu, S. (2005). Food Plants of China. Chinese University Press.
Kunkel, G. (1984). Plants for Human Consumption: An Annotated Checklist of the Edible Phanerogams and Ferns. Koeltz Scientific Books.
Madden, E., McLachlan, C., Oketch, Rabah, H., & Calderón, A. I. (2022). United States Pharmacopeia comprehensive safety review of Styphnolobium japonicum flower and flower bud. Phytotherapy Research, 36(5), 2061–2071.
Read, B. E. (1946). Famine Foods Listed in the Chiu Huang Pen Ts?ao: Giving Their Identity, Nutritional Values and Notes on Their Preparations. Henry Lester Institute of Medical Research.
Uphof, J. C. T. (1959). Dictionary of Economic Plants. H.R. Engelmann.
Despite its common name, writes Peter Wyse Jackson, Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) is not only found in its native Scotland but across northern Europe and as far as Siberia and Asia. It is also naturalised in North America, Canada and New Zealand.
In Ireland, where pine populations have waxed and waned, the tree was known as one of the Seven Nobles of the wood. It yielded a valuable resin and pitch used by early inhabitants of Ireland for weatherproofing boats and preserving wood.
The number seven seems to have a special significance for the tree, for it was observed in groups of pines called Seven Sisters that the seventh tree always died no matter how often it was replanted. Let’s hope its wood went to good use in boat-building.
Even in Scotland, the Scots Pine is not as widespread as it once was, writes Gabrielle Hatfield, and only remnants of its natural pine forests remain in the Highlands.
While the tree is still valued for its fine-grained wood, cones, and refreshing resins and oils, Hatfield reminds us that even walking through a pine forest is “undoubtedly good for the soul”.
The pine was worshipped in the same way as many other types of trees by different cultures, including the ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans and Germanic peoples, and linked to the wider folklore of firs and conifers.
Pinaceae.
This tall tree has a straight, cylindrical unbranched trunk with a conical crown. Pines grow up to 118 ft. The needles are arranged in bunches of twisted pairs along the twigs. The leaves, or needles, are grey-green or blue-green. The flowers are orange and scented, and the female flowers develop into green cones.
Evergreen. Native.
Populates mountain regions, woods and forests.
Seeds, young shoots, flowers (male), bark.
Throughout the year.
In many Mediterranean countries, pine has long been considered an edible tree. Its young shoots and male flowers were eaten as vegetables, and the seeds were eaten raw or as a condiment.
In eastern Europe, the young shoots and soft inner bark were harvested to grind into ‘famine bread’ during times of scarcity.
Pine nuts are a traditional ingredient in pesto sauce. These versatile seeds can be eaten raw as a snack or added to many sweet and savoury dishes.
Try adding pine nuts to soups and stews, roasting with vegetables or meat dishes, or baking in puddings, pastries and cakes.
Pine needles can be infused in olive oil to make an aromatic drizzling oil for meat dishes.
Young pine needles have a lemony flavour and can be chopped and added to dishes as a seasoning.
An invigorating tea can be brewed from pine needles and sweetened with honey.
All pine nuts are nutritious, although the nutrient content varies according to species. On average, the kernels contain 40–60% unsaturated fat and 12–30% protein.
Pine pollen, gathered from the cones, is rich in oils and protein. It was once cooked and eaten by the early inhabitants of Ireland.
Is it all that surprising that pine is a remedy for breathing, given the fresh mountain air in which it grows?
Since classical times, pine has been a cure for cleansing the lungs and easing respiratory ailments. In the past, the young shoots were also used as cough medicine.
The smell of pine is still recommended today to relieve colds, coughs, and lung complaints or infections. The tree was often planted around chest hospitals thanks to its reputation for bringing a breath of fresh air.
A pillow filled with pine needles would ease chestiness and bring a good night’s sleep.
There are other uses for pine wood other than making furniture. In pastimes, pine was used for brewing beer and ale. For example, Pine chips helped stop the ale from turning sour.
The essential oil of pine has also been used as a flavouring ingredient in soft and alcoholic drinks and added to frozen dairy foods and baked goods.
A vanilla-type fragrance may be obtained as a byproduct of resins from the pulpwood.
The essential oil of pine may irritate mucous membranes and skin, increasing spasms in people who suffer from bronchial asthma or children with whooping cough.
Pine may also affect blood sugar levels and may not be suitable for diabetics.
Pine safety has not been established in pregnancy or breastfeeding and may be best avoided at these times.
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Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s Generous Nature: The Past and Present Uses of Wild Plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
Rock Samphire has been regularly consumed as part of a traditional Mediterranean diet.
It’s time to bring this delicious vegetable back into our kitchens and dining rooms.
Since ancient times Rock Samphire, also known as Sea Fennel, has been extolled as fine food.
One Greek legend mentioned it as one of the vegetables served to Theseus by Hekate.
Apiaceae.
A smooth, fleshy, much, branched plant with 2-3 ternate leaves; compound, many rayed umbels of white to yellow-green flowers; and short, smooth fruit.
Perennial. Native.
Rocky coasts and seacliffs.
Leaves, flowers, seeds.
March, May, June, July, August, September, October, and December.
The leaves are rich in phenolic acids, easily absorbed through the intestinal walls. This makes the leaves very beneficial antioxidants and helps prevent free-radical damage to cells.
Traditionally the leaves were picked in May and made into a delicious pickle.
In many countries, the leaves are used in soups, sauces and salads.
The often-overlooked seeds are great in cheese dishes, and I use the seeds as part of my wild spice mix.
Very rich in vitamins A, C, B2, and B15, amino acids, and minerals.
Rock Samphire is known to contain about thirty essential oils, such as gamma terpins (found in citrus fruits), sabinene (found in carrots), beta phellandrenes (aniseed, celery, fennel) and methylthymol (Thyme).
The plant isn’t used that much these days in herbal medicine.
Traditionally it was meant to be a good diuretic and was often prescribed as a treatment for obesity.
It is considered excellent for curing flatulence and as a digestive remedy.
It was also a treatment for kidney stones.
A decoction of aerial parts harvested before fructification has been used against inflammations of the urinary tract and prostate.
Considered safe.
Cornara, L. et al. (2009) Traditional Uses of Plants in the Eastern Riviera (liguria, Italy). Journal of Ethnopharmacology. [Online] 125 (1), 16–30.
Renna, M. (2018) Reviewing the Prospects of Sea Fennel (Crithmum maritimum L.) as Emerging Vegetable Crop. Plants. [Online] 792.
“Hazel was one of the first trees to colonise the land after the end of the last Ice Age,” writes Gabrielle Hatfield, “and for a great period of time it would have been one of the most abundant tree species.”
Little wonder the hazel tree has become deeply entrenched in our ancient history, beliefs and customs.
Hazel forests provided materials for making houses, fences, furniture, baskets and tools.
Its charcoal gave early people the thrill of gunpowder. The nuts have provided a valuable source of sustenance probably since prehistory.
People told epic stories about the tree and its fruit (hazelnuts) from ancient Greece to Medieval Europe, and it had a magical reputation in many traditions.
Yet, for all its vaunted power, in the language of flowers, Hazel signifies reconciliation and peace.
The Hazel tree has provided people with food to eat, flowers to heal, and wood to build for many centuries.
Corylus avellana
Betulaceae
This attractive tree grows up to 6–12 m. Its bark is smooth, reddish-brown and peeling, and the leaves are roundish, downy and toothed. The male flowers are one to four pendulous catkins, and the female flowers are in erect, short spikes with red styles. The roundish seeds are enclosed within large, fused bracts.
Deciduous. Native.
Native to Europe, Asia, Iran; naturalised in British Columbia, Balkans and Turkey; introduced to North America.
Nuts, leaves, catkins, flowers.
Spring, Summer, Autumn.
Hazelnuts have been an essential part of human diets since the Stone Age. Archaeological excavations in Flanders, Belgium, uncovered evidence that Stone Age people, around c13,000 years ago, roasted hazelnuts to store over winter.
Today, hazelnuts are a world food crop grown commercially in many countries, including Turkey, Spain, Italy and the US.
You are probably familiar with hazelnut chocolate spreads like Nutella and hazelnuts in pralines and chopped hazelnuts for biscuits, cakes, pastries, desserts and sweets.
The leaves of the tree have provided a source of sustenance too. In the 15th century, Hazel leaves made noteye – a spicy pork stew.
People ground Hazel leaves to make flour for biscuits and bread in 18th-century Scotland.
In Slovakia, dried catkins were ground into flour at the beginning of the 19th century.
According to some sources, hazelnuts contain 15% protein and are rich (60%) in fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, such as vitamins E and B (particularly B6), zinc, iron, calcium, potassium, selenium and magnesium.
The flowers (catkins) were once drunk as tea for colds and flu.
A decoction of the bark can be taken for fever, and the leaves prescribed for diarrhoea.
People use the bark to treat cuts and boils. Likewise, the ash of burned Hazel can treat burns.
Hazel leaves stimulate blood circulation and bile secretion and are used in remedies for liver or gall bladder complaints.
The bark, leaves, flowers, catkins and nuts are all considered astringent, wound healing, blood purifying, fever-fighting, and sweat-inducing. However, the plant has not been overly used in herbal medicine through the ages.
The wood has many traditional uses, including furniture, fencing and wickerwork.
In the cosmetic industry, hazelnut oil is a nourishing ingredient in body and hand creams, lotions, soaps and face masks.
In Europe, hazelnuts are a frequent cause of food allergies, unsurprising given the vast foodstuffs that include hazelnuts, hazel kernels and hazel oil.
Allergies to hazelnut start at a young age and can be severe.
People who suffer from nut allergies should avoid hazelnuts, nuts, and nut oil products.
Cleene, M. de & Lejeune, M. C. (2002) Compendium of Symbolic and Ritual Plants in Europe. Ghent: Man & Culture.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s Herbal: The Secret History of British Plants. London: Penguin.
Lim, T. K. (2012) Edible Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Plants: Volume 1, Fruits. Dordrecht: Springer.
Luczaj, L. (2012) Wild Food Plant Use in 21 St Century Europe, the Disappearance of Old Traditions and the Search for New Cuisines Involving Wild Edibles. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae. [Online] 81 (4), 245–255.
Mabey, R. & Blamey, M. (1974) Food for Free. London: Collins.
Mac Coitir, N. et al. (2015) Ireland’s Trees: Myths, Legends and Folklore.
Sea Purslane is a slow-growing shrub belonging to the goosefoot family and found in salt marshes and muddy beaches. Its thick, succulent leaves have a crunchy texture and are flavoured by the natural saltiness of the sea.
Atriplex is one of the names the Roman physician Pliny (23–79AD) gave to plants and is derived from the Greek phrase ‘not to flourish’. However, what he meant by assigning this name to sea purslane is uncertain.
Portulacoides seems equally obscure, for it means resembling the purslane plant.
The origin of the common name purslane is a greater mystery still. The English naturalist William Turner (1509/10–1568) called the plant purcellaine and in the Grete Herball of 1516, it is listed as procelayne.
Atriplex portulacoides
Amaranthaceae
The tiny flowers grow in clusters of yellow-green spikes amid downy oval-point leaves and purplish-coloured stems. This shrubby plant creates grey-green foliage.
Native. Perennial. Evergreen.
Sea purslane prefers salt marshes and muddy shores.
Leaves, seed.
Right through the year.
As a seaside plant, Sea Purslane makes an excellent pickle, much like the commercially used samphire.
The crunchy, salty leaves make a tasty addition to salads, stir-fries or fish dishes.
The plant can be cooked as a vegetable or potherb or boiled and served similarly to French beans.
There is little information available on the nutritional content of Sea Purslane.
Sea Purslane gained a reputation in folk medicine as a remedy for female-related complaints such as menstrual problems, uterine disorders.
However, there are few records of its use, and people may have substituted it in favour of more effective plants.
You should thoroughly wash the plant before use. Sea Purslane may best be avoided during pregnancy or when breastfeeding.
Mabey, R. & Blamey, M. (1974) Food for Free. London: Collins.
Sousa, A. I. et al. (2008) Heavy metal accumulation in Halimione portulacoides: intra- and extra-cellular metal binding sites. Chemosphere. [Online] 70 (5), 850–857.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s Generous Nature: The Past and Present Uses of Wild Plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
Home > Plants > Himalayan balsam
The transportation of seeds or whole plants is an offence under the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019 in England and Wales and Section 14AA of the Wildlife and Countryside Act in Scotland. This means that no seeds or plants should be removed from the site where they currently grow, and sowing seeds or planting elsewhere either deliberately or accidentally would be a particularly serious offence. – Curtis Wright (phone: 07920 516559. email: curtis.wright@apha.gov.uk)
When a beekeeper opens the hive to see that many honeybee workers bear a strange white stripe, he knows that the colony has been foraging on Himalayan Balsam.
The plant tempts the honeybee with its sweet nectar and provides a rich crop in summer. But as the insect crawls inside the flower, its sticky stamen leaves a white stripe on the bee’s thorax.
Often seen as an invasive species, Geoffrey Grigson generously describes the arrival of Himalayan Balsam in the UK:
“Introduced in 1839, it was cultivated at first as a greenhouse annual by gardeners who never imagined the career ahead of it.“
Today, this native Indian plant may be a familiar sight along rivers and stream banks.
Impatiens glandulifera
Balsaminaceae
The prolific flowers of Himalayan balsam are displayed as pink to purple on thick, fleshy, red stems, with fruits later appearing as a capsule. The leaves are dark green and lance-shaped.
Annual. Introduced.
Himalayan Balsam is thoroughly naturalised in the UK and comfortably at home on borders, river and stream banks.
Seeds.
July, August, September.
The seeds can be eaten raw and taste like nuts.
Not known.
The flowers have cooling properties, and the leaves have been used to soothe burns. In addition, the seeds are diuretic, and the root juice treats hematuria (blood in the urine).
A varnish can be made from the seeds.
The plant is exceptionally high in calcium oxalates.
Bennet, S. (1991) Food from Forests. Dehradun, India: Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education.
Mahajan, V. et al. (n.d.) Ethnobotanical inventory on medicinal plants of North Western Himalayas. Journal of Krishi Vigyan. 6.
National Institute of Science Communication (New Delhi, I. (2000) The Useful Plants of India. New Delhi: National Institute of Science Communication, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research.
Negi, P. S. & Subramani, S. P. (n.d.) Wild Edible Plant Genetic Resources for Sustainable Food Security and Livelihood of Kinnaur District, Himachal Pradesh, India. 12.
Quattrocchi, U. (2016) CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology (5 Volume Set). CRC Press.
Szewczyk, K. et al. (2016) Polyphenols from Impatiens (Balsaminaceae) and their antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Industrial Crops and Products.
Watt, G. & India. (1889) A Dictionary of the Economic Products of India. Calcutta: Printed by the Superintendent of Government Printing.
Orpine is from the Latin verb sedeo, which means to sit. A reference to how the plant squats on rocks etc.
The species name comes from Telephus who was the son of Heracles and Auge in Greek mythology.
The name Orpine comes from a yellow arsenic sulfide known as orpiment as it was the name ascribed to the yellow flowered species before being transferred to the pink flowered variety.
It was also called ornal in the 14th century and used in various medicines.
Sedum telephium
Crassulaceae
The largest British species, growing about 2 feet high, and well distinguished by its large, broad, ovate, serrate leaves and crimson flowers.
Perennial. Native.
Hedge banks, lanes, rocky thickets, borders of fields.
Leaves.
Winter.
I find the leaves of Orpine are at their tastiest during the Winter months when they develop a tangy flavour. I suppose the tradition of eating the leaves during Winter might be the reason why it is also called Iceplant.
There is little data about the plant’s toxicity. Consult a medical professional before using as a medicinal herb.
As the cuckoo calls in late spring and early summer, so the cuckooflower’s conspicuous blooms start to appear.
Cardamine pratensis was also known as ‘water cuckoo’ or ‘wet cuckoo’, because the plant grew in damp places. Its less flattering nickname of ‘cuckoo’s spit’, which referred to the foam covering a pale green insect found on the plant, meant few children in the north of England would pick the wildflower believing that the cuckoo had spat on it.
Its other popular name, Lady’s-smock, arose because the flowers were often seen on Lady Day on 25 March.
But this is only half the story. As Geoffrey Grigson writes, the cuckooflower is a “spring flower associated with milkmaids and their smocks, the cuckoo, and the Virgin”.
While in many European countries, the plant was known as the cuckooflower, or some such other name that linked its flowering time to the cuckoo’s song, in England its ‘smock’ and ‘smick’ nicknames were “words of amorous looks and purposes”.
From the Middle Ages, the word ‘smock’ had referred to a woman’s undergarments, which by the 18th century became ‘shift’ and later, the more refined, ‘chemise’.
The word ‘smick’ had the same meaning as ‘smock’ and both carried the same derogatory innuendo, and so ‘smick-smock’ was another common name. Thus, the cuckooflower was a plant in great need of Christianising and “handing over to the Virgin”.
Richard Folkard gives a more slightly demure explanation for the name ‘Lady’s smock’, saying it was called this because of the “resemblance of its pale flowers to little smocks hung out to dry”, adding “as they used to be once a year, at that season especially”.
Brassicaceae
Cuckooflowers are dainty pink, mauve or white flowers with four overlapping petals. Long, narrow leaves can root where they touch the earth to grow new plants. The roots are small fleshy tubers with small white threads.
Perennial. Native.
Lady’s-smock/Cuckooflower prefers damp places, wet meadows, marshes, lakeshores, stream banks and riverbanks.
Flowers, stems, stalks, leaves, shoots, buds.
Spring and Summer.
Lady’s-smock/Cuckooflower has a pungent flavour, some say similar to watercress. The leaves, shoots and flower buds can be added to salads, sandwiches, sauces or served along with oil and vinegar.
Lady’s-smock/Cuckooflower has a high content of vitamin C which supports the plant’s traditional use as a treatment for scurvy.
In pastimes, Lady’s-smock/Cuckooflower was a remedy for scurvy and fevers. It was also prescribed for kidney stones, and ulcers, to aid digestion or stimulate the appetite, and as a diuretic.
New research suggests that cuckooflowers possess diverse chemical compounds, including glucosinolates, flavonoids, phenolic acids, fatty acids, amino acids and other trace minerals.
They have been shown to exhibit a wide range of actions including being antibacterial, antidiabetic, antifungal, anti-infective, antiviral and antioxidant. This suggests that the plant has a huge potential for other untapped uses.
There is little information about the side effects of taking cuckooflower as a food or medicine, but this is not absolute proof of its safety. Consult with a medical professional before use during pregnancy or when breastfeeding, or when taking for a specific condition.
Montaut, S. & Bleeker, R. S. (2011) Cardamine Sp. – a Review on Its Chemical and Biological Profiles. Chemistry & Biodiversity. [Online] 8 (6), 955–975.
Sturtevant, E. L. (1972) Sturtevant’s Edible Plants of the World. New York: Dover Publications.
Watts, D. (2007) Dictionary of Plant Lore. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Home > Plants > Black mustard
Black Mustard is an intrepid plant that has trekked its way across the world and is now cultivated in many countries including England, France, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Portugal, Holland, Finland, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, China, India, South Africa, and in the Middle East.
The plant is thought to have been introduced to Britain in 1720, but it may have been known as a condiment in eastern parts of the Roman Empire, according to an Edict on Maximum Prices issued by Roman Emperor Diocletian in 301 AD.
The name mustard is thought to derive from the Latin mustem, meaning ‘must’ (fermenting grape juice), and ardens, meaning ‘burning’ and referring to the hotness of the plant.
Brassicaceae
Yellow cross-shaped flowers atop stalks with bluish-green to grass-green leaves that are long and spear-shaped attached to clasping stems.
Annual. Thought to originate in the Mediterranean and near East, now widespread through Europe, western Asia, North Africa, and North America; cultivated in Nepal.
Prefers to grow along roadsides, fields, farmlands, and riverside meadows.
Seeds, leaves, flowers.
March, April, May, June, September, October, December.
Black mustard was known to the Egyptians and Greeks as a plant similar to spinach and for its flavoursome seeds.
The Romans are credited with making black mustard into a sauce, and also for using the coarse herb as a pickling spice and table condiment.
In Medieval England, mustard was used to flavour a sauce of honey and olive oil that was drizzled over meat dishes.
Pungent and spicy, black pepper seeds are a common seasoning for pickles, sausages and sauerkraut (pickled white cabbage).
The seeds can be ground into a mustard powder which is a popular ingredient of curry powders in Eastern cooking.
The young shoots or leaves can be tossed in salads and eaten raw or cooked as a potherb. The flowering tops can be cooked and used in recipes like broccoli.
Nutritionally, Black Mustard has potent antioxidant activity, which can help to reduce the incidences of many chronic diseases when included as part of a balanced diet.
Studies have shown B. nigra packs an incredible 97 mg of vitamin C per 100 g, while it doesn’t skimp on other nutrients either.
The fresh weight of 100 g plant material contains 183 mg calcium, 50 mg phosphorus, 3 mg iron and 15 mg fibre.
Hippocrates (460–370 BC), a Greek physician who was hailed as the father of medicine, wrote about the medicinal actions of Black Mustard in 450 BC. The plant was used by the ancient Greeks and by the Chinese for thousands of years in food and medicine.
Early herbal texts recommend mustard for treating a wide range of conditions from alopecia and epilepsy to toothache and snakebites.
The seeds were thought to be good for lethargy, stomach complaints and as a blood purifier. Mustard poultices, or ‘plasters’, have long been used to treat rheumatism and sciatica.
While Black Mustard is not native to North America, the American Indians used it as a medicinal plant such as grinding the seeds into a snuff for head colds.
The Mohegans used the herb to treat headaches and toothache. It was also adopted by early settlers into an ointment for rheumatic pain.
Mexican Indians used mustard oil as a children’s cough remedy by rubbing it on the chest and covering with a flannel cloth.
In other uses, Black Mustard oil has been employed in soap-making. The oil is also used in commercial cat and dog repellants.
Mustard plants are grown for green manure, which grows quickly and provides a bulk agent to add to soil at around eight weeks; although gardeners should be aware that mustard manure may encourage pests and diseases of the cabbage family.
Black Mustard is a powerful-acting plant and may cause irritation internally to the gut or externally to skin. Use in moderation.
Couplan, F. (1998) The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America. New Canaan: Keats Pub.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants. Vista: Kampong Publications.
Karalliedde, L. et al. (2008) Traditional Herbal Medicines: A Guide to Their Safer Use. London: Hammersmith.
Kuhnlein, H. V. & Turner, N. J. (1991) Traditional Plant Foods of Canadian Indigenous Peoples: Nutrition, Botany, and Use. Food and nutrition in history and anthropology v. 8. Philadelphia: Gordon and Breach.
Lentini, F. & Venza, F. (2007) Wild Food Plants of Popular Use in Sicily. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. [Online] 315.
Lim, T. K. (2012) Edible Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Plants. Vol. 4: Fruits. Dordrecht: Springer.
Watts, D. (2007) Dictionary of Plant Lore. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
A familiar sight in fields, the Oxeye Daisy is found throughout Britain, Europe and Russian Asia. When it was introduced to North America, the plant spread so rapidly that North Carolina adopted it as the state flower.
Its former genus name, Chrysanthemum, derives from the Greek chrisos (golden) and anthos (flower).
The specific name – oxeye – means ‘white flower’. Today Leucathemum vulgare is more commonly used: leucanthemum meaning ‘white’, referring to the flowers and derived from the Greek leucomo.
The name ‘daisy’, in general, comes from ‘day’s eye’ because the flower closes at night. Moon daisy and dog daisy are more authentic names for oxeye daisy, says Geoffrey Grigson, and that “oxeye daisy, began as a book name in the sixteenth century, because this plant appeared to be the bouthalmon of Dioscorides”.
Compositae
The familiar sight of yellow-centred, white-petalled flowers are recognisable throughout the British Isles.
The leaves are dark green and spoon-shaped with rounded teeth at the edges.
The stem is hard, wiry, slightly furrowed and branched, with a creeping root structure.
Native to Europe and Asia, the plant is naturalised in North America.
Found widely throughout Britain and Europe, it prefers fields, roadsides, lawns and most grassy places, particularly where there are rich soils.
Leaves, stem, flowers.
February, March, April, May, June, July and December.
The plant makes a palatable salad vegetable. The petals, stem and leaves can be eaten raw in salads or sandwiches or added to soups and stews.
The plant can be bitter and it is recommended that the youngest specimens are picked and added sparingly to salads or other dishes like omelettes.
The young shoots and buds can be eaten lightly steamed for an aromatic flavour.
The flower heads can also be used for decorating salads and other dishes.
The leaves are thought to be high in vitamins A and C, betacarotene, riboflavin, niacin and potassium, but low in carbohydrates; the petals as also high in betacarotene and niacin.
Another name in England for the plant was bruise wort because the crushed leaves were applied to heal bruises.
Its abundance across the British Isles had led to its use for many ailments including coughs, chills, boils, jaundice, wounds, tuberculosis and sore eyes.
While oxeye daisy can be eaten as a hiker’s snack, it is advised not to eat too many of the yellow centre of the flower as it may cause indigestion. Consuming very large amounts of oxeye daisy can cause sickness.
I no longer recommend this plant be served to the public.
This plant is not for beginners. Never eat raw. Always wear gloves when gathering.
Please read the important Safety Notes below.
Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) has enjoyed a reputation as both an important wild vegetable and a noxious weed.
The common name hogweed refers to its popular use as fodder for livestock, particularly pigs, which might in part be due to its abundance in the countryside.
Phoebe Lankester (1825–1900), an English student of plant lore, wrote:
“The leaves are collected and given to pigs, who quickly fatten upon them; hence the plant is called Hogweed.”
It is also a popular plant for insects, and its flowers are known to attract around 118 different insect visitors.
The plant’s other well-known name of cow’s parsnip was invented by William Turner (1775–1851) who wrote:
“It may be called in Englishe Cow-persnepe or rough Persnepe”.
Apiaceae
Umbrella-like clusters of dirty white or pink flowers with bright green leaves. The hairy covering of the leaves are said to be a defence against insects. The stem is also hairy, hollow and deeply grooved. The reddish roots have an aromatic scent.
Perennial/Biennial. Native.
Native to Europe, Asia and North America.
Roots, stem, shoots and leaves.
January, March, April, May, July, August, September, October, November.
The whole plant can be boiled and eaten as a vegetable or potherb, in particular the leaves and shoots, which are said to taste like asparagus.
The leaves can be fried, or braised, in butter and become crispy as the plant sugars caramelise.
Older leaves can be chopped up and used to make a stock, or to add flavour to dishes in the same way as bay leaves.
The young shoots also can be fried in butter or boiled for a light supper.
The flower buds can be cooked and served like broccoli with butter or white sauce.
The seeds have an orange-cardamom flavour used to spice puddings and syrups, or added to bean dishes when green.
The roots are also strongly aromatic and can be prepared as a condiment or flavouring to other dishes.
Hogweed contains 105 mg of vitamin C per 100 g of fresh plant, in this case the leaves, while also containing 3.25 g carotene.
As an energy-sustaining vegetable, the leaves contain (per 100 g) 5.31 g protein, 6.42 g carbohydrates and 50 g calories.
Hogweed was a folk remedy for many common complaints, such as jaundice, warts and sores.
The juice was applied to warts and the pollen was dusted on sores.
The seeds and roots were also boiled and drunk to treat liver problems and jaundice.
In Irish folk medicine, hogweed was a traditional remedy to stop bleeding.
The hollow stems were once used as a cigarette substitute and smoked by gypsies.
Do not confuse Common Hogweed, Heracleum sphondylium with Giant Hogweed, Heracleum mantegazzianum.
Hogweed is a member of the celery family, so if you have an allergy to celery tread very cautiously.
Never eat this plant raw. Always cook it until soft.
Hogweed is known to cause photosensitive skin reactions, such as blistering, because of the plant’s furanocoumarins.
Over the years I have taught tens of thousands of people online and offline.
I have heard enough reports of people having serious reactions to eating Hogweed, like anaphylactic shock, that…
I no longer recommend Hogweed be served to the public.
Some texts list the plant as an emmenagogue, meaning it promotes menstrual bleeding, thus, it is best avoided during pregnancy.
Allen, D. E. & Hatfield, G. (2004) Medicinal Plants in Folk Tradition: An Ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland. Portland: Timber Press.
Couplan, F. (1998) The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America. New Canaan: Keats Pub.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s Herbal: The Secret History of British Plants. London: Penguin.
Irving, M. (2009) The Forager Handbook: A Guide to the Edible Plants of Britain. London: Ebury.
Pieroni, A. (ed.) (2014) Ethnobotany and Biocultural Diversities in the Balkans: Perspectives on Sustainable Rural Development and Reconciliation. New York: Springer.
Vickery, R. (1997) A Dictionary of Plant-Lore. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s Generous Nature: The Past and Present Uses of Wild Plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
There are around 400 species of violet found in the world, many of which are economically important.
With so many species to distinguish between and so many popular names to identify them, there is often much confusion around the description of ‘violet’ in literature.
For instance, the purple-coloured varieties of the flower can be distinguished from the rest by the Greek name ion, from which the purple colour ianthine is derived.
Another explanation for the name Io is the Greek myth of Zeus, or Jupiter, and his lover Io.
The king of the gods changed Io into a cow to hide her from his jealous wife, Hera or Juno, and then created violets as food for the cow.
For this reason, the violet is sometimes known as Jupiterbloem or ‘Jupiter’s flower’ in Flemish.
Geoffrey Grigson suggests that its scent really pulled the violet out of obscurity. He writes:
“Scent suggested sex, so the violet was a flower of Aphrodite and also of her son Priapus, the deity of gardens and generation…A flower so deeply and finely scented must also have its virtues in physic.”
Violaceae
Nearly all violets have five-petalled flowers. The flowers of V. odorata are sweetly fragrant and deep purple. The leaves are usually dark green, oval-shaped and slightly hairy. The creeping roots are short and stout.
Perennial. Native.
Violets are a popular flower in cottage gardens. The plant also favours hedgerows and woodlands.
Flowers and leaves.
January, February, March, and April.
Violet flowers can be crystallised and used as edible decorations. The flowers also make a pretty garnish sprinkled over salads, omelettes, cakes and desserts.
Violet tea is easily made by pouring hot water over the petals or flower heads.
The chopped leaves can be added to salads and soups, dipped in batter, and fried as an appetiser.
The leaves also make a tasty sandwich with bread and butter.
Violet leaves are high in vitamin C and contain vitamin A and other minerals and saponins. Research suggests the plant also has significant antioxidant activity.
Because of their expectorant and stimulating effects, Violet root is used in remedies for coughs, colds, bronchitis and sore throats.
The root is also used to make eyewashes and mouthwashes and to treat thrush.
Violet leaf tea can also be drunk for coughs.
The leaves are considered to be antiseptic and can be taken internally as tea or externally as a compress.
V. odorata is one of the most economically important species of violet. It is grown commercially in southern France to produce essential oils to manufacture perfume, flavouring and cosmetics.
Around 100 g of flowers are used to produce 31 g of essential oil of violet by the process of macerating the petals in hot fat.
About 1000 g of violet leaves produce 400 g of violet absolute.
The absolute and essential oil has various uses in perfumes and cosmetics for hair and skin.
Several sources suggest that the overuse of violet can be harmful; thus, it is a herb to use in moderation. Side effects may include vomiting. In addition, it’s thought best to avoid using violet during pregnancy and when breastfeeding.
Cleene, M. de & Lejeune, M. C. (2002) Compendium of symbolic and ritual plants in Europe. Ghent: Man & Culture.
Grzeszczuk, M. et al. (2016) Biological value of various edible flower species. Acta Scientiarum Polonorum Hortorum Cultus. 15 (2), 109–119.
Karalliedde, L. et al. (2008) Traditional herbal medicines: a guide to their safer use. London: Hammersmith.
Kunkel, G. (1984) Plants for human consumption: an annotated checklist of the edible phanerogams and ferns. Koenigstein: Koeltz Scientific Books.
Le Strange, R. (1977) A history of herbal plants. London: Angus and Robertson.
Lim, T. K. (2012) Edible medicinal and non-medicinal plants: volume 1, fruits. Dordrecht: Springer.
Rohde, E. S. (1921) A garden of herbs. New York: Philip Lee Warner.
Runyon, L. (2007) The essential wild food survival guide. Shiloh: Wild Food Company.
Uphof, J. C. T. (1959) Dictionary of economic plants. New York: H.R. Engelmann.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
A recognisable flower of the hedgerows, the flowers of Red Campion (Silene dioica) were said to resemble buttons.
The Latin name Silene comes from the drunken Greek god Silenus, although the plant was considered anything but merry in folklore.
Red Campion had a dubious reputation in some parts of Britain, where people believed picking the flower would bring bad luck.
Children believed they would be killed by lightning if they picked the flowers.
In Wales, the plant was known as snakebite and picking it was thought to lead to getting bitten by snakes or causing snakes to come into the house.
Red Campion, like bluebells, had associations with fairies or goblins and their mischief
Silene dioica
Caryophyllaceae
The varied species of campion display small red, pink, and white flowers with various attractive leaves and stems.
Red Campion has small button-like pink flowers with short round green leaves and long erect stems.
Perennial. Native.
Red Campion is found in hedgerows and roadsides in Britain, Europe and Asia.
Leaves, flowers, shoots.
Red Campion leaves are an ingredient of pistic, a traditional spring dish eaten in northern Italy.
Red Campion wine was made in 20th-century Britain by boiling oranges, lemons, red campion flowers and leaves with barley and sugar.
The young shoots can be blanched to reduce their bitterness and made into a puree similar to spinach.
You can add the leaves of the plant to various dishes, including salads, soups, stews, sauces, herbal cheeses and even as a substitute for asparagus.
Unknown
Campions (of any species) were used to treat internal bleeding, kidney disease, sores and ulcers, and stings.
Healers also used it to treat warts and corns.
In Spain and Italy, the plant was used for digestive disorders.
There is little information about the side effects of using Silene species during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
Couplan, F. (1998) The encyclopedia of edible plants of North America. New Canaan: Keats Pub.
Culpeper, N. & Foster, S. (2019) Culpeper’s complete herbal.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants. Vista: Kampong Publications.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s herbal: the secret history of British plants. London: Penguin.
Luczaj, L. & Pieroni, A. (2016) ‘Nutritional ethnobotany in Europe: from emergency foods to healthy folk cuisines and contemporary foraging trends’, in María de Cortes Sánchez-Mata & Javier Tardío (eds.) Mediterranean Wild Edible Plants. New York: Springer. pp. 33–56.
Turner, N. J. et al. (2011) Edible and tended wild plants, traditional ecological knowledge and agroecology. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences. [Online] 30 (1–2), 198–225.
Watts, D. (2007) Dictionary of plant lore. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Under Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1985 and amendments) it is an offence to deliberately or accidentally introduce this plant into the wild. Make certain when harvesting, to use suitable containers that do not allow any part of the plant to accidentally fall out when transporting back home. And dispose of any unused material safely (not your own compost bin, or green bin, instead use black bin). – Mark Duffell from Arvensis Ecology
Three-cornered Garlic, also known as Three-cornered Leek, is a grassy plant that yields a garlicky smell when crushed. Its flower stem when cross-sectioned appears triangular leading to the name Three-cornered Leek.
While it has fallen short as a medicinal herb in traditional remedies, it makes an interesting culinary ingredient.
Amaryllidaceae
The flower stem when cross-sectioned appears triangular – a characteristic that has led to the common name ‘three cornered’.
The plant reaches up to 45 cm in height with drooping white bells marked with green and long, triangular leaves with a ridge that resembles the keel of a ship.
Each plant has around three to four leaves that do not surround the flower stalk.
Perennial. Naturalised.
It grows along walls, grass verges, banks, bracken, and churchyards. It is attractive to the landscape but it may be considered an invasive plant.
Leaves, flowers, seeds, root.
Spring.
Chef Paul Wedgwood includes the plant in his Garlic Mustard vichyssoise, served at Wedgwood The Restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland, which gives you some idea of the extraordinary flavour of this wild edible.
The young, tender leaves can be added to salads in place of spring onion for their milder oniony flavour and the flowers added as a garnish. The leaves can also be fried, boiled and served with cream sauce, or used in leek soup.
There is little data available on the nutrient value of Three-cornered Leek, see medicinal uses below.
While Alliums like garlic are often added to the diet for their beneficial effect on blood cholesterol and for use as a digestive tonic, Three-cornered Leek is rarely mentioned in past or present herbalism.
The plant’s juice is said to repel moles and insects.
The plant may cause contact dermatitis.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants. Vista: Kampong Publications.
Irving, M. (2009) The forager handbook: a guide to the edible plants of Britain. London: Ebury.
Quattrocchi, U. (2012) CRC world dictionary of medicinal and poisonous plants: common names, scientific names, eponyms, synonyms, and etymology (5 Volume Set). Boca Raton: CRC press.
With around forty-five species of elm found in forests in the northern hemisphere to the tropical mountains of Asia, we’re spoilt for choice. Here, I focus on the Wych Elm.
In Gerard’s time, elm trees were common in all parts of Britain. Many elm species, particularly European and American, have declined due to Dutch elm disease.
As a creation tree in Germanic mythology, the king of the gods, Odin or Woden, created the first woman, Embla, from the elm, and the first man, Ask, from the ash.
The tree was associated with fertility as well as creation. A guardian tree was grown on farms in Sweden, and pregnant women would hug the tree to ensure an easy delivery.
In Ireland, a man could be cured of impotency by striking him with an elm wand carved with his name in Ogham letters.
In the Ogham alphabet, Wych Elm is the third vowel and signifies the letter Ur, meaning ‘moist’.
Witches seemed to have good cause to be wary of trees in times past, and the elm was no exception to this rule. In Europe, the elm was used to scare away evil and supernatural beings.
It was even said that you could beat the devil himself with an elm stick. An account from 1908 says that the Slovakian night watch carried halberds – a pole weapon – with an elm handle to drive off evil spirits.
The Wych Elm provided wood for conjurers to make their wands and twigs for the superstitious to sew into their clothing or fix to horses’ bridles as a protection charm.
Most importantly, the elm could protect the dairy, which was always at risk as far as witches were concerned. A twig of Wych Elm in the pocket was enough for a dairy farmer to ensure his cows would produce good butter.
Alternatively, a sprig of elm was put in the butter churn to ensure the milk would turn. In Scotland, this was done to ensure the fairies would not steal the butter. In Sicily, elm branches were once fastened to fig trees to protect the fig crops.
Ulmus glabra
Ulmaceae
Elm trees have rough and rugged bark. Their leaves are roughly oval-shaped, sometimes serrated.
The small flowers appear reddish or purplish-brown. The seeds are centred on a papery flat disc.
The Wych Elm is indigenous to Britain, and many other elm species (probably not indigenous) are found in Britain, as well as in Europe, Asia and North Africa.
A tree of woodlands and hedgerows, elms are also found in parks.
Leaves, bark, flowers.
A deciduous tree flowering in spring.
Elm bark has been ground to make meal for bread in countries like Ireland and Norway, although this was considered an emergency food in times of famine.
The mucilaginous inner bark can be added as a thickener for soups. European children once knew the elm as ‘chewbark’ because they enjoyed chewing the clammy inner bark.
The young, slightly bitter leaves are an edible salad green, and the developing, aromatic-flavoured fruits can be eaten raw or added to salads.
Leaves and flowers can be cooked as a vegetable or added to soups and stews.
Elm leaves have also been brewed to make tea or as an adulterant to tea.
There is little information on the nutrient value of elm; however, leaves and inner bark are known to be astringent and may be drunk as a healthy tonic.
Elm has been praised since ancient times as a wound healer. This may be due to the astringent properties of the leaves and bark.
The inner bark was also taken internally for diarrhoea, rheumatism or as a mouthwash for ulcers.
Elm wood is hard and durable, and particularly resistant to water. This has made it useful for ship-building, canal-lock gates, drainage and water pipes, and so on.
The ‘twisting grain’ makes elm wood a good choice for making chairs because it is unlikely to crack and splinter.
Other popular uses for elm were furniture-making, wood turnery, wheel stocks, rigging blocks, pulleys, coffins (particularly because of the wood’s resistance to water), shoes, pipes, egg cups, bowls, cheese moulds, candlesticks and rifle butts.
Information on elm’s contraindications, side effects and toxicity as a medicinal or food plant is lacking.
Cleene, M. de & Lejeune, M. C. (2002) Compendium of symbolic and ritual plants in Europe. Ghent: Man & Culture.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s herbal: the secret history of British plants. London: Penguin.
Sturtevant, E. L. (1972) Sturtevant’s edible plants of the world. New York: Dover Publications.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
The birch tree is the ‘lady of the forest’ with its silvery bark, elegant white boughs and delicate leaves.
The Latin name for the tree is from the Celtic betul, and the history of its name may date back to the Sanskrit bhurga, meaning ‘a tree whose bark is used for writing upon’.
In the language of flowers a birch meant modesty and grace. It is the first tree to bud in spring in northern Europe, which links it to the cuckoo’s call and the return of spring. Slavic people saw the birch as a harbinger of spring and for them the tree symbolised eternity.
Dedicated to the moon, or sometimes to both the sun and the moon, because of its iridescent appearance, the peeling curly bark is actually highly flammable and has been used in torches. Thus the birch has long been associated with rituals and beliefs surrounding light.
The Anglo-Saxon name for the tree was beorc or birce, meaning ‘white’ or ‘shining’.
There are around sixty species of birch (Betula spp.), which are widespread in the northern hemisphere with at least one species found in the Himalayas and China.
Betula pendula.
Betulaceae
This tall tree is recognisable by its smooth, shiny bark often pale or white with deep furrows in mature specimens. It can grow up to 25 m high.
The short, slender branches rise to a pyramid-like crown on younger trees and become pendulous on older trees.
The leaves are egg-shaped or triangular with toothed margins and hairy undersides.
The tiny flowers are called catkins and they bear winged seeds.
Native to Britain, Europe, north Asia, and introduced to North America.
Birch trees prefer open woodland but are also found planted in parks and ornamental gardens.
Bark, twigs, leaves, sap.
This deciduous tree buds in spring and often flowers before the leaves are out.
Like many trees, birch was a large edible plant in times of famine. The bark was stripped and ground to make meal for flour and the young leaves added to salads for a bitter, aromatic flavour. The twigs also made a quick snack for foragers.
The sap of the tree can be tapped and fermented to make drinks, vinegar or syrups. Birch sap has been popular as a springtime drink even in times of plenty.
A sugar company in Finland extract xylitol from birch sap to use as a sweetener, which contains 40% fewer calories than sugar (sucrose). Xylitol is used in diet foods, chewing gum and may help to prevent tooth decay.
Personally, I stay away from hyper processed ‘alternative’ sweeteners.
Silver birch leaves are said to contain vitamin C, flavonoids, tannins and other plant constituents.
Birch sap has long been purported to have many health-giving benefits, including being helpful for the kidneys and bladder, for rheumatism, and was considered a general tonic.
It was also believed to be a cosmetic able to restore beauty and strength. Birch sap was once prescribed for skin problems, and to remove spots and freckles.
In ancient times, birch bark was often stripped and rolled to make torches and used as a substitute to paper. Birch twigs were also used to make brooms.
Soft, pliable birch wood has had many uses including in wood-turning to make broom heads, tool handles, furniture and toys.
Few precautions are known when using birch as a wild herb or edible.
Cleene, M. de & Lejeune, M. C. (2002) Compendium of symbolic and ritual plants in Europe. Ghent: Man & Culture.
Couplan, F. (1998) The encyclopedia of edible plants of North America. New Canaan: Keats Pub.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s herbal: the secret history of British plants. London: Penguin.
Kermath, BM et al. (2013) Food plants in the americas: a survey of the domesticated, cultivated, and wild plants used for human food in north, central and south america and the caribbean.
Paine, A. (2006) The healing power of Celtic plants: their history, their use, and the scientific evidence that they work. Winchester: O Books.
Runyon, L. (2007) The essential wild food survival guide. Shiloh: Wild Food Company.
Warren, P. (2006) British native trees: their past and present uses?: including a guide to burning wood in the home. Dereham. Wildeye.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
Salad Burnet is one of the few wild species which supplies edible greenery for most of the year.
During the winter and spring months, you will frequently find new growth sprouting, and this may be used in salads, while you can add more mature leaves to soups and pottages.
The leaves have a bitter flavour reminiscent of cucumber skin.
Salad Burnet was grown and used as a foodstuff for many centuries. In addition, it has been grown in Britain as a fodder crop for cattle because it grows year-round in favourable conditions.
It also responds to being cut back by sprouting new leaves (indeed, this trick of cutting back the foliage as the plant started to produce its flower buds was the gardener’s method of keeping leaf production going).
Sanguisorba minor subsp. minor
Rosaceae
The plant grows to between 30-60 cm in height. Leaves: Ovate, serrated leaflets between 0.5-2 cm. Flowers green to dull purplish, 7-12mm.
Perennial. Native.
It likes poor, dry soil and grows well on dry chalky grassland. Common in Britain but rare in Ireland.
Leaf.
Best when the plant is starting to flower. If you regularly harvest a community, the leaves will grow throughout the year, providing an excellent salad crop even in Autumn and Winter.
Leaves are eaten in salad and added to soups and pottages. Gerard tells us that: ‘it is thought to make the heart merry and glad.’
Rutty, in 1772, mentions that the leaves were ‘put green into Wine as a cordial, and to give it a grateful taste and smell like Melon; also fresh infused, they mend stale drink’.
The bruised leaves make a tasty infused vinegar.
You can add the fresh leaves to a claret cup. A claret cup is an iced drink made from claret wine and carbonated water, often with lemon juice, brandy (or other spirits) and included fruits and sugar. They were the precursor to Pimms.
If you dry the leaves slowly, they retain their aroma and make a delightful tea.
5.65% protein, 1.23% fat, 11% carbohydrate, 1.72% ash.
Rembert Dodoens (1517-1585) recommended it as a wound healer. Gerard (1545–1612) tells us the juice can be drunk to heal internal bleeding or a decoction of powdered dry leaves in water. For external wounds, you would need to bruise the leaves before applying.
The plant, when eaten by cows, increases its milk yield.
I can find nothing specific to Sanguisorba minor, however, for Sanguisorba officinalis (Greater Burnet), it is recommended that the plant be avoided if you take quinolone antibiotics.
Bown, D. (2002) New encyclopedia of herbs and their uses. Rev. ed. London New York Munich: DK Publ.
Couplan, F. (2009) Le régal végétal: plantes sauvages comestibles. Paris: Sang de la Terre.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants. Vista: Kampong Publications.
Fleischhauer, S. G. et al. (2014) Enzyklopädie essbare Wildpflanzen: 2000 Pflanzen Mitteleuropas?; Bestimmung, Sammeltipps, Inhaltsstoffe, Heilwirkung, Verwendung in der Küche. Aarau München: AT-Verl.
Grieve, M. (1971) A modern herbal vol 1 (a-h): the medicinal, culinary, cosmetic and economic properties, cultivation and folk-lore of herbs, grasses, fungi, shrubs, & trees with all their modern scientific uses. New York: Dover Publications.
Karalliedde, L. et al. (2008) Traditional herbal medicines: a guide to their safer use. London: Hammersmith.
Mackay, J. T. (1836) Flora hibernica: comprising the flowering plants, ferns, characeæ, musci, hepaticæ, lichenes and algæ of ireland, arranged according to the natural system with a synopsis of the genera according to the linnæan system. W. Curray jun.
Maloney, B. (1972) Traditional herbal cures in county cavan. Ulster Folklife. 1866–79. Michael, P. & King, C. (2015) Edible wild plants & herbs: a compendium of recipes and remedies. Paperback edition. London: Grub Street.
Read, B. E. (1946) Famine foods listed in the Chiu huang pen tsao: giving their identity, nutritional values and notes on their preparations. Shanghai: Henry Lester Institute of Medical Research.
Rutty, J. (1772) An essay towards a natural history of the county of dublin: accomodated to the noble designs of the dublin society … W. Sleater.
Schuler, S. (1990) Simon & Schuster’s guide to herbs and spices. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
Rhus typhina
Anacardiaceae
Neophyte
Dry, rocky or gravelly soils, in old fields, clearings, roadsides, forest edges, and open woods.
Shoots. Fruit.
Summer and early Autumn.
The young shoots can be peeled and eaten raw.
The red-flame like fruit bobs can be used in drinks. Dried and crushed they make an acceptable substitute for the Middle Eastern spice known as Sumac.
The liquid extract from Staghorn Sumac lemonade can be made into jelly.
The fruits contain significant amounts of vitamin C.
Native American tribes smoked a mixture of the leaves, fruits along with other herbs and tobacco.
The sap can cause a skin rash in some people. Do not confuse with the toxic Rhus verniciflua.
Anon (n.d.) Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People – Sub- Memorial Ceremonies.
Elias, T. S. & Dykeman, P. A. (2009) Edible wild plants: a North American field guide to over 200 natural foods. New York: Sterling.
Peterson, L. & Peterson, R. T. (1978) A field guide to edible wild plants of Eastern and Central North America. The Peterson field guide series?; no. 23. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Thayer, S. (2006) The forager’s harvest: a guide to identifying, harvesting, and preparing edible wild plants. Ogema: Forager’s Harvest.
The Wild Service tree has earned its name from the Latin cervisia, because people used its small fruit in ancient times to make a fermented, beer-like liquor.
In The Complete Book of British Berries, David C Lang writes that the name service-tree derives from the Latin word for beer, cerevisia, because the Romans used the fruit of the related true-service tree (Sorbus domestica) to flavour beer.
The Wild Service tree is one of the most local and retiring of our native trees, and knowledge of the fascinating history of its fruits has only recently been rediscovered.
Richard Mabey
Mabey goes on to say that the tree is also known as the Chequers tree, which once referenced the traditional name for a pub, Chequers when the chequerboard was a symbol for an inn or tavern in Roman times.
As a native British species, the tree is now quite rare, and its presence is an indicator of ancient woodlands.
Sorbus torminalis
Rosaceae
The branches give the appearance of a tall, domed, spreading crown as the tree reaches heights of 20 m and a girth of 3 m. The bark is dark brown to pale grey and the leaves are dark green with two to five pairs of toothed pointed lobes. The small, apple- or pear-shaped berries are hard and bitter at first, until bletted in autumn frosts and become softer, sweeter and brownish-speckled in appearance.
A British native often found in ancient woodlands.
This deciduous tree is now rare in Britain. It can be found in Ash and Oak woods, it is an indicator of ancient woodlands. It favours clay or limestone soils.
Fruit.
The fruit are best picked after the first autumn frosts.
In Medieval England and Wales, when the Wild Service tree was widespread in lowland woods, the berries were used in jams, preserves and liqueurs.
In the 19th century, the fruits were sold as chequers as the tree was commonly known in the Weald of Kent.
The berries may be eaten fresh, or raw, after the first autumn frost, when overripe, or made into jams, jellies, syrups, conserves, vinegars and wines.
Sorbus fruits are an important source of vitamin C.
While the Wild Service tree has been the subject of several studies to test the antioxidant activities of the fruit, its most unique property appears to be in the fruit’s ability to inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE).
Inhibition of AChE is a potential strategy for neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Wild Service tree fruits have demonstrated sufficient antioxidant and AChE inhibitory activity, but further research will determine whether or not the fruit extracts could be used as a supplement in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
Wild Service tree is a valued hardwood in Europe. The fine-grained wood is dense and pliable. Past uses include making screws for wine presses, billiard queue sticks, musical instruments and turnery. Modern uses are largely for decorative veneers.
There is little information on the possible toxicity and side effects of eating Wild Service tree berries.
Burrows, I. (2011) Food from the wild. London: New Holland.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants. Vista: Kampong Publications.
Hasbal, G. et al. (2015) Antioxidant and antiacetylcholinesterase activities of Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz (wild service tree) fruits. Journal of Food and Drug Analysis. [Online] 23 (1), 57–62.
Lang, D. C. (1987) The complete book of British berries. London: Threshold Books.
Olszewska, M. A. (2011) In vitro antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of the inflorescences, leaves and fruits of Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz. Acta Poloniae Pharmaceutica. 68 (6), 945–953.
Vaughan, J. G. et al. (2009) The new Oxford book of food plants. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Welk, E. et al. (2016) Sorbus torminalis in Europe: distribution, habitat, usage and threats’.
Crab Apple is the awkward cousin of the cultivated apple and is often overlooked in food and medicine. However, the tree produces small, round hard fruit that makes surprisingly good jams and jellies and can be made into the popular verjuice.
Malus sylvestris
Rosaceae
A small shrub or tree of hedges and woods, a crab tree is sometimes found growing in gardens or front of houses as an ornamental tree. The pendant branches bear shoots with leaves and flowers. The leaves are dark and glossy, and the attractive white or pink flowers blossom from deeply pink-tinged buds. Clusters of crab apple blossom often attract bees in April and May. The tree yields its fruit in autumn, although crab apples are best picked after the first frost, significantly improving their acrid taste.
Native to Britain, Crab Apple trees or wildling apple trees also continue to grow wild across Europe. Several texts suggest the it was the ancestor of all cultivated apples.
Usually found in hedgerows, woods, and rocky areas, but it may also be grown as an ornamental plant.
Fruit, flowers and leaves
You can pick the leaves and flowers in April and May, the leaves perhaps earlier, to make tea or frosted decorations. The apples should be picked after the first frost in autumn, perhaps around October to November time.
Can be used as a substitute for any apple variety in a recipe, as long as the fruit is chosen well (pick a good-looking specimen), harvested at the right time, and preferably cooked rather than eaten raw in a dish or as a snack.
Crab Apple makes surprisingly good jams and jellies, and the fruit’s high pectin content means it helps set other low-pectin fruits such as strawberries into jam.
You can mix Crab Apple with wild fruits to make jellies such as rowanberries, rosehips, hawthorn and sloes. They also make pleasant fruit cheeses mixed with blackberries or other fruits.
Verjuice, made from crushed Crab Apple, is sometimes described as a ‘cider’ or ‘vinegar’, which can be used as a substitute for lemon juice when strained and left for a month. Cooks may use this ‘lemon juice’ in jellies, wines and cider, and, in combination with blackberry, a mousse and pudding.
Crab Apple is high in vitamin C. Nutritionally, most apples contain a high percentage of water from 80 to 85 per cent. The remaining 10 to 15 per cent are starches and sugars, and various other constituents. Despite their high water content, apples are rich in vitamins and are classed as an essential anti-scorbutic fruit for relieving scurvy, as well as containing organic acids, malic acid, gallic acid and various salts of potash, soda, lime, magnesium and iron.
In modern herbal medicine, Crab Apple is a cleansing tonic used to treat stomach and bowel disorders, diarrhoea, and perhaps to a lesser extent today, to treat scabies.
Eating apples is known to stimulate the digestive system and protect against constipation. In addition, the soluble fibre of the fruit helps to lower cholesterol, which is good for protecting the heart and circulation.
People who have gastric problems are often advised to start or end a meal with an apple.
Crab Apple wood has been used for furniture making, delicate wood making, set squares, and drawing instruments.
Conway warns that you should not eat apples in excess because this can cause griping abdominal pains and upset; further, he says that crab apples cause these symptoms ‘with ease’ and should not be eaten raw.
Baïracli-Levy, J. de & Wood, H. (1997) Common herbs for natural health. Woodstock, N.Y.: Ash Tree Publishing.
Cleene, M. de & Lejeune, M. C. (2002) Compendium of symbolic and ritual plants in Europe. Ghent: Man & Culture.
Conway, P. (2002) Tree medicine: a comprehensive guide to the healing power of over 170 trees. London: Piatkus.
Grieve, M. M. (1998) A modern herbal. London: Tiger Books International.
Richardson, A. T. et al. (2020) Discovery of a stable vitamin C glycoside in crab apples (Malus sylvestris). Phytochemistry. [Online] 173112297.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
Gorse is a pretty, fragrant shrub of the pea family. The native species to the British Isles is considered to be U. gallii, although U. europaeus is considered the most common in England.
While today the plant is considered a nuisance by some, it was once a valued fuel source, fodder, and many other ethnobotanical uses.
Ulex europaeus
Fabaceae
The small, bright, yellow gorse flowers have the butterfly shape of the pea family they belong to and a robust and sweet coconut smell with hints of orange or pineapple. The hairy stems form a dense, stunted, prickly shrub with spiny branches and the small leaves tend to fall off to become thread-like spines. The elastic seed vessels burst in hot weather with a crackling noise and scatter everywhere.
The following resources provide botanically accurate photos for identification of Gorse, Ulex europaeus.
Evergreen. Introduced to Britain and Ireland, originally from Europe.
Grows in waste places, heathlands, fields, mountains, marshes and bogs, and gardens.
Flowers and flower buds.
An evergreen perennial, gorse bushes may flower all year round.
There are few uses for prickly gorse as a wild edible. People once used gorse flowers to make wine and tea, and the leaf buds were used as a substitute for tea. The flower buds can be pickled in vinegar and added to salads for a tangy taste, or pickled and eaten like capers.
There is little information about the nutritional value of gorse.
In Irish folk medicine, it was widely used to treat coughs, colds, sore throats, consumption (tuberculosis), asthma, heartburn, hiccups, jaundice, heart problems, dermatitis, ringworm, swellings, and as a general tonic.
The plant has often been grown for hedging. The dense-growing shrub creates an effective barrier.
There is little information about gorse’s safety as a plant in food and medicine, and it is seldom used today for either.
Couplan, F. (1998) The encyclopedia of edible plants of North America. New Canaan: Keats Pub.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants. Vista, CA: Kampong Publications.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
Wood Avens, or herb bennet, (Geum urbanum), is a woodland member of the rose family (Rosaceae).
Curiously, the plant’s Latin name urbanum means ‘city dweller’ which is where this wild flower of hedges and woods was also once found.
The generic name Geum derives from the Greek geno meaning an agreeable fragrance.
Rosaceae
A plant with upright, hairy, branching stems bearing small, five-petalled, yellow flowers with three-lobed, greyish leaves. The round, brown seeds are spiky and the roots are aromatic and spicy.
Perennial. Native
Shaded areas, woodlands, scrub, hedgerow, roadsides, gardens
Leaves and roots.
Spring and Autumn
The roots and rhizomes are aromatic with the spicy scent of cloves. Add to flavour soups, broths, stews, sauces, fruit pies and stewed fruit. Combine the root with orange peel and add to wine or other mulled drinks, gin and beer. Alternatively, boil in milk to make an Indian-style chai tea. The leaves can also be infused to make a hot, mildly spicy cordial. The dried plant can be used as seasoning and the leaves added to spicy salads.
There is little data on the nutritional value of Wood Avens, however, the aromatic roots do contain eugenol – the main chemical constituent of clove oil, the essential oil distilled from cloves (Syzygium aromaticum).
The roots and rhizomes have been used in traditional herbal medicine for treating various problems: gastrointestinal disorders, such as diarrhoea, dyspepsia, constipation, indigestion, stomach upsets, and appetite loss; oral disease, such as throat and mouth infections; skin complaints, such as chilblains and haemorrhoids.
The herb’s aromatic roots were traditionally dried and used as a flea repellent or placed among clothes to deter moths.
Because of its high tannin content, some texts recommend that the herb is not used in large quantities. It may be safest to avoid during pregnancy or when breastfeeding.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
Richard Le Strange (1977) A history of herbal plants. London: Angus and Robertson.
Grieve, M. (1971) A modern herbal vol 1 (a-h): the medicinal, culinary, cosmetic and economic properties, cultivation and folk-lore of herbs, grasses, fungi, shrubs, & trees with all their modern scientific uses. New York: Dover Publications.
Eland, S. C. & Lucas, G. (2013) Plant biographies.
Simkova, K. & Polesny, Z. (2015) Ethnobotanical review of wild edible plants used in the Czech Republic. Journal of Applied Botany and Food Quality. 88 (1).
Couplan, F. (1998) The encyclopedia of edible plants of North America. New Canaan: Keats Pub.
Newall, C. A. et al. (1996) Herbal medicines: a guide for health-care professionals. London: Pharmaceutical Press.
Sea buckthorn is an ancient crop with modern virtues, say many researchers of ethnobotany. Its Latin name Hippophae is from the Greek ‘hippo’, meaning ‘horse’, and ‘phaos’, meaning ‘shine’.
The plant was used in ancient Greece as animal feed, particularly for horses, because it was believed to make their coats shine.
Mrs Grieve tells us that Hippophae was instead derived from ‘giving light to a horse’, referring to the plant’s alleged power to cure a horse of blindness, or ‘shining underneath’, referring to the silvery underside of the leaf.
Sea buckthorn has been used for centuries in food and medicine and has attracted scientific attention in recent years for its nutritional qualities and its potential medical applications. It has gained popularity worldwide.
Hippophae rhamnoides
Elaeagnaceae
A stocky shrub growing up to 1.9 m tall, with thorny branches densely packed with juicy, orange fruit. The leaves and narrow, lance-shaped and covered on both sides with silvery scales, and the small flowers are green.
Deciduous, British native. Widespread in Europe; two subspecies are found in Asia.
Sea buckthorn is particularly common in areas of sand hills; in Britain, the plant has been introduced to many places around the coasts of south and south-west England, Wales, Scotland, and also in the northeast and south-east of Ireland.
This Mediterranean native is found in Asia Minor, Syria and the Canary Islands, as well as being naturalised in the British Isles.
Largely the fruit, although the leaves are sometimes picked and dried to make tea.
Late summer to early spring.
The edible fruit can be eaten raw. They are aromatic, but acidic, or sour-tasting, some say like lemons.
The fruit is made into jelly, marmalade, syrups and sauces, or added to ice creams, sorbets, compotes and fruit quark. The acidic juice can be added to salad dressings or meat and fish dishes.
The fresh juice can also be preserved in honey and drunk as a tonic, or used as a sweetener for herbal teas, or a base for preserves or liqueurs. The fruit can also be pickled. The dried or ground fruit can also be sprinkled over barbecued meat.
Sea buckthorn berries are one of the richest sources of vitamin C (780 mg/100 g), according to several sources. a teaspoonful would cover a daily requirement of vitamin C for an adult. Both the berries and seed oil contain up to 70 bioactive substances respectively. Indeed, the berries are said to have a unique cocktail of components usually only found separately in plants.”
Since ancient times, it has been used for “relieving cough, aiding digestion, invigorating blood circulation, and alleviating pain”.
The cardioprotective effects of the sea buckthorn, which have only recently come to the attention of modern medicine, have been known in Tibetan medicine for thousands of years.
The plant was also used to treat stomach ache in Tibet, as well as disorders of the lung, colds, coughs, fever, inflammation, abscesses, toxicity, tumours, constipation, and gynaecological disorders. Again, many of these uses are now the subject of scientific research.
The high vitamin C content in sea buckthorn as well as its other nutritive and restorative components makes it ideal for use in cosmetics for treating various skin disorders and as an anti-ageing cosmetic.
The berries may be purgative and should not be eaten in excess. Avoid during pregnancy and when breastfeeding.
Humans are not the only species that benefit from sea buckthorn, which is why it is important to learn to forage sustainably. The following critters also need the plant:
Christaki, E. (2012) Hippophae rhamnoides l. (sea buckthorn): a potential source of nutraceuticals. Food and Public Health. [Online] 2 (3), 69–72.
Couplan, F. & Coppens, Y. (2009) Le régal végétal: plantes sauvages comestibles. Paris: Sang de la Terre.
Karalliedde, L. et al. (2008) Traditional herbal medicines: a guide to their safer use. London: Hammersmith.
Lang, D. C. (1987) The complete book of British berries. London: Threshold Books.
Manandhar, N. P. & Manandhar, S. (2002) Plants and people of Nepal. Portland: Timber Press.
Pemberton, T. et al. (2019) Edible shrubs. Plants For A Future.
Suryakumar, G. & Gupta, A. (2011) Medicinal and therapeutic potential of Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.). Journal of Ethnopharmacology. [Online] 138 (2), 268–278.
Wani, T. A. et al. (2016) Bioactive profile, health benefits and safety evaluation of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.): A review Fatih Yildiz (ed.). Cogent Food & Agriculture. [Online] 2 (1).
Cow Parsley displays characteristic rows of ‘white lace’ along roadside verges in spring and was once used in food and medicine.
However, a danger of using this plant as a wild edible is its close resemblance to hemlock (Conium maculatum), a far deadlier species – poisonous and not to be used in food or medicine.
Apiaceae
Small, white flowers appear in umbrella-like clusters upon tall, slightly hairy, hollow stems. The large, pale green to reddish leaves are slightly downy. The unripe fruits are green and turn brown to reddish as they ripen. Thick roots reach up to 2m beneath the earth allowing this plant to spread far and wide.
Native to Europe, north Asia, north and east Africa, India subcontinent; naturalised in North America, Alaska, Canada, New Zealand, and central and southern Africa.
Cow Parsley is found growing along roadsides, hedgerows, waste places, woodlands, and meadows, forests.
Leaves, stems and roots.
A perennial, flowering April to June.
Cow Parsley is closely related to chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium) with a mildly spicy flavour. The leaves can be used fresh, dried or preserved in salt for future use.
The plant makes an excellent garnish in place of chervil for salads, potatoes and egg dishes.
Fresh or dried Cow Parsley can be sprinkled as seasoning in soups, omelettes, casseroles, potato and bean dishes.
The young leaves can be cooked as a potherb and the roots are also edible.
For me, the stems are the most delicious part of the plant.
Research suggests that Cow Parsley demonstrates strong antioxidant activity and could have potential as a future health food or supplement.
Thanks to its poisonous lookalikes, Cow Parsley was seldom used as a medicinal plant. When it was used as a remedy, this was often for kidney or urinary stones.
The plant’s hollow stems were once used as moulds to make candles for the poor.
The roots contain toxic compounds that could be dangerous if taken during pregnancy, when breastfeeding, or when used for specific complaints in certain sensitive individuals. Seek medical advice before use.
I will state again as it is of the utmost importance, the greatest danger of using Cow Parsley as a wild edible is its close resemblance to deadly hemlock.
Do not pick Hemlock by mistake – the consequences could be dire! Make sure you know how to identify your wild edibles.
This is basically a red flowering current (Ribes sanguineum), and you may have seen it around, but not really paid attention to it. It is absolutely beautiful.
I first discovered it quite a few years ago when I was working with a chef in Edinburgh called Paul Wedgwood.
If you don’t know Paul his restaurant (Wedgwood the Restaurant) is in Edinburgh. So check it out because he’s a really, really good chef and a lovely, lovely guy.
So what he had done was he had taken the blossoms and put them into kind of a trifle, which normally when people say trifle to me, it’s kind of the pits and almost as bad as boiled cabbage from the 1970s when everything was boiled to death.
The actual blossoms themselves are fantastic. You can make delicious syrups with them.
The way that I like to work with them is to pour some honey into a bowl and put that in a saucepan with a bit of water around it. It’s known as a bain-marie. Warm it and obviously put the blossoms in as well.
The leaves themselves are really, really highly aromatic, and I haven’t done it yet, but I’m going to dry some and see if that scent stays.
The other way of working with the blossoms is to put them in ice cubes, freeze them in ice cubes, and then have this beautiful botanical bling to jazz up your drinks.
The flavour and the smell are very delicious and highly aromatic, like I say, so I’m just going to get a bit of the leaf now.
The very young leaves are very sticky. They are very resinous, and for those of you into your flower essences, if you believe in all that stuff, flowering currant is meant to be good for melancholy.
The leaves are not something I would put in a salad, but they are very aromatic and herby.
I’ve only really worked with the blossoms, and flowering currant is one of those plants you want to keep smelling it. It’s lovely. So give it a go.
Ground ivy is one of Britain’s commonest plants. It flourishes from sunny banks to shady wastelands. A perennial plant with trailing dark-green, kidney-shaped leaves that retain their year-round colour. Its bluish flowers with a purple tint are seen in summer and autumn.
The common name is misleading because it is not true ivy. However, the plant has a plethora of other names from which to choose: Gill-go-by-the-ground, Lizzy-run-up-the-hedge, cat’s foot, devil’s candlesticks and alehoof among a few.
It was not considered particularly friendly to its countryside companions being known to drive off other plants that grew near it. It was avoided by cattle and feared toxic to horses.
It was a favourite ingredient in spells and magic because it grew so readily in graveyards, ruins and shady places thought frequented by witches. The plant’s strong association with witchcraft might explain why country folk believed it drove away other flora.
Despite its dubious character, Chaucer, in the Nun’s Priest’s Tale, describes it as “ground ivy that makes our yard so merry”.
Lamiaceae
This ground cover plant grows up to 0.2–1 m high. The kidney-shaped leaves are trailing and evergreen and the flowers are blue-purple with four-sided stems. The roots are creeping and prevent other plants from growing closely.
Perennial. Native.
Deciduous woodland, grassland, hedgerows, wasteland. Found in Europe, Britain, Ireland, north and west Asia; naturalised in North America and introduced in New Zealand
Leaf, flower.
Spring to autumn.
In pastimes, the plant was used in brewing to flavour and clarify the beer. A tea, called gill tea was also made with ground ivy by steeping the plant in boiling water and sweetening it with sugar, honey or liquorice.
The leaves and stem have an aromatic flavour and can be used to flavour soups and sauces, or egg or meat dishes in place of mint or thyme. The young shoots and leaves have also been eaten as bitter greens, like spinach, or added raw to salads.
There is little data on ground ivy’s nutritional content.
There are claims that the wild herb has been drunk for medicinal purposes. Ground ivy-infused ale or beer was said to ‘clear the head’ – its expectorant action being good for coughs and colds. The plant was largely used to clear headaches, congestion, coughs and colds. An infusion of the herb or the expressed juice was also used to treat eye disease or injury.
In the crossover between Pagan and Christian traditions, the plant was part of Green Thursday or Maundy Thursday celebrations. A crown of green ivy was worn as people danced at night on Green Thursday to celebrate nature’s return in spring and to reaffirm their connection to the old gods. Ground ivy was an important ingredient in Maundy Thursday soup, a day that starts the holy three-day period before Easter Sunday.
Ground ivy is suspected of poisoning grazing animals, such as cattle and horses, who are perhaps more at risk of excessive consumption.
There is limited data on the plant’s toxicity in humans and best to avoid it during pregnancy or when breastfeeding as a precaution.
Allen, D. E. & Hatfield, G. (2004) Medicinal plants in folk tradition: an ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland. Portland: Timber Press.
Couplan, F. (1998) The encyclopedia of edible plants of North America. New Canaan: Keats Pub.
Duke, J. A. (1985) CRC handbook of medicinal herbs. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Grieve, M. M. (1998) A modern herbal. London: Tiger Books International.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s herbal: the secret history of British plants. London: Penguin.
Irving, M. (2009) The forager handbook: a guide to the edible plants of Britain. London: Ebury.
Sea beet is the wild ancestor to common vegetables such as beetroot, swiss chard and spinach beet. We can even thank the rugged coastal plant for the sugar in our cup of tea or coffee because it was the original sugar beet too.
The coastal plant belongs to the pigweed family, formerly the goosefoot family, and is one of many subspecies of beet (Beta vulgaris) developed over the past 2,000 years.
While the bright crimson beetroot slices are more familiar on our plates, sea beet is an ancient food and medicine plant. It has been used since prehistory, but over time it has relinquished its place at the table in favour of its cultivated cousins.
Amaranthaceae
Large, fleshy, glossy deep-green leaves that vary from triangular to egg-shaped. Some leaves turn purple and crimson in autumn. The flowers appear as numerous spikes of bright, green emerald blooms. The root is thick and fleshy.
Annual, biennial and perennial. Native to Britain, Europe, North Africa, Asia and India.
Distributed from Britain to Asia, this perennial is found along rocky and sandy coastlines, coastal wastelands, dunes and cliffs.
Leaf, stalk, root.
February, March, April, May, June, July.
In modern cooking traditions it is usually the leaf and stalks that are eaten. There is a reason many refer to sea beet as sea spinach. It is one of the most delicious wild greens with many uses. Although it doesn’t break down in the same way as spinach, it is a good replacement where spinach is called for.
Atheneus, a Greek rhetorician and grammarian who lived around the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD, said that the roots of sea beet have a sweet taste.
Sea beet contains high levels of vitamin C – about 36 mg per 100 g. The fresh young leaves are high in vitamins K (988 mg per 100 g) and B (302 ug per 100 g), and nutrients such as calcium (67 mg per 100 g), zinc (845 ug per 100 g), and iron (almost 3 mg per 100 g). The leaves are also rich in vitamin A. It is a good source of dietary fibre.
Sea beet has a long history of folk use, particularly in treating tumours. A decoction was made from the seed or juice, or other parts of the plant were prepared to treat tumours, leukemia, breast and womb cancers, and other cancers such as in the stomach, prostate, head or spleen. The leaves and roots were once used as an emmenagogue – to induce menstruation.
Modern research into sea beet has observed its ability to grow in salty soils, which might prove an advantage to crop-growing when better soils are unavailable in famine-struck countries.
Excessive use of beets could cause hypocalcemia, kidney damage or toxicity from the plant oxalates.
Biancardi, E. et al. (2012) Beta maritima: the origin of beets. [Online]. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Duke, J. A. (1985) CRC handbook of medicinal herbs. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Lim, T. K. (2012) Edible medicinal and non-medicinal plants: volume 1, fruits. Dordrecht: Springer.
Sánchez-Mata, M. de C. & Tardío, J. (eds.) (2016) Mediterranean wild edible plants: ethnobotany and food composition tables. New York: Springer.
There is a tendency to overlook the navelwort in favour of the house-leek (Sempervivum tectorum) in folk medicine.
David Allen and Gabrielle Hatfield consider the medical uses of both plants – specifically the fleshy leaves – as:
…so broadly similar that they must surely have stood in for one another to no small extent.
Yet it is the navelwort that is undoubtedly a native plant of the British Isles, largely found in western parts, and the house-leek that is a “relic of long-forgotten introductions”.
A native of the British Isles, the fleshy leaves of this often forgotten plant make a tasty salad dish in winter and spring.
Crassulaceae
Whitish green bell-like flowers cluster around a spike with fleshy, rounded bright green leaves that dimple at the point the leaf joins the stalk. The fruit is small brownish seeds. The roots are round, smooth and grey-skinned with white flesh.
Native to Britain, southern Europe, North Africa and Macaronesia.
The plant prefers rocky habitats, stone and mud walls, and is also often found growing at the bottom of old trees.
Leaves, seeds, stem.
The plant is in leaf all year round and flowering June to August with seeds ripening from July to September.
The succulent leaves make a juicy addition to salads or as a sandwich filling with chives or sorrel. They have a mild flavour when picked in winter or early spring and can be eaten raw. The leaves, seeds and stems of navelwort can also be candied.
The plant’s juice is thought to be diuretic and anti-inflammatory, and may be drunk as a tonic for the liver and spleen.
Traditionally, navelwort was used as a remedy for inflammations, cuts, chilblains, skin infections and for stones in the body such as kidney stones. The plant’s sap has also been used to relieve bee stings.
The plant’s use as a medicinal herb is scattered throughout history. In Irish folk medicine, it was put to use for a wide number of ailments, including jaundice, tuberculosis and skin complaints as well lumps and bumps, headaches, worms, fevers, liver complaints, and kidney and bladder stones.
The plant also yields a yellow and red dye.
Navelwort should not be used to treat earache (one of its folk remedies uses) if there is damage to the eardrum.
Its safety during pregnancy or when breastfeeding, and its interactions with other medicines and medical conditions, are not widely recorded. Use caution in these circumstances and seek medical advice.
Allen, D. E. & Hatfield, G. (2004) Medicinal plants in folk tradition: an ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland. Portland: Timber Press.
Grigson, G. (1996) The Englishman’s flora. Oxford: Helicon.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s herbal: the secret history of British plants. London: Penguin.
Sánchez-Mata, M. de C. & Tardío, J. (eds.) (2016) Mediterranean wild edible plants: ethnobotany and food composition tables. [Online]. New York: Springer.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
The hollow stem yields a white, milky juice said to be eaten by sows to increase the flow of their milk. The Latin name of the genus ‘sowthistle’ is Sonchus meaning ‘hollow’.
There are many species of Sonchus (Sonchus spp.) – all are edible and most are indistinguishable in appearance – but the two most commonly used for food and medicine are smooth sowthistle (S. oleraceus) and prickly sowthistle (S. asper).
Sowthistles are sometimes confused with dandelions, because of the appearance of their bright yellow flowers and green spiny leaves.
The plant has a complicated relationship with humans. It has flourished in the path of human progress to become a common weed and wild edible. Along the way, some people have become devoted to its tender young leaves and juicy stem, while others have found its bitterness less agreeable.
Smooth Sowthistle and Prickly Sowthistle.
Smooth Sowthistle: Sonchus oleraceus.
Prickly Sowthistle: Sonchus asper.
Compositae.
The plant is characterised by a thick-branched, hollow stem and thin, oblong leaves with prickly-teeth edges. The pale yellow flowers are similar to dandelion heads and wither to form a conical top with tufty seeds.
Annual, native to Britain, Ireland, Europe, Asia and North Africa.
Prefers roadsides, wastegrounds, river banks and sea shores.
Leaves, stem and flowers.
Spring to Autumn.
It has been used as a salad and potherb since the days of our early ancestors. The younger plants are mildly bitter and quite succulent; older plants are bitter and tough.
The leaves and stems of both species can be cooked like vegetables, added to stir fries and stews. The juicy stem should be milked before cooking because the juice can turn parts of the plant brown.
Sow-thistle has four times more antioxidant compounds than red wine and twelve times more antioxidants than black tea. It is rich in essential fatty acids and minerals and nutrients like zinc, manganese, copper, iron, calcium and fibre.
Its traditional use as an ingredient in spring dishes eaten for health and vitality is supported by its high content of vitamins A, B, C and K.
Per 100g fresh weight of various sowthistles contain between 30–60mg of vitamin C; smooth sow thistle has been shown to contain up to 800mg of vitamin A.
The medicinal virtues of smooth sowthistle (S. oleraceus) were believed to be similar to dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). Its juicy stem oozes a creamy milk like dandelion, which was used as a cure for warts.
Sowthistle was also used as a herbal remedy to hasten childbirth, treat skin and eye problems, and freshen foul breath.
The fluffy seeds were once used to stuff pillows and mattresses.
Smooth sowthistle is said to be more toxic than other species of sowthistle; a white latex produced from the plant is mildly poisonous to lambs and horses, and the roots are said to induce abortion.
Grieve M. A Modern Herbal Vol 2 (I-Z): The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs, & Trees with All Their Modern Scientific Uses. Dover Publications; 1971.
Quattrocchi U. CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology (5 Volume Set). CRC press; 2012.
Watts D. Dictionary of Plant Lore. Elsevier; 2007.
Kallas J. Edible Wild Plants: Wild Foods from Dirt to Plate. Gibbs Smith; 2010.
Awaad AS, Almoqren SS, Safhi AA, Zain YM, El-meligy RM, Al-asamary FA. Gastroprotective extracts of Sonchus oleraceus L. Published online November 27, 2018. Accessed December 10, 2018. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/10137162.html
Hatfield G. Hatfield’s Herbal: The Secret History of British Plants. Penguin; 2008.
Sánchez-Mata M de C, Tardío J, eds. Mediterranean Wild Edible Plants: Ethnobotany and Food Composition Tables. Springer; 2016. doi:10.1007/978-1-49393329-7
Kuhnlein HV, Turner NJ. Traditional Plant Foods of Canadian Indigenous Peoples: Nutrition, Botany and Use. Routledge; 1991.
Wiersema JH, Leon B. World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference. CRC Press; 2013.
Horseradish has been cultivated since ancient times and is a familiar culinary herb of many kitchens. Its distinctive taste is used to flavour many dishes and it has several uses in herbal medicine.
The English name ‘horseradish’ means ‘coarse radish’ from the prefix ‘horse’, which distinguishes it from ‘edible radish’ (R. sativus), a practice that was used to describe other wild plants such as ‘horse-mint’ and ‘horse chestnut’.
The first mention of the common name ‘horseradish’ in print appears in the works of English herbalist John Gerard (1545–1612), according to Geoffrey Grigson, although Gerard did not have much familiarity with the plant.
The German name for horseradish was Meerettich meaning ‘sea radish’; meer may derive from mähre, or ‘old horse’, in reference to its tough roots.
The French name was raifort meaning ‘strong root’, or moutarde des moines meaning ‘monks mustard’.
Brassicaceae
Long stalks with large, shiny-green, slightly toothed dock-like leaves and numerous white, sweetly scented flowers on a spike. The taproot is knobbly and brown with a pungent odour.
Native to south-east Europe, the Mediterranean, and west Asia. Horseradish was introduced to Britain and Ireland.
Widely distributed in Britain and Ireland where it is naturalised due to its cultivation, horseradish can be found growing in waste places, damp meadows, neglected gardens, and as a cultivated herb in larger, traditional vegetable gardens.
Leaves, flowers, roots, sprouted seeds.
Leaves: May to September.
Roots: November, December
The fresh roots are used as a culinary herb in sauces, powders and vinegars for flavouring meats, vegetables and pickles.
The herb is available in white (preserved in vinegar) or red (preserved in beet juice), although it is most popular as a sauce for accompanying roast beef, steaks and smoked fish.
The flavour of the sauce can be overpoweringly hot for some and is best used sparingly. The roots can also be sliced and roasted as a vegetable similar to parsnips.
The young leaves can be added to salads, pickles or cooked as a potherb. The sprouted seeds can be used to season salads.
As a cruciferous vegetable, horseradish may have beneficial antioxidant properties, however much of its nutritional content is lost during cooking. Its vitamin C denatures and nutrients like vitamin K and calcium are cut by a half. Cooking also removes the plant’s pungency as does long periods of refrigeration after preparation.
Horseradish is a warming herb used to increase circulation and decrease swellings, and to promote urination. It is thought to be helpful for rheumatic conditions. The strong vaporous odour of the root, when broken, can be used to banish heavy colds.
Some varieties are grown for their ornamental leaves. An infusion of horseradish leaves sprayed onto apple trees can prevent brown rot; kept on the borders of vegetable patches, it assists in the growth of healthy and disease-resistant potatoes. The foliage can be harvested to make a yellow dye. The volatile oils in horseradish may be an effective insecticide.
Excessive doses of horseradish may cause gut irritation, diarrhoea and night sweats, or may irritate the skin (when applied externally).
Commission E recommends horseradish isn’t taken by children under four years old, although there is no supporting evidence for this. The herb is listed as an abortifacient in some texts and may be best avoided in excess or altogether during pregnancy.
Duke, J. A. (1985) CRC handbook of medicinal herbs. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants. Vista: Kampong Publications.
Lim, T. K. (2012) Edible medicinal and non-medicinal plants: volume 1, fruits. Dordrecht: Springer.
Small, E. (2006) Culinary herbs. 2nd ed. Ottawa: NRC Research Press.
Turner, N. J. et al. (2011) Edible and tended wild plants, traditional ecological knowledge and agroecology. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences. [Online] 30 (1–2), 198–225.
There are few customs more autumnal than collecting chestnuts and roasting them over a fire. Chestnuts, from the sweet chestnut tree (Castanea sativa), are still a staple part of people’s diets in many mountainous regions of the Mediterranean.
As a wild edible, it can be prepared in countless ways. According to Corsican tradition, for example, twenty two different dishes are made from chestnut flour for a wedding day feast.
Sweet chestnut
Fagaceae
The trunk is spirally twisted with a smooth, greyish brown bark featuring upright cracks or splits. Shiny, short-petiolated leaves are oblong or lance-shaped from a wedge or heart-shaped base with finely pointed teeth and 15 to 20 parallel veins. They remain on trees till late autumn and turn a pale gold.
Both male and female flowers appear as stiff insect-pollinated catkins, although some say the catkins have a sickly fragrance. Shiny brown fruit are enclosed by a two-to-four valve cupule featuring a spiky case and bristly tail. Grows about 30m (98.4 ft) in height.
A deciduous tree, thought to have been introduced to Britain by Roman legions as a source of food, C. sativa is widely distributed across Europe and the Mediterranean.
Deciduous woodland, hedgerows, parks, gardens.
Nuts (or fruits), leaves, buds flowers.
Chestnuts start to fall in autumn; the first few usually contain empty cases until mature nuts fall around October.
Chestnuts are a truly versatile nut. They can be roasted, pureed or candied, made into jam and ice cream, or ground into flour, or used for porridge, soup or mash (polenta in Italy) and mixed with vegetables and meat.
They can also be pickled, boiled with Brussel sprouts, stewed and baked with red cabbage, fried in oil and made into fritters.
Nutritionally, chestnuts are rich in carbohydrates, high in protein (although their protein content is less than other nuts) and low in fat and cholesterol.
Chestnut flour is valued for containing neither gluten or cholesterol, for example, as well as being low in fat, although they do contain a large amount of starch. Chestnuts are also unique among nuts in being high in vitamin C.
Chestnuts are highly nutritious and therefore helpful during convalescence.
In modern herbal medicine, sweet chestnut’s bark, leaves, flowers and nuts are considered to be strengthening, calming, astringent, and digestive, even though the tree is not so well used today.
Sweet chestnut leaves may be used to treat diarrhoea, heavy menstrual bleeding and rheumatism, lower back pain, stiff joints and muscles, as well as occasionally coughs and bronchitis, and sore throats and pharyngitis (as a gargle), because of their mild decongestant qualities.
Sweet chestnut wood is fairly hard and durable; its timber has sometimes been used as a substitute to oak. The wood is easy to split but hard to bend.
It has been used for general carpentry, furniture-making, for front doors, wainscoting, sculptures and carving, railway sleepers, bands around wine casks (in southern wine-growing regions), and to support grape vines.
It was once used for churches and other buildings. Sweet chestnut wood has also been used in the manufacture of cellulose.
Take care not to confuse the fruits of the sweet chestnut tree (C. sativa), which are edible, with the fruits of the horse chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum), which are inedible.
Kiple, K. F. & Ornelas, K. C. (eds.) (2000) The Cambridge World History of Food. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press.
Mabey, R. & Blamey, M. (1974) Food for Free. London: Collins.
Vaughan, J. G. et al. (2009) The New Oxford Book of Food Plants. Oxford?; New York: Oxford University Press.
Duke, J. A. (1989) CRC Handbook of Nuts. Boca Raton, Fla: CRC Press.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s Generous Nature: The Past and Present Uses of Wild Plants in Ireland. St. Louis, MO: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
Conway, P. (2002) Tree Medicine: A Comprehensive Guide to the Healing Power of Over 170 Trees. London: Piatkus.
Cleene, M. D. & Lejeune, M. C. (2003) Compendium of Symbolic and Ritual Plants in Europe: Vol I Trees & Shrubs/Vol II Herbs. Ghent: mens & cultuur uitgevers n.v.
Compositae.
The plant yields blue-purple, daisy-like flowers with bright yellow stamens among a sea of long, slender green leaves.
Native to Britain, Europe, North Africa, and Asia. See: Maps.
Sea cliffs, saltmarsh, salt water, coastal mud flats.
Shoots, leaves, stems.
Harvest from late Spring through Summer.
In pre-industrial Sweden sea asters were one of many wild species gathered for stews and soups. However, these plants were also considered fodder for livestock and may only have been gathered for human consumption during times of famine.1 Today the plant is among one of the wild plants sold by a small southern-Swedish foraging enterprise to the restaurant NOMA in Copenhagen.
The salty, fleshy leaves could be made into a pickle or chopped and added to salads, soups and stews by more adventurous cooks.
One study suggests the leaves have a particularly high protein content.
English herbalist John Gerard (1545–1612) recommended sea aster as a wound herb,but there are no records to indicate how useful the plant was to coastal communities in this regard. Gerard also prescribed sea aster for dropsy and as an antidote to poisoning.
The flower is particularly attractive to rabbits, who obviously came to their senses about sea aster long before we did!
Shaibur and team (2008) studied arsenic levels in sea aster, which was found to be largely concentrated in the roots and not of significant concern to the plant’s overall toxicity.
The lack of data on contraindications, side effects and toxicity of a plant is not absolute proof of its safety.
Always exercise caution when using a new wild edible, particularly during pregnancy or when breastfeeding.
Svanberg, I. (2012) The use of wild plants as food in pre-industrial Sweden. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae. [Online] 81317–327.
Luczaj, L. et al. (2012) Wild Food Plant Use in 21st Century Europe: The Disappearance of Old Traditions and the Search for New Cuisines Involving Wild Edibles. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae. [Online] 81 (4), 359–370.
Luczaj, L & Pieroni, A. (2016) Nutritional Ethnobotany in Europe: From Emergency Foods to Healthy Folk Cuisines and Contemporary Foraging Trends, in María de Cortes Sánchez-Mata & Javier Tardío (eds.) Mediterranean Wild Edible Plants. [Online]. New York, NY: Springer New York. pp. 33–56.
Khot, S. & Joshi, A. (2004) Edible Succulent Halophytes as Good Source of Proteins for Restoration of Salt-Affected Soils.
Grigson, G. (1996) The Englishman’s Flora. Oxford: Helicon.
Eland, S. C. & Lucas, G. (2013) Plant Biographies.
Shaibur, M. R. et al. (2008) Critical Toxicity Level of Arsenic and Elemental Composition of Arsenic-Induced Chlorosis in Hydroponic Sorghum. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution. [Online] 191 (1–4), 279–292.
Common Lime (Tilia x europaea) is a sweet-scented blossoming tree that brings a generous crop of nectar for bees and lime-flavoured honey for beekeepers every summer.
All lime trees in the species Tilia are unrelated to the species of tree that produces lime fruit (Citrus aurantifolia).
Malvaceae
Common lime trees grow up to 40 m. The bark is smooth with a thick, fibrous texture and the leaves are large, dark green and heart-shaped with a paler underside. The tree blossoms in small clusters of creamish yellow flowers, which are heavily scented and attractive to bees. The fruit are oval-shaped and ribbed with pointed tips.
Perennial. Native.
City and town parks, deciduous woodland, hedgerows, scrub.
Flowers and leaves.
Spring to Autumn.
The flowers and leaves make a pleasantly soothing herbal tea. Dried lime flowers were once stocked in many French households to make Tilleul.
The flowers also flavour liqueurs, lemonade and cordial. The leaves can be picked for salads and sandwiches.
Mature lime leaves were dried into a food supplement and used as a nutritious gruel during the occupation of France in the second world war.
Lime leaves have been used as a herbal remedy since ancient times. The leaves were said to increase urination, regulate menstrual cycles, dissolve blood clots, cure boils, treat wounds in the mouth, and relieve swollen feet. Lime sap was once used as a cure for baldness.
Limewood has been used to make toys, instruments and household utensils.
There are few known side effects of using common lime in food and medicine, but moderation is always advised. Seek advice from a medical professional before using the tree as a herbal remedy.
The safety of consuming or using lime tree products during pregnancy or when breastfeeding has not been sufficiently established and, therefore, it’s best avoided.
Cleene, M. de & Lejeune, M. C. (2002) Compendium of symbolic and ritual plants in Europe. Ghent: Man & Culture.
Couplan, F. (1998) The encyclopedia of edible plants of North America. New Canaan: Keats Pub.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants. Vista: Kampong Publications.
Grieve, M. M. (1998) A modern herbal. London: Tiger Books International.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
Every herb garden should grow rosebay willowherb (or fireweed as it is known) for a splash of colour and a buzz of bees.
Where woodlands are cleared, buildings fall, and fire scorches the earth, so rosebay willowherb will rise like a phoenix from the ashes. This exciting plant also makes a bold, wild edible.
Onagraceae.
Tall spikes of purple-red flowers amongst elongated, spear-shaped green leaves characterise this striking plant. The dramatic foliage takes over open ground turning entire landscapes ablaze.
The creeping root structure aids the plant to spread over large patches of ground and the small seed pods hold an abundance of seeds attached to white, fluffy puffs dispersed by the wind.
Perennial. Native.
Deciduous woodland, coniferous woodland, cultivated land, dunes & dune slacks, heath, moor, mountain rocks, mountains, riverbanks, roadsides, scrub and walls.
Leaves, shoots, stem, flowers.
Spring: Leaves, shoots, roots.
Summer: Stem, flowers.
For centuries in Russia, rosebay willowherb was fermented to make herbal tea, nicknamed ‘Ivan Chai’ in Britain and Europe. It was eventually replaced by the black and green teas from India and China but is still drunk in some parts of Russia.
The flavour of this fiery-looking plant has been described as mildly sweet like a cucumber or asparagus. The shoots can be cooked like asparagus. The leaves and stems can be lightly boiled or steamed like spinach.
Rosebay willowherb has ninety times more vitamin A and four times more vitamin C than oranges.
Few records exist of the herb’s use in folk medicine in Britain, but it was used in Europe and America, especially for skin complaints, whooping cough in children, asthma and stomach disorders.
In modern herbals, its properties are often listed as astringent, antidiarrhoeic, demulcent (soothing and anti-inflammatory), haemostatic (stops bleeding) and mildly antimicrobial.
Fireweed is such as a good source of nectar that US beekeepers sometimes follow loggers with their hives. Fireweed honey is said to be light-coloured and finely flavoured.
The plant’s tannins might aggravate constipation, gastric ulcers, inflammatory conditions and anaemia. Consult your health advisor before use.
There is little information about the plant’s safety during pregnancy and when breastfeeding.
Bartram T. Bartram’s Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine. Marlowe; 1998.
Facciola S. Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications; 1998.
Watts D. Dictionary of Plant Lore. Elsevier; 2007.
Rogers R. Fireweed – a treasured medicine of the boreal forest. Disc Phytomed. 2014;1(1):10. doi:10.15562/phytomedicine.2014.16
Adamczak A, Dreger M, Seidler, Wielgus K. Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium L.): botany, phytochemistry and traditional uses. A review. Herba Polonica. 2019;65(3):51-63. doi:10.2478/hepo-2019-0018
Kauppinen S, Galambosi B. Fireweed, Roseroot, Bergenia and Chokeberry – Joint Research for Supporting the Herb Production. Natural Resources Institute Finland, Luke; 2016. Accessed June 26, 2020. https://jukuri.luke.fi/handle/10024/537721
Kalle R, Belichenko O, Kuznetsova N, et al. Gaining momentum: Popularization of Epilobium angustifolium as food and recreational tea on the Eastern edge of Europe. Appetite. 2020;150:104638. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2020.104638
Hatfield G. Hatfield’s Herbal: The Secret History of British Plants. Penguin; 2008.
Wyse Jackson P. Ireland’s Generous Nature: The Past and Present Uses of Wild Plants in Ireland. Missouri Botanical Garden Press; 2013.
Jariene E, Lasinskas M, Danilcenko H, et al. Polyphenols, Antioxidant Activity and Volatile Compounds in Fermented Leaves of Medicinal Plant Rosebay Willowherb (Chamerion angustifolium (L.) Holub). Plants. 2020;9(12):1683. doi:10.3390/plants9121683
Mills SY, Bone K, eds. The Essential Guide to Herbal Safety. Elsevier Churchill Livingstone; 2005.
Runyon L. The Essential Wild Food Survival Guide. Wild Food Company; 2007.
Schepetkin IA, Ramstead AG, Kirpotina LN, Voyich JM, Jutila MA, Quinn MT. Therapeutic Potential of Polyphenols from Epilobium angustifolium (Fireweed). Phytother Res. 2016;30(8):1287-1297. doi:10.1002/ptr.5648
Olennikov DN, Kirillina CS, Chirikova NK. Water-Soluble Melanoidin Pigment as a New Antioxidant Component of Fermented Willowherb Leaves (Epilobium angustifolium). Antioxidants. 2021;10(8):1300. doi:10.3390/antiox10081300
This humble little plant that often pops up unexpectedly in a corner of the garden after a long winter is a gentle herbal soother to the skin and makes a pretty addition to salads.
Primulaceae.
Large, yellow-green flowers appear to grow out of a rosette with lance-shaped leaves tapering to the stalk. The rootstock is knotty with long shaggy stalks rising up.
Native to Europe and Asia.
Primrose is a familiar sight in many British parks and gardens in early spring. The plant also likes to grow in mountainous regions, woodlands, meadows, orchards, hedges, coastal slopes, chalk banks and shady habitats.
Leaves and flowers.
A small perennial flowering from December to May.
The mild, sweet-scented flowers can be eaten raw in vegetable or fruit salads or cooked as a vegetable. Primrose flowers can also be used in conserves, custards, mousses, tarts or other desserts and confections.
The leaves make an alternative salad green and have a reportedly spicy taste with slight anise aroma. They can be cooked in the pot, added to soup, or mixed with other herbs as a stuffing for meat and poultry.
Both blooms and leaves are made into syrups and teas.
Primrose leaves contain vitamin C and minerals. The whole plant, particularly the root, contains saponins, glucosides, ferment and various other substances.
Primrose flowers have enjoyed a reputation for healing wounds for centuries. An ointment made of flowers boiled in lard would be applied to cuts, burns and other skin ailments.
Today, primrose is used in skin preparations for pimples and wrinkles and is often used in soothing eyewashes.
Primrose is a valuable source of forage to bees in winter and early spring.
Some texts advise the P. vulgaris should not be used by pregnant women, patients sensitive to aspirin, or those on anti-coagulant drugs such as warfarin.
Hatfield G. Hatfield’s Herbal: The Secret History of British Plants. Penguin; 2008.
Herbalpedia. The Herb Growing & Marketing Network; 2014.
Couplan F. The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America. Keats Pub; 1998.
While children once sucked the sweet nectar from White Dead Nettle flowers, today’s wild food enthusiasts may enjoy the plant in many other ways.
Lamiaceae.
Green-white flowers with heart-shaped, hairy, green leaves. The hollow, hairy, square stems distinguish the plant from Stinging Nettle.
Native to Europe and Asia; naturalised in Britain and Ireland and introduced to North America and New Zealand.
The plant grows along roadsides, waste places, hedgerows, and gardens.
Leaves, flowers, stems.
This perennial flowers from May to December, with seeds ripening from July to December.
The tender leaves and stem tips can be boiled and eaten as a potherb or vegetable, or the leaves chopped and added to omelettes.
The leaves can also be treated like spinach.
Serve the young flowering tops lightly steamed, mixed with spring onions and dressed with butter. For sweet treats or garnish, the flowers can be candied.
Wine is still made from the flowers in Yorkshire, England.
White dead nettle leaves contain about 6.5 g of protein, 76 mg of vitamin C and an incredible 644 vitamin A retinol per 100 g of fresh weight.
The greens are similarly nutritious and contain other constituents such as 76 mg calcium, 34 mg phosphorus, 411 mg potassium, 23 mg magnesium, and 3.4 mg iron per 100 g of fresh plant material.
White dead nettle has been used as a women’s herb to relieve heavy, painful periods and treat ‘whites’ – leucorrhoea, a white or yellow discharge of vaginal mucous.
White Dead Nettle and Red Dead Nettle (L. purpureum) were mainly used for skin complaints in Irish folk medicine.
White Dead Nettle was a remedy for skin problems and bleeding cuts in parts of England.
A lotion from the flowering tops was applied to piles and varicose veins.
White Dead Nettle flowers are a helpful crop for bees, while Pliny believed the plant discouraged snakes from entering the garden!
The White Dead Nettle is considered a safe plant for food and medicine. There are no known contraindications during pregnancy, breastfeeding, or taking prescribed medications.
This is not absolute proof of its safety, and it is always best to consult with your health advisor.
Vickery, R. (1997) A Dictionary of Plant-Lore. Oxford paperback reference. Oxford?; New York: Oxford University Press.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants. Vista, CA: Kampong Publications.
Bartram, T. (1998) Bartram’s Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine. New York: Marlowe.
Hatfield, G. (2007) Hatfield’s Herbal. London: Allan Lane.
Grieve, M. M. (1998) A Modern Herbal. 3rd edition. London: Tiger Books International, PLC.
Allen, D. E. & Hatfield, G. (2004) Medicinal Plants in Folk Tradition: An Ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland. Portland, OR: Timber Press.
Anon (2016) Herbalpedia.
Duke, J. A. (2002) Handbook of Medicinal Herbs. 2 edition. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Brooklime is a delicate blue flower of ponds and streams and often grows with watercress.
It was used for centuries as a salad plant in northern Europe, collected in spring and is well known for its pungency and bitterness.
Indeed, its species name beccabunga means pungent. The lime in its common name is thought to be derived from an Anglo-Saxon word for the mud in which it grows.
It’s been suggested that the species’ name is from the Flemish beckpunge, meaning mouth smart.
Plantaginaceae.
Brooklime has tiny, dark blue flowers; occasionally a pink form of the flower is found. The petals open wide in the sun and partially in the shade. The leaves are oval, glossary green and leathery to the touch. The succulent hollow stems creep in mud and root at the nodes.
Native to Europe, temperate Asia and North Africa; naturalised in Britain, Ireland and other parts of the world.
Ditches, meadow, ponds & pond edges, river banks.
Young shoots, stem, leaves.
The plant is perennial with flowers and fruits appearing May to September.
Bitter-tasting brooklime can be eaten like watercress by adding raw to salads or cooked like a potherb by boiling or steaming. This wild edible is best mixed with strongly flavoured greens to compensate and complement its bitterness.
Brooklime can be brewed as a tea, called tea de l’europe (or European tea), which has a flavour similar to Chinese green tea.
Brooklime is rich in vitamin C3 and antioxidants such as flavonoids and phenolics, which help to reduce incidences of chronic disease when eaten as part of our diet. Some studies suggest European brooklime also contains 3.8 g of protein per 100 g of fresh weight.
Traditionally, brooklime was used as a diuretic treatment for jaundice, urinary and kidney ailments, an expectorant for coughs and colds, and a cure for scurvy.Today we know that the plant contains vitamin C, as well as a glucoside (aucubine) and various other substances, such as sulphur.
A brown dye is derived from brooklime for dyeing textiles.
The plant is safe if cooked. Although it was eaten raw in the past, due to liver fluke it is best avoided raw.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants. Vista, CA: Kampong Publications.
Guarrera, P. M. & Savo, V. (2016) Wild food plants used in traditional vegetable mixtures in Italy. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. [Online] 185202–234.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s herbal: the secret history of British plants. London: Penguin.
Kuhnlein, H. V. & Turner, N. J. (1991) Traditional plant foods of Canadian indigenous peoples: nutrition, botany, and use. Food and nutrition in history and anthropology v. 8. Philadelphia: Gordon and Breach.
Watts, D. (2007) Dictionary of plant lore. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
Chenopodium comes from the Greek chen, meaning goose, podus or foot.
Fat Hen was considered important enough in Anglo-Saxon times to have places named after it.
Fat Hen has been used as a wild vegetable since ancient times in Europe, and its remains have been found in Britain’s Bronze Age sites and pre-Norman sites in Ireland.
According to several sources, it was among the most commonest wild spinach. However, the introduction of spinach from southwest Asia eventually replaced Fat Hen in British and European cooking.
While in America, the introduction of maize and beans gradually replaced the use of the plant.
Amaranthaceae.
Fat Hen is said to sometimes resemble dock (Rumex obtusifolius) because of its broad leaves and spikes of green flowers. It is, however, unrelated to the dock.
Several species are native to Britain, Europe, and western Asia and naturalised in North America.
An opportunistic plant species that can take root in wastelands, disturbed ground, roadsides, fields, compost heaps, rubbish dumps and gardens.
Leaves, seed.
Plants are annual or perennial, with various flowering times depending on the species.
Chenopodium seeds are rich in starch. These can be ground and added to flour to bake bread, cake, biscuits, pancakes or muffins. Alternatively, add the seeds to salads, and stir-fries or use them as sprouted seeds.
The leaves and young stem tips of Fat Hen can be used as a spinach substitute. The tender leaves can also be used to make salads, stir-fries, sauces or pesto.
The water in which the tender greens are cooked can be saved and drunk as a nutritional broth or frozen as stock cubes.
The young budding flowers can be cooked and eaten by steaming and tossing in butter like broccoli.
Chenopodium greens are rich in protein, vitamins A, B1, B2 and C, and niacin, calcium, phosphorus, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids.
The seeds of some species are higher in lipids and nutrients such as calcium and magnesium than many other grains.
Chenopodium spp. are occasionally mentioned in old herbals as a treatment for an ailment of the times, such as scurvy, sores and gout.
The plant may still be used to treat inflammation, rheumatism or toothache.
The crushed roots can be used for soap, or the oil obtained from the roots can be used as a skin emollient.
Fat Hen is high in oxalates (see here). The greens contain oxalic acid (oxalates) that could affect calcium absorption or which may cause mouth irritation when eaten raw or in excess. Avoid if you have kidney stones.
Some herbalists suggest that the seeds of Chenopodium may be toxic if eaten in excess. Others say the seeds should not be eaten because of their rich saponin content. They may pose a risk to people suffering from arthritis, rheumatism, liver disease or intestinal inflammation.
Take care not to mistakenly identify the lookalike plant Black Nightshade (Solanum nigrum), which is poisonous.
Couplan, F. (1998) The encyclopedia of edible plants of North America. New Canaan: Keats Pub.
Elias, T. S. & Dykeman, P. A. (2009) Edible wild plants: a North American field guide to over 200 natural foods. New York: Sterling.
Grigson, G. (1996) The Englishman’s flora. Oxford: Helicon.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s herbal: the secret history of British plants. London: Penguin.
Kershaw, L. (2000) Edible & medicinal plants of the Rockies. Edmonton: Lone Pine.
Mabey, R. & Blamey, M. (1974) Food for free. London: Collins.
Mac Coitir, N. & Langrishe, G. (2015) Ireland’s wild plants: myths, legends and folklore.
Nyerges, C. & Begley, E. (2014) Guide to wild foods and useful plants. Chicago Review Press.
Pachauri, T. et al. (n.d.) Analysis of nutrient content of underutilized grain: chenopodium album | springerlink. Chemistry of Phytopotentials: Health, Energy and Environmental Perspectives. 93–96.
Quave, C. L. & Pieroni, A. (2015) A reservoir of ethnobotanical knowledge informs resilient food security and health strategies in the Balkans. Nature Plants. [Online] 1 (2), 14021.
Thayer, S. (2010) Nature’s garden: a guide to identifying, harvesting, and preparing edible wild plants. Birchwood: Forager’s Harvest.
Tilford, G. L. (1997) Edible and medicinal plants of the West. Missoula, Mont: Mountain Press Pub.
Watts, D. (2007) Dictionary of plant lore. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
Medieval monks cultivated ground elder as a medicinal plant, but it later earned a reputation of a nuisance weed thanks to its rapid growth. Is there any redemption for this once useful wild edible?
Apiaceae.
The plant forms a creeping, pale green carpet across the ground. The oval-shaped leaves are long, hairless and toothed, and arranged in groups of three at the end of leaf stems. The small flowers appear in clusters turning from light-pink to white as they mature. The wind-pollinated seeds are flat vessels that develop from the mature flower heads.
Native to Europe, Asia, introduced to Britain in the Middle Ages; later introduced to North America.
Often found growing in shrubberies, hedges, orchards, gardens, woodlands, roadsides, wasteground, banks, and alongside rivers and streams.
Leaves, seed.
This perennial plant flowers from June to August, but best picked in spring, and again in early autumn.
In the Middle Ages, the plant was a potherb. In the markets of Medieval Cracow, Poland, it was sold as a wild vegetable.
In Sweden and Switzerland, the plant was collected for spring salads or also cooked as a wild leafy vegetable.
In Anglo-Saxon Britain, ground elder was used to clarify beers and may have been called ‘gill’ from the French guiller, meaning ‘to ferment beer’.
In parts of the Ukraine, it is still used as an ingredient of green borsh, a soup made of green vegetables.
The young leaves contain high amounts of vitamin C and are best picked in spring for use in salads and soups.
The plant was once used as medicine for various ailments, but its primary purpose was as a cure for gout and to relieve pain and swelling. For this reason, the plant was also known as goutwort.
Modern herbals still recommend ground elder as a treatment for gout, sciatica, rheumatism, haemorrhoids, inflammation, and water retention.
While we make little use of it as a food plant today, it is sometimes used as fodder for pigs and is so-called pigweed.
There is little information on its side effects. Seek medical advice before use during pregnancy, when breastfeeding or for specific medical conditions.
Grieve, M. M. (1998) A modern herbal. London: Tiger Books International.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s herbal: the secret history of British plants. London: Penguin.
Richard Le Strange (1977) A history of herbal plants. London: Angus and Robertson.
Sturtevant, E. L. (1919) Sturtevant’s notes on edible plants. Albany: J. B. Lyon.
Turner, N. J. et al. (2011) Edible and tended wild plants, traditional ecological knowledge and agroecology. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences. [Online] 30 (1–2), 198–225.
Oak is arguably Britain’s most beloved tree and can live up to 800 years. The fruit it bears – the acorn – has been popular as a source of food and medicine since ancient times.
All parts of the oak were once considered edible making this tree quite the forager’s feast!
Fagaceae.
This majestic-looking tree has wide-spreading, branches on a short, stout trunk. The bark is brown-grey and the leaves are dark green on top and pale blue-green beneath. The tree bears male and female flowers – male flowers are slender catkins and female flowers are globe-shaped and pale brown. The easily recognisable fruit – acorns – resemble a small nut inside a stalked cup.
Perennial. Native.
Deciduous woodland, hedgerows.
Leaves, flowering buds, fruit (acorns).
Spring for leaves. Autumn for acorns.
Humans have consumed acorns since ancient times.
Classical authors write of the early inhabitants of Greece and southern Europe being fat on the fruits of the oak. They were the Balanophagi, or ‘eaters of acorns’.
In pastimes, acorns were collected and ground to meal for flour. The ‘acorn milk’, a byproduct of this process, was also drunk.
Acorns were gathered for snacking, roasting, boiling or drying to add to meals.
However, it is worth noting that caution is now given before eating acorns that have not been properly treated – leached of their plant tannins – and that eating the nuts raw is not recommended (see the section on ‘Cautions’).
Oak leaves were once used to make wine and even the trunk of the tree has provided an edible source of gum.
Acorns are nutrient-rich containing starches, oils, proteins, minerals (such as calcium, phosphorus and potassium) as well as several B vitamins (although these are water-soluble and often lost during the process of preparing the nut to eat), as well as plant sugars and tannins.
All parts of the oak – wood, bark, leaves, acorns and gallnuts – have traditionally been used in medicine since ancient times.
The tree was valued for its astringent properties most likely due to the high content of tannins.
It was used for wide-ranging ailments from mouth disease and skin complaints to rheumatism and digestive problems.
Surprisingly oak galls (a parasitic infection of the tree caused by a tiny wasp) had an even wider range of use from treating mouth diseases, infected eyes and ears, toothache, stomach disorders, dysentery, rashes, abscesses, skin ailments and burns, swollen spleens and regulating menses.
Oak is a well-known wood used for making furniture. However, some traditional uses of oak that we might find novel today have included making wooden bowls, milk pails, butter-firkins, baskets, fighting clubs, tool handles, coffins and even spinning wheels.
The plant tannins in oak may irritate the digestive lining if taken in excess.
Other sources suggest that oak is less edible than others, that the foliage can be poisonous and that the acorns should be properly treated (leached of the bitter tannins and then roasted) before consumption.
While there is little information on other side effects to the use of oak as a food or medicine, this is not absolute proof of its safety and bearing in mind these cautions, it may be best to avoid consuming or using oak as a food or medicine during pregnancy or when breastfeeding.
Consult a medical professional if taken for a specific condition.
Haines A. Ancestral Plants Volume 2: A Primitive Skills Guide to Important Edible, Medicinal, and Useful Plants of the Northwest. Vol 2. Anaskimin; 2015.
Warren P. British Native Trees: Their Past and Present Uses: Including a Guide to Burning Wood in the Home. Wildeye; 2006.
Cleene M de, Lejeune MC. Compendium of Symbolic and Ritual Plants in Europe. Man & Culture; 2002.
Watts D. Dictionary of Plant Lore. Elsevier; 2007.
Hatfield G. Hatfield’s Herbal: The Secret History of British Plants. Penguin; 2008.
Wyse Jackson P. Ireland’s Generous Nature: The Past and Present Uses of Wild Plants in Ireland. Missouri Botanical Garden Press; 2013.
Mac Coitir N, Langrishe G, Collins Press (Cork I. Ireland’s Trees: Myths, Legends and Folklore.; 2015.
Thayer S. Nature’s Garden: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants. Forager’s Harvest; 2010.
Folkard R. Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics. Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington; 1884.
Kunkel G. Plants for Human Consumption: An Annotated Checklist of the Edible Phanerogams and Ferns. Koeltz Scientific Books; 1984.
Couplan F. The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America. Keats Pub; 1998.
Karalliedde L, Shaw D, Gawarammana I. Traditional Herbal Medicines: A Guide to Their Safer Use. Hammersmith; 2008.
Kuhnlein HV, Turner NJ. Traditional Plant Foods of Canadian Indigenous Peoples: Nutrition, Botany and Use. Routledge; 1991.
Home > Plants > Guelder rose
Guelder rose is traditionally used to treat cramp, hence the plant’s common names ‘crampbark’ or ‘crampbush’.
Viburnaceae
The plant bears fertile flowers that are pinkish-white in the bud and produce red, glossy drupes, while the sterile outer flowers are white, large and plate-like. The stem is slender and the leaves are divided into three or five broad angular lobes, sometimes toothed and turning purple in autumn.
Perennial. Native.
It prefers hedgerows, copses, scrubs, woodland edges, riverbanks, and lakeshores. Native to Britain, Ireland, Europe, Russia-Asia; extending even into Arctic regions; naturalised in America.
Fruit. Best picked after a frost but freezing will achieve the same thing as it breaks the cell walls and sweetens the fruit.
A deciduous shrub, flowering in midsummer with fruits appearing in late summer.
Can be used as a replacement to shop bought cranberries.
The fruits have been eaten in traditional dishes in parts of Europe and in Russia. In Russia, the fruits were eaten fresh, added to porridge, baked, made into jams, jellies, marmalades, pastes, mousse, pie fillings, vinegar and condiments.
The fruits were also used as a substitute for tea or coffee.
The bark of guelder rose is antispasmodic and sedative. It has been used by women to calm menstrual cramps for hundreds of years, but there are no clinical trials about its use.
The bark has been used to treat very painful menstrual flows (such as dysmenorrhoea), endometriosis (a painful condition when pieces of the endometrium grow outside the uterus in the pelvis or abdominal wall), or fibroids.
The plant chemistry contains viopudial, a compound that relaxes smooth muscle and lowers blood pressure.
While the plant has had many other uses in herbal medicine, its primary use is as a muscle relaxant. To this end, the bark can also be used to relieve hiccups, and pain and spasms in muscles, stomach and intestines.
The guelder rose is often grown in gardens as an ornamental plant. In Ireland, the variety that features large, white, sterile flowers, ‘Snowball Tree’, is particularly popular.
Some sources suggest that guelder rose is toxic, particularly when the berries are eaten in excess, causing stomach upsets or worse – symptoms of poisoning.
However, there is no conclusive opinion and little data on the plant’s toxicity. Seek medical advice before use. The herb is best avoided during pregnancy and when breastfeeding.
Lang, D. C. (1987) The complete book of British berries. London: Threshold Books.
Paine, A. (2006) The healing power of Celtic plants: their history, their use, and the scientific evidence that they work. Winchester: O Books.
Shikov, A. N. et al. (2017) Traditional and current food use of wild plants listed in the Russian pharmacopoeia. Frontiers in Pharmacology. [Online] 8841.
Usher, G. (1974) A dictionary of plants used by man. London: Constable.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
Selfheal is a forgotten healer that has made a recent comeback as a modern-day heal-all with promising potential for use in food and medicine.
Lamiaceae.
The flowers appear on purple, sometimes pinkish, cylindrical spikes and distinguish the plant from others in the mint family by their tight, sausage-shaped whorl.
The stalked leaves are long, wide and ovalish. The four-sided, weak stems cause the plant to grow sideways before reaching up to the sky. The fruit is an oblong, purplish (when ripe) drupe.
Perennial. Native.
The plant prefers grassy places but will grow almost anywhere from lawns, roadsides, meadows and pastures.
Leaves and flowers.
This perennial blooms from May to August. The young shoots and leaves are often collected in June before flowering.
The whole plant has been used as a wild edible, either raw or cooked. The younger plants are most tender. The flavour is similar to romaine lettuce.
The leaves and young shoots of this wild edible are versatile greens that can be eaten raw in salads, added to soups and stews, or used as a potherb.
The leaves – freshly chopped, dried or powdered – can be soaked in cold water to make a refreshing beverage.
Selfheal contains vitamins A, B, C, K, flavonoids, and rutin. The plant’s high content of antioxidants has been the subject of much recent research.
In early medicine, selfheal had a reputation as a wound herb. John Gerard (1545–1612) wrote: “It serveth for the same that Bugle doth, and in the world there are not two better wound herbes as hath been often prooved.”
Modern herbalism records selfheal as a topical emollient, astringent and vulnerary herb.
The leaves and stems are said to be antibacterial, astringent, diuretic, hypotensive (reduces blood pressure), haematuria (blood in urine) antitumour and a powerful antioxidant.
The flower spikes are also supposed to restore the liver. New research suggests that the plant does indeed possess hepatoprotective (liver-protecting) properties.
The herb is also meant to be a tonic for the gallbladder in that it stimulates and promotes healing.
The cylindrical spiked flowers make attractive additions to flower arrangements fresh or dried.
Allergic reactions to selfheal have been reported by some.
Seek medical advice before using during pregnancy, when breastfeeding or if you are an allergic individual.
Gardner ZE, McGuffin M, American Herbal Products Association, eds. American Herbal Products Association’s Botanical Safety Handbook. CRC Press; 2013.
Facciola S. Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications; 1998.
Tilford GL. Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West. Mountain Press Pub; 1997.
Williams C. Medicinal Plants in Australia Volume 1: Bush Pharmacy. Rosenberg Publishing; 2010.
Sárosi Sz, Bernáth J. The antioxidant properties of Prunella vulgaris L. Acta Alimentaria. 2008;37(2):293-300. doi:10.1556/AAlim.2007.0029
Grigson G. The Englishman’s Flora. Helicon; 1996.
Yarrow is the herb of a million flowers, thanks to its prolific foliage.
This wild edible has been used in food and medicine since ancient times, and it is still a commonly used herb today.
Asteraceae.
It has a rough, angular stem with long, dark-green, feathery leaves. The flowers are white or pale lilac that resembles an umbellifer.
Perennial. Native.
Found in grasslands, meadows, pastures, and along roadsides.
Leaves and flowers.
Spring to Autumn.
Its peppery foliage and bitter leaves and flowers bring an aromatic flavour to salads.
The leaves can be used in almost any dish as a vegetable, added to soups and sauces, or simply boiled and simmered in butter as a side dish.
The flowering tops can be sprinkled on salads and dishes as a condiment or decoration.
Yarrow Purée
Pick, wash and dry some handfuls of young leaves. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add the leaves and simmer for 20 minutes. Then drain the leaves and chop them up, melt a knob of butter in a small saucepan, add the chopped leaves along with salt and pepper, Stir for 5 minutes, then serve.
Known as Herba militaris by the ancient Romans who used the wild herb to stop bleeding from cuts and wounds.
Yarrow was also called soldiers’ woundwort and staunch grass due to its ability to staunch bleeding.
In herbal medicine, it was valued as an astringent herb for scratches, cuts, wounds and sores.
Dried leaves were once used as a substitute for tobacco. As well as divining sticks when consulting the I-Ching.
Yarrow may cause skin irritation in some people. It is best avoided during pregnancy and when breastfeeding.
Grieve, M. A Modern Herbal. Tiger Books International. London, 1996.
Facciola, S. Cornucopia II. A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications. Vista, California, 1998.
Jackson, PW. Ireland’s Generous Nature. The Past and Present Uses of Wild Plants in Ireland. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. St Louis, Missouri, 2014.
Couplan, F. The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America. Nature’s Green Feast. Keats Publishing. Connecticut, 1998.
Watts, D. Dictionary of Plant Lore. Elsevier. Bath, 2007.
Baker, M. Discovering The Folklore of Plants. Shire Publications Ltd. London, 2008.
Mabey, R. Food For Free. A Guide to the Edible Wild Plants of Britain. The Collins Press. London, 1978.
Rowan or Mountain Ash is an ancient tree used since ancient times. The berries provide a variety of wild edible delights and offer a range of uses in medicine.
Sorbus aucuparia
Rosaceae.
The bark of this small shrubby tree is smooth, shiny and greyish-coloured.
The stem and branches are slender with pinnate leaves that are dark green on the upper side and bluish green on the underside with toothed margins.
The tree yields scented white-petalled flowers in umbrella-like clusters. The berry-like fruit is scarlet, turning from green to yellow to orange-red as they mature.
The following resources provide botanically accurate photos for identification of Rowan (=Mountain Ash), Sorbus aucuparia.
Native to Britain, Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and Western Siberia; introduced to North America and New Zealand.
It prefers rocky places, glens and mountain riversides; also grown as an ornamental tree in parks and gardens.
Largely berries, but the bark, twigs, buds, flowers, leaves and sap are also edible. See cautions below.
A deciduous tree, fruiting August to November.
The berries can be used to make jams, jellies, conserves, marmalades, vinegar, wines, spirits, confectionery, ketchup, pies and soups.
However, the raw berries have a bitter taste unless you know how to pick and prepare them.
The bitter, astringent taste is said to be improved after frost, which helps make the fruit sweeter.
In Estonia, between the 18th–21st centuries, almost all parts of the rowan tree have been used as a wild edible, including the bark, twigs, buds, flowers, leaves, sap and fruit.
The berries contain vitamins A and C, as well as other substances like pectin, malic acid and tannins. Candied rowan berries contain 30–40 mg of vitamin C.
In fact, it was once used to treat scurvy and we now know that the tree’s berries contain high amounts of vitamin C.
Since ancient times, the berries have been prescribed for stomach disorders or for bleeding.
The leaves were also used to make remedies for sore eyes, rheumatism, asthma and colds.
The berries and the bark are astringent which may support these uses of the tree.
The wood is hard and elastic and has had many commercial uses in woodcraft from making baskets and cartwheels to kitchen utensils and crates.
The berries may irritate the stomach if taken in excess, while other sources warn that the seeds may be toxic and cause poisoning.
There is little information about the safety of the tree during pregnancy or when breastfeeding, and so rowan is best avoided at these times.
Vickery R. A Dictionary of Plant-Lore. Oxford University Press; 1997.
Sõukand R, Kalle R. Changes in the Use of Wild Food Plants in Estonia: 18th-21st Century. 1st ed. 2016. Springer; 2016. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-33949-8
Cleene M de, Lejeune MC. Compendium of Symbolic and Ritual Plants in Europe. Man & Culture; 2002.
Uphof JCT. Dictionary of Economic Plants. H.R. Engelmann; 1959.
Wyse Jackson P. Ireland’s Generous Nature: The Past and Present Uses of Wild Plants in Ireland. Missouri Botanical Garden Press; 2013.
Ambasta S. The Useful Plants of India. National Institute of Science Communication, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research; 2000.
Docks have grown in Britain since three ice ages ago, and remains of dock have been found in places where people once farmed, such as the ancient Celts. Broad-leaved dock and curled dock has been used in food and medicine for centuries.
Polygonaceae
R. crispus as the name suggests has wavy, curled leaf edges with wedge-shaped leaves. Small, greenish white flowers appear on tall spikes.
R. obtusifolius has long, broad, oval- to lance-shaped leaves with small greenish flowers that turn red as they mature.
Both plants are native to Britain and Ireland and naturalised in North America.
They can be found on lawns, fields, disturbed or waste grounds.
Young leaves, stems, seed.
Spring and Summer.
They have tart, lemon-tasting leaves and are used similarly in cooking. It is often agreed that the youngest plants are best and make a tasty ‘spinach’, while others find the taste ‘sour’ but ‘hearty’.
Serve the greens with butter, bacon, hard-boiled eggs and seasoning. The leaves can also be stuffed like vine leaves with a rice, herb and cheese filling. Dried they can be used as a seasoning for rice, potatoes, seafood or sandwich spread.
They produce large quantities of fruits and seeds, which can be boiled into a mush or ground and added to flour or meal for making bread, muffins and gravies. The stems of young plants can be chopped, simmered and sweetened with honey as a substitute for rhubarb pie.
Both plants are very nutritious. Curled dock, for example, contains more vitamin C than oranges and more vitamin A than carrots. It also contains vitamins B1 and B2, and iron.
The leaves are famously used to soothe nettle stings and often grow nearby the offending plant. The cooling properties were also used to soothe insect bites and stings, as well as scalds, blisters and sprains.
They were a popular remedy for staunching bleeding or for purifying the blood. The juice from the leaves can be applied as a compress to heal bruises.
The seeds have been used to treat coughs, colds and bronchitis, and the roots used as a remedy for jaundice, liver problems, skin ailments, boils, rheumatism, constipation and diarrhoea.
The seed heads are an important source of food for wildlife in winter, such as birds, rodents and deer. The seed heads are also decorative and can be collected for ornamental flower arrangements.
Both plants contain oxalic acid, which can be toxic if used excessively. Some text suggests they should be avoided during pregnancy and when breastfeeding. They can also trigger hay fever or aggravate asthma in some people.
Eaton, J. S. (1989) Discovering wild plants: Alaska, western Canada, the Northwest. Anchorage: Alaska Northwest Books.
Elias, T. S. & Dykeman, P. A. (2009) Edible wild plants: a North American field guide to over 200 natural foods. New York: Sterling.
Grieve, M. M. (1998) A modern herbal. London: Tiger Books International.
Haines, A. (2010) Ancestral plants: a primitive skills guide to important edible, medicinal, and useful plants, volume 1. Southwest Harbor: Anaskimin.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s herbal: the secret history of British plants. London: Penguin.
Kershaw, L. (2000) Edible & medicinal plants of the Rockies. Edmonton: Lone Pine.
Mac Coitir, N. & Langrishe, G. (2015) Ireland’s wild plants: myths, legends and folklore.
Sturtevant, E. L. (1919) Sturtevant’s notes on edible plants. Albany: J. B. Lyon.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
Daisy, a humble little flower that is widespread in many parts of the world. A children’s favourite for making ‘daisy chains’ or ‘fairy chains’, the daisy has also been used in food and medicine.
Asteraceae.
Flower-heads solitary on a leafless stalk springing from the root (a scape). The outer florets white, tipped with red, the inner yellow; the flower-bracts dark green and in one row; the stem 2.5cms to 20cms high, leafless; the leaves blunt, oblong, narrowing at the base (spathulate); and the root creeping.
Perennial. Native.
Daisies are naturalised in many parts of the world. They can be found in Britain, Europe, parts of the Middle East and western Asia. As well as various states in the USA. They grow in meadows, grasslands, lawns, hills, woods, parks and gardens.
Leaves, flowers, and roots.
January to November.
The young flower heads or buds can be added to salads, soups or sandwiches; or the flower heads used to decorate salad dishes. The leaves can be eaten raw despite their bitter aftertaste, but are better mixed in salads or cooked and might be used as a potherb. The buds can be preserved in vinegar and used in cooking as a substitute for capers.
It is both an anti-inflammatory herb and a vulnerary (improves circulation) herb. Drink daisy tea for the plant’s health-giving and restorative properties. A modern study of wild edibles used during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992–95) showed that daisies contain 34 mg of vitamin C per 100 g.
The plant was recognised as a medicinal herb from the 15th century onwards. The Flemish herbalist Robert Dodoens, or Dodonaeus, (1517–1585) wrote:
Daisies boiled in water, either the whole plant or just the flowers, and especially the small or wild (species), are good for fever, heating up the liver and all internal organs. This same herb in food or soups stimulates the movement of the bowels”.
By the 17th-century, B. perennis also had a reputation for broken bones, which is perhaps where it got the name ‘bone flower’. The English naturalist William Turner (1509–1568) knew it as ‘banwort’, “because it helpeth bones to knyt againe”.
In Irish folk medicine, the plant was used for all manner of conditions, as Gerard would have approved, including scrofula, tuberculosis, pleurisy, coughs, colds, headaches, stomach and liver complaints, and various skin problems from chilblains to ringworm.
It could be made into a lotion for weak eyes and an ointment for burns, as it was used similarly in other parts of Britain.
While it has been less admired for its taste, its pretty flowers are always a crowd-pleaser. Daisies can be frosted and sprinkled on cakes for decoration or added to a cup of boiled water for a beautiful tea.
Few side effects are recorded from the use of daisies in food or medicine. Use only in moderation. Some people can have an allergic reaction to members of the daisy family.
Allen, D. E. & Hatfield, G. (2004) Medicinal plants in folk tradition: an ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland. Portland: Timber Press.
Cleene, M. de & Lejeune, M. C. (2002) Compendium of symbolic and ritual plants in Europe. Ghent: Man & Culture.
Couplan, F. (1998) The encyclopedia of edible plants of North America. New Canaan: Keats Pub.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants. Vista, CA: Kampong Publications.
Kuhnlein, H. V. & Turner, N. J. (1991) Traditional plant foods of Canadian indigenous peoples: nutrition, botany, and use. Food and nutrition in history and anthropology v. 8. Philadelphia: Gordon and Breach.
Redzi?, S. (2010) Use of wild and semi-wild edible plants in nutrition and survival of people in 1430 days of siege of Sarajevo during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1995). Collegium Antropologicum. 34 (2), 551–570.
Vickery, R. (1997) A dictionary of plant-lore. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sweetly scented meadowsweet was famous as a strewing herb and as a flavouring for mead.
It later gained recognition as one of the plants that contain salicylic acid, from which is derived aspirin and has been used for many of the same complaints for which aspirin is used today.
Filipendula ulmaria syn. Spiraea ulmaria
Rosaceae.
The tall stems are furrowed and sometimes purplish, and the leaves are dark green on the upper side and downy whitish underneath. The fern-like foliage with tufty, creamy-white clusters of flowers bears tiny, dry capsules as seeds.
Perennial. Native.
Found in damp meadows, drainage ditches and alongside lakes and rivers. Britain and Ireland, temperate parts of Europe and Asia. Introduced to North America.
Leaves, flowers, roots; all parts of the plant have been used.
May to September.
Meadowsweet was famous as a honey-wine herb. Meadwort, or Medwort, was one of fifty ingredients in a drink called ‘Save’ mentioned by English author Geoffrey Chaucer in a Knight’s Tale. English physician and herbalist Nicholas Culpeper also recommended a leaf of meadowsweet in a cup of claret wine to give it a “fine relish”.
Today, meadowsweet is also one of thirty herbs and spices added to the popular Norfolk punch cordial drink, originally made by the monks of Norfolk, England.
All parts of the plant can be added to soups, sauces or stewed fruit for an aromatic flavour.
The bitter roots have been used as a tea substitute along with the leaves and flowers.
Meadowsweet is considered a good example of the old adage ‘let food be your medicine’ thanks to its reputation for soothing overactive stomachs and treating coughs and colds.
Meadowsweet’s most famous claim to medicinal success is as a forerunner of aspirin.
Meadowsweet has been considered the go-to herb for indigestion, flatulence, gastric ulcers, gastric reflux, liver disorders, cystitis, diarrhoea in children, rheumatism, cellulitis, bladder stones, and oedema.
Meadowsweet was also used to scour milk churns.
Despite its acclaimed success, Foster and Duke warn that all salicylic-containing plants should be used with caution, given that salicylic medicines can thin the blood and cause internal bleeding.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants. Vista: Kampong Publications.
Foster, S. & Duke, J. A. (2014) Peterson field guide to medicinal plants and herbs of eastern and central North America. Peterson field guides. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Grieve, M. M. (1998) A modern herbal. London: Tiger Books International.
Grigson, G. (1996) The Englishman’s flora. Oxford: Helicon.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s herbal: the secret history of British plants. London: Penguin.
Irving, M. (2009) The forager handbook: a guide to the edible plants of Britain. London: Ebury.
Karalliedde, L. et al. (2008) Traditional herbal medicines: a guide to their safer use. London: Hammersmith.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
As a medicinal and garden herb, common sorrel has been used since the ancient days of Greece’s Dioscorides and Rome’s Pliny the Elder in the 1st century AD.
Its tendency to appear as one of the first plants in spring meant it was once a highly valued edible green.
Its arrow-shaped leaves were a familiar sight in Medieval vegetable gardens across Europe until the 1700s, and it has since become a common wild herb in North America where it was introduced as a salad green.
Polygonaceae.
Common sorrel grows up to 10–120 cm. Its stalks bear clusters of small reddish-green to brown flowers and the bright-green leaves are long, oblong and spear-shaped.
Perennial. Native or naturalised in Britain, Ireland, Europe, Africa and Asia; introduced to North America and New Zealand.
It can be found in deciduous woodland, cultivated land, grassland, hedgerows, meadow, roadsides, scrub, wasteland.
Leaves and stalks.
Summer and Autumn.
The plant has a sour taste that makes it a tasty addition to salads or a sharp side dish to red meat and roasts or stews.
Children in Dorset, England, once snacked on the sour-tasting leaves and stems. The wild edible was once known as a ‘the poor man’s herb’ because of its ready availability to foragers.
The estimated maximum intake is 50 g fresh weight a day.
Studies on 100g dried weight found that it contains 25 g/protein, 440 mg/potassium, 1071 mg/ calcium, 104.2 mg/magnesium, 15 mg/iron.
It also contains 708 mg (dried weight) of beta carotene which is converted to vitamin A by the body.
Sorrel and Cucumber Soup
Fry the onion until soft, add the sorrel, stock, chilli powder and salt and simmer for 15 minutes. Take off the heat and allow it to cool. Pour into a blender, add the cucumber and sour cream and blend until smooth. If needed slowly add water until the desired consistency. I like my soups quite thin. Chill then serve. Serves 3.
R. acetosa was believed to be a ‘cooling’ herb and helpful for swellings and inflammatory conditions. The plant was used to treat fevers, skin tumours, jaundice, and internal ulcers.
It also had a number of common uses such as treating wounds like sores, bruises, boils and chickenpox.
Sorrel salt, which refers to its binoxalate of potash component, or oxalates, was once sold as ‘Salts of Lemons’ and used to bleach straw or remove rust marks from linen. It was also used to remove ink stains, but only if the ink had been made from Oak galls and salt of iron.
Sorrel is known to contain quite high levels of oxalic acid. The estimated maximum intake of sorrel is 50 g fresh weight a day.
It seems that components in sorrel, including oxalic acid, possess no greater risk than foods like carrots, rhubarb, asparagus or green tea in normal amounts.
The leaves can look very similar to a poisonous lookalike called Lords and Ladies (Arum maculatum). See photo below:
Grieve M. A Modern Herbal Vol 2 (I-Z): The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs, & Trees with All Their Modern Scientific Uses. Dover Publications; 1971.
Ladeji O, Okoye ZSC. Chemical Analysis of Sorrel Leaf (rumex Acetosa). Food Chemistry. 1993;48(2):205-206. doi:10.1016/0308-8146(93)90059-O
Watts D. Dictionary of Plant Lore. Elsevier; 2007.
Mac Coitir N, Langrishe G. Ireland’s Wild Plants: Myths, Legends and Folklore.; 2015.
Folkard R. Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics. Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington; 1884.
Mithril C, Dragsted LO. Safety Evaluation of Some Wild Plants in the New Nordic Diet. Food Chem Toxicol. 2012;50(12):4461-4467. doi:10.1016/j.fct.2012.09.016
Plantain belongs to a big family of plants called Plantaginaceae.
Greater and lesser plantain is also known as common plantain and ribwort plantain respectively. Plantains are a versatile wild edible and herbal remedy.
Plantago major and Plantago lanceolata
Plantaginaceae.
Greater Plantain (Plantago major): the leaves are broadly oval, long-stalked, ribbed and green. The flower spike is long, cylindrical spikes covered in tiny flowers with purple anthers.
Lesser Plantain (Plantago lanceolata): the leaves are long, lance-shaped, ribbed and green. The flowers are tiny in tight brownish spikes with yellow anthers.
Perennial, native to Britain, Ireland, Europe, and parts of Asia and naturalised around the world.
Both species grow vigorously at waysides, in fields and in lawns.
Largely the leaves and seeds.
Greater plantain – spring to summer.
Lesser plantain – spring to autumn.
The leaves are picked and used as a salad green, vegetable or potherb. The seeds have been ground to make flour.
As a wild edible, the species are considered highly nutritious, containing vitamins A, B, C and K, calcium, fibre, fat, protein, silicon, sodium, zinc, tannin and mucilage. The nutty-flavoured seeds are also considered a good source of protein.
Both plants have been used as a general remedy for many complaints from cuts, sores and bruises to kidney disease, bowel disorders and intestinal worms.
It was considered a great healer and, in particular, a vulnerary herb for its ability to prevent external bleeding.
The seeds were once collected to feed small caged birds.
Eating too much plantain may have a laxative effect and even lower blood pressure.
There is little data on the plant’s toxicity. Therefore, it is best avoided during pregnancy, breastfeeding, or for use for a specific medical condition without further medical advice.
Grieve M. A Modern Herbal Vol 2 (I-Z): The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs, & Trees with All Their Modern Scientific Uses. Dover Publications; 1971.
Wyse Jackson P. Ireland’s Generous Nature: The Past and Present Uses of Wild Plants in Ireland. Missouri Botanical Garden Press; 2013.
Pedersen M. Nutritional Herbology: A Reference Guide to Herbs. Whitman Publications; 2010.
Karalliedde L, Shaw D, Gawarammana I. Traditional Herbal Medicines: A Guide to Their Safer Use. Hammersmith; 2008.
Garlic Mustard is a common wild herb in Britain and Ireland. Its leaves exude a garlicky smell when bruised or chopped, although the plant is unrelated to garlic.
Brassicaceae
Garlic mustard has straight, stems (hairy at the base) with large green and toothy leaves, sometimes described as heart-shaped. The flowers are small and white with cross-shaped petals.
Biennial. Native.
Deciduous woodland, cultivated land, hedgerows, wasteland.
Leaf, stems, flowers, seeds, root.
March, April, July, August, September.
The release of a garlic smell and taste when the leaves are crushed led to the use of garlic mustard as an alternative to true garlic. Thus it can be said to have the same uses as garlic in food preparation and cooking. The wild herb also makes an excellent savoury salad green, sauce and potherb. Seeds used as a pepper substitute. The root has wasabi notes, and the flavour ranges from ‘very hot’ to ‘sweet with mild heat’ depending on location and region.
As a member of the mustard family, which includes cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, mustard and watercress, garlic mustard could be among those vegetables which if eaten as part of a healthy, balanced diet might help to prevent cancer.
It shares cancer-preventing chemicals isothiocyanates, from the mustard family, and allyl sulfides, from the garlic family.
Garlic mustard has been used as an antiseptic herb for treating leg ulcers, bruises and sores, coughs and colds, clearing a stuffy head, to encourage sweating and even as a cure for colic and kidney stones.
In Somerset, England, the fresh green leaves were rubbed on feet to relieve the cramp.
A yellow dye might also be obtained from the whole plant.
Garlic mustard is apparently “palatable to livestock”, which suggests another means to manage its spread on the borders of fields and woodlands. An unfortunate side effect of this, however, is that it might lend a disagreeable flavour to cows’ milk and an unpleasant taste to poultry meat.
Duke, J. A. (1992) Handbook of edible weeds. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Gerard, J. (1994) Gerard’s herbal: the history of plants. Nachdruck. Marcus Woodward (ed.). London: Senate, an imprint of Studio Editions Ltd.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s herbal: the secret history of British plants. London: Penguin.
Mac Coitir, N. & Langrishe, G. (2015) Ireland’s wild plants: myths, legends and folklore.
Quattrocchi, U. (2012) CRC world dictionary of medicinal and poisonous plants: common names, scientific names, eponyms, synonyms, and etymology (5 Volume Set). Boca Raton: CRC press.
Cleavers earned its name thanks to the sticky plant’s tendency to ‘cleave’ to human clothing or animal fur. However, this common weed is also a surprisingly versatile wild edible.
Rubiaceae.
Flowers white, in clusters of 2-5 together, rising from the axils of the leaves. Fruit dry, rough, covered with short hooked bristles, separating when ripe into 2 small, seeded cases. Stem 30cms to 150cms long, square, and slightly thickened at the joints, straggling, light green, the angles rough with hooked prickles leaves narrow or lance-shaped, stalkless, often an inch or more long, rough with hooked prickles, 6-8 in a circle round each joint (node).
The following resources provide botanically accurate photos for identification of Cleavers, Galium aparine.
Annual. Native.
Cultivated land, hedgerows, scrub.
Stems, leaves and seeds.
Spring to summer.
Cleavers was once used as a potherb. It was a useful plant in Medieval kitchens because it could be picked in frost or snow.
The plant’s hook-like bristles soften when boiled. Its chopped leaves and stem can be made into soups and stews. The tender shoots can be boiled and buttered as a vegetable.
Cleavers belongs to the coffee family and its seeds have been ground to make cleavers coffee.
The whole plant is rich in vitamin C.
Cleavers has long been used as a slimming aid, probably because of its diuretic properties.
Worldwide, Cleavers most common use has been as a cleansing herb for treating ailments from kidney and urinary disorders to infections and itching. It is excellent for skin conditions like eczema.
In other uses, now passed into antiquity, the sticky seeds were used by lacemakers to enlarge pinheads, and the root itself yielded a red dye.
Here’s an unusual nugget of interest, the plant could turn birds’ bones red if they ate its root.
There is little data about the plant’s side effects, perhaps due to its limited use in food and medicine.
Ask a health professional for advice before using herbal medicine, and avoid using it during pregnancy or when breastfeeding as a precaution.
Duke, J. A. (1992) Handbook of edible weeds. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s herbal: the secret history of British plants. London: Penguin.
Mabey, R. & Blamey, M. (1974) Food for free. London: Collins.
Dog Rose (also known as Rosehip), is a climbing wild rose with white-pink flowers and a soft subtle scent.
Its deep orange-red fruit, the rosehip, is the most commonly used part of the plant, although dog rose has many other uses in food and medicine.
Rosaceae
A scrambling climber with long branches and arching, thorny stems. Dog rose has large, white or pink, five-petalled flowers and green, oval-toothed leaves.
Perennial. Native.
Deciduous woodland, hedgerows, scrub.
Leaves, flowers, fruit and seeds.
Spring to Winter.
The edible fruit – rosehips – are the most commonly used part of the plant in food. These orange-red berries have been used to make jams, jellies, pies, stews, tea and wine. The petals and leaves of dog rose can also been brewed for tea. The flowers make a delicious syrup, and can be eaten in salads or candied or preserved in vinegar, honey and brandy.
Rosehips are high in vitamin C with reportedly twenty times more vitamin C than oranges.
The fruit of the rose was the plant in which vitamin C was first discovered, says Thomas Bartram in his Bartram’s Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine.
As a medicinal herb today, the rosehips of dog rose (R. canina) are indicated for a wide range of conditions from headaches, sore throats, infections, sciatica, gout, rheumatism, stress and nervousness.
While not a human use, an interesting fact is that rosehips are an emergency food for bears as well as people. They gorge on the fruits before winter hibernation.
Small hairs on fresh or dried rosehips may irritate the mouth and throat. The safety of dog rose is not established in pregnancy or when breastfeeding and thus best avoided.
Gardner ZE, McGuffin M, American Herbal Products Association, eds. American Herbal Products Association’s Botanical Safety Handbook. CRC Press; 2013.
Bartram T. Bartram’s Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine. Marlowe; 1998.
Facciola S. Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications; 1998.
Mabey R, Blamey M. Food for Free. Collins; 1974.
Wyse Jackson P. Ireland’s Generous Nature: The Past and Present Uses of Wild Plants in Ireland. Missouri Botanical Garden Press; 2013.
Pedersen M. Nutritional Herbology: A Reference Guide to Herbs. Whitman Publications; 2010.
Kuhnlein HV, Turner NJ. Traditional Plant Foods of Canadian Indigenous Peoples: Nutrition, Botany and Use. Routledge; 1991.
Stinging Nettle is a surprisingly helpful plant in food and medicine despite its stinging hairs, as seen below.
Urticaceae
An upright plant with dull green, serrated leaves, covered with stinging hairs. The flowers are small, green and catkin-like with no petals.
Perennial. Native.
Grows in deciduous woodland, coniferous woodland, cultivated land, grassland, hedgerows, meadow, mountains, river banks, roadsides, scrub, wasteland.
Leaves, flowers, seeds, stems, shoots.
Spring to autumn.
The shoots and leaves – were traditionally picked as a spring tonic. Nettle ‘pudding’ or ‘porridge’ was eaten in parts of Britain as a ‘pick-me-up after the winter’.
Modern research has revealed that nettle contains vitamin C and iron (see nutritional profile below), which explains its use as a spring vegetable.
Cooking the plant, even briefly, destroys the stinging hairs and makes nettle safe to eat. Today, nettle is also a popular herbal tea.
Full of vitamins A, C and some B vitamins. Fresh nettles contain (per 100g) 670 mg potassium, 590 mg calcium, 18 mcg chromium, 270 mcg copper, 86 mg magnesium, and 4.4 mg iron.
Because of its stinging hair, Nettle was considered a ‘warming’ herb. This made it a popular treatment for rheumatism and other conditions such as sciatica that benefit from rubbing a stinging plant on the body to stimulate circulation.
Roman soldiers famously rubbed their bodies with nettle to promote good circulation and to stay warm.
Prostate problems? Discover how the humble stinging nettle is showing promise in scientific studies for easing BPH symptoms and what the current research is exploring when it comes to prostate cancer. Read more.
Nettle was often woven into cloth for household use – a practice dating back to the Bronze Age.
Nettle’s most unpleasant effect is its stinging hairs, which can cause more severe itching and swelling in some people. Opinion varies on its use as a medicinal herb, so seek advice from a medical professional. Avoid during pregnancy and when breastfeeding.
Hatfield, G. Hatfield’s Herbal. Allen Lane, Penguin Books. London. 2007.
Thayer, S. The Forager’s Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing. Forager’s Harvest Press. Bruce, Wisconsin. 2006.
Kress, Henriette. Practical Herbs. Yrtit ja yrttiterapia Henriette Kress. 2011.
De Cleene, M. Lejeune, MC. Compendium of Symbolic and Ritual Plants in Europe. Vol II: Herbs. Man & Culture Publishers. Belgium. 2003.
Elder is a valuable wild edible tree or shrub. Its berries have a cornucopia of uses.
Sambucus nigra
Adoxaceae
A small tree or shrub growing up to 10 m. The bark is brownish grey, deeply furrowed and gnarled in appearance. The leaves are long, oval and slightly serrated. Elderflowers appear as clusters of small white blossoms. The fruits are purplish black.
Deciduous tree. Native.
Elder is found in deciduous woodland, downs, hedgerows, river banks, roadsides, scrub, and wasteland.
Reliable resources for accurate botanical photo identification of field bindweed.
Fruit and flowers.
Flowering around spring to early summer, and fruits around midsummer to autumn.
Elderberries can be made into jams, jellies, preserves, pies, soups, sauces, chutneys, juices and wine. In fact, this list is not exhaustive. Elderflowers can be steeped to make flower vinegar. The blossoms are also often used to flavour fizzy drinks and sparkling wines or to make elderflower tea.
Elderberries are very high in vitamin C.
Elderberry syrup or sweets treats sore throats, coughs and colds. An infusion of elderflowers can also be drunk to relieve hay fever or stress.
Elderflowers are commonly used today by the cosmetic industry in skin and eye ointments, lip balms, sun lotions and fragranced hair, shower and hair products.
Despite its long, widespread use in human culture and its continued use in the food, cosmetic and herbal medicine industries today, several authorities suggest that further investigation of the safety aspect of using Elder as a culinary or medicinal herb is required. Check first with a healthcare professional before using homemade Elder products, and, as a precaution, avoid them during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
Barnes, J. et al. (2013) Herbal medicines. 4. rev. ed. London: Pharmaceutical Press.
Cleene, M. de & Lejeune, M. C. (2002) Compendium of symbolic and ritual plants in Europe. Ghent: Man & Culture.
Paine, A. (2006) The healing power of Celtic plants: their history, their use, and the scientific evidence that they work. Winchester: O Books.
Lim, T. K. (2012) Edible medicinal and non-medicinal plants: volume 1, fruits. Dordrecht: Springer.
Chickweed is a familiar garden weed recognisable by its tiny white flowers. The seeds were once fed to birds, which is how the plant earned its common name. In pastimes, the plant was a common potherb and had various medicinal uses.
Caryophyllaceae
A fast-growing weed that covers the ground in clumps with leafy, hairy stems and bright green, egg-shaped leaves with pointed tips and smooth edges. The flowers are small, white and star-like, and the fruit are egg-shaped pod-bearing seeds.
Annual, rarely perennial. Native.
Bare ground, cultivated land, wasteland.
Largely leaves and stem.
March, April, July, August, September.
Chickweed can be boiled and eaten as a green vegetable much like spinach. In the past, the plant was used as a potherb by farming communities in Europe and Asia.
The leaves can also be eaten raw as a savoury herb in salads and sandwiches, or chopped and added to soups, omelettes, stuffing, meatballs, pies or used as a garnish.
It is a good source of vitamin C. It also contains vitamins A and Bs, fatty acids and minerals.
Chickweed was widely used as an anti-inflammatory herb. For example, chickweed cream was used to soothe eczema, sunburn and insect stings as well as to draw out boils and splinters.
Also yields lilac dyes for woollens.
Chickweed may cause allergic reactions in some people. The herb is also best avoided during pregnancy and when breastfeeding because there is not enough information about its safety.
Kermath, BM et al. (2013) Food plants in the americas: a survey of the domesticated, cultivated, and wild plants used for human food in north, central and south america and the caribbean.
Mills, S. Y. & Bone, K. (eds.) (2005) The essential guide to herbal safety. St. Louis: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone.
Sturtevant, E. L. (1919) Sturtevant’s notes on edible plants. Albany: J. B. Lyon.
Turner, N. J. et al. (2011) Edible and tended wild plants, traditional ecological knowledge and agroecology. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences. [Online] 30 (1–2), 198–225.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
Sloe also known as Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) is a thorny hedgerow plant with dark purple berries often sought after in autumn to make warming country wine or gin.
The small tree or shrub also has a firm place in folk history and medicine in the British Isles.
Rosacea
Small tree or shrub growing up to 4 m tall. The bark is blackish with spiny black stems, oval-like leaves, and snowy-white flowers. Dark purplish berries appear between August to November.
Deciduous. Native.
Deciduous woodland, hedgerows, river banks, scrub
Fruits, flowers, and leaves.
The tree blossoms March to April and yield fruit from August to November.
Picking sloes, or blackthorn berries, in autumn, is a well-kept countryside tradition in Britain, Ireland and parts of Europe. The fruit is often made into sloe wine or gin. Sloes are also used to make jam and jelly.
The flowers can be sugared for edible cake decorations and a tea can be made from the leaves.
Fresh sloes contain about 10 mg of vitamin C and 5 mg of vitamin E per 100g. They are rich in other nutrients: 453 mg potassium, 5 mg calcium and 22 mg magnesium per 100g.
The fruit are also very high in antioxidant compounds phenols and flavonoids, and in essential fatty acids, which are thought to bring many health benefits such as reducing the incidence of chronic disease.
The astringent berries and bark have been used to treat diarrhoea, while the flowers have been used as a laxative.
Sloes were also used as remedies for coughs and colds because of their astringency. The peeled bark boiled in water was a gypsy remedy for bronchitis.
This prickly shrub has made an excellent hedgerow for centuries, providing a nearly impenetrable barrier for fields and coasts.
There is little conclusive data on the toxicity of blackthorn, although caution is always advised when using any medicinal herb during pregnancy or when breastfeeding, or when using alongside a prescribed medication for a specific condition. Consult your healthcare adviser first.
The most-reported injury caused by the plant is due to its spiny thorns.
Allen, D. E. & Hatfield, G. (2004) Medicinal plants in folk tradition: an ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland. Portland: Timber Press.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants. Vista: Kampong Publications.
Grigson, G. (1996) The Englishman’s flora. Oxford: Helicon.
Sánchez-Mata, M. de C. & Tardío, J. (eds.) (2016) Mediterranean wild edible plants: ethnobotany and food composition tables. New York: Springer.
As I write this, I am sitting on a bench. Opposite me is a large patch of water pepper. I write with an ancient, primitive tool. A pencil that creates my scribblings on chequered paper in my journal.
This morning, water pepper rises amongst the Himalayan Balsam as I sit on a bench overlooking a virtual forest of this green friend.
There is a chill in the air, and the sun shines down on me, as it does for us all. Regardless of our status or temperament.
Simple pleasures. Sitting with green friends. No phone. No digital disconnection. Just here. Feeling, breathing and smelling my local ecosystem.
Most of the stands are knee-high, and water pepper can also reach waist height.
Marshpepper, annual smartweed, smartweed, arse-smart.
Polygonaceae
Stems 1-2 feet high, often decumbent at the base. Stipules fringed. Leaves lanceolate, wavy. Flowers in slender drooping spikes, the clusters of flowers almost all distinct. The perianths dotted with small glands.
The following resources provide botanically accurate photos for identification of Water Pepper, Persicaria hydropiper.
Annual.
Cultivated land, marsh, meadow, ponds, riverbanks, wasteland.
June-October
Shoots, leaves and tips.
Protein 7.54%. Fat 1.86. Carbohydrate 7.99%. Ash 1.99%. The leaf contains essential oils.
Not much is mentioned in the wild food cookbooks about water pepper.
With its willow-like leaves, the older ones are dark green, similar to how an old lime might look in colour. The young tips and flower buds are what wild epicureans seek.
Pick a small leaf from the top, and in a short moment, this humble looking plant kicks serious ass as heat tears through your palate. Chillies eat your heart out! It is similar in heat to Tasmanian pepper.
This is wild, feral, pungent heat, yet once it subsides it leaves a pleasant taste.
It is the bicyclic sesquiterpenoid, polygodial that is responsible for the pungent taste, and it is almost impossible to substitute it with any other spice.
Rummaging around the food record I find barely any reference to water pepper being used in Europe. So I keep looking. I’m interested in any possible historical use for it.
My journey takes me east to Japan and South East Asia, where I discover the leaf is traditionally used to garnish sushi. Move over wasabi.
The leaves are also mixed with vinegar (the record doesn’t say what type), and soy sauce.
This dipping sauce is called tade su and is served with ayu (sweetfish). This makes me curious, maybe it would go with small sardines or fresh Cornish pilchards would work.
My water pepper recipe is a variation on the Japanese one. As no quantities where listed in the original version, I had to make them up. A dash of this, a dash of that.
I served it drizzled over prawn cocktail on avocado (I know, how very 1970s.), shared with a dear friend. We both agree. This is something very special.
The stalks produce a yellow dye.
Rare reports of some people experiencing blistering after handling the aerial parts.
Read, B. (1982). Famine foods list in the Chiu Huang Pen Ts’ao. The Botany of mahuang. Common food dishes of Shangai. Taipei: Southern Materials Center.
Peter, K. (2012). Handbook of Herbs and Spices. Cambridge: Elsevier Science.
Coon, N. (1975). The dictionary of useful plants. Emmans, Pa: Rodale Press.
Clapham, A., Tutin, T., Warburg, E., & Roles, S. (1952). Excursion flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press.
Laver seaweed has traditionally been harvested in Scotland, Wales and Ireland to make laverbread, and cultivated in countries such as Japan, Hawaii and the Philippines as a sea vegetable.
In East Asia, laver is one of the most commonly used seaweeds for human consumption.
The name Porphyra is the Greek word for a purple-red colour, although the plant can also be olive-green or chocolate-black.
Bangiaceae
In general, red algae tend to have thin, membranous, slippery fronds varying in colour from olive-green to purple-brown, or even chocolate-black; and species of Porphyra can be difficult to tell apart. Here we look at the botanical profile of P. umbilicalis.
Length: varies from 2 to 100 cm.
Branches and fronds: thin, almost transparent, irregular fronds sometimes attached at one point without a stalk. A lobed blade of no particular shape and often weather-worn by sand and sea. Red and purple in colour often with a green centre; black when dried.
Texture: smooth, gelatinous and floppy.
Holdfast: seems to grow straight out of the rock.
Native: widely distributed from the Mediterranean to the North Sea.
Grows on rocks and stones usually on exposed sandy beaches.
Custom dictates that the plant is not harvested when there is an ‘R’ in the month.
A traditional way was for laver to be made into small flat cakes, and fried crisp in the bacon fat or heated with butter, lemon juice, and pepper and served with roast mutton.
In Wales, laver is eaten in salads, biscuits and as an accompaniment to roasted meat.
Welsh laverbread (bara lawr) is also known as Welsh caviar, apparently without any irony, by older people in Wales.
Traditionally eaten for breakfast, with bacon dripping or with cockles, in early times it was even added as a seaweed puree to oatmeal.
Its use has declined in Wales, although if one has grown up eating laver bread for breakfast it is difficult to do without it.
In Ireland, where the plant was called by many names, including sleabhac, it could be eaten from the pot sometimes with a piece of bacon, or from the pan with a knob of garlic butter.
Other local recipes describe the dried seaweed crumbled over an egg in a cup or on raw tomatoes or lightly steamed carrots.
Laver is probably best known as nori to the rest of the world; it is a popular wrapper for sushi and a flavouring for soups and salads.
It can even be fried and eaten as a snack with beer. In British supermarkets, seaweed for sale is still quite rare despite some successful industries in Wales.
It is worth noting, however, that British laver is not the nori (P. yezoensis or P. tenera) of Japan.
Laver is considered one of the best choices for soups being easy to prepare and having a fine flavour.
In the south it is commonly eaten steamed or stir-fried, in the north it is added to pork dumplings, and the prepared dried sheets are abundant in the markets of China.
It is a food for everyone – considered a treat by poorer people and given as a “highly esteemed” gift to inland Chinese.
In Korea too, Porphyra called ‘gim’, is a common side dish eaten almost daily by all social classes.
In Hawaii, the species P. atropurpurea is considered a great delicacy, called Limu luau, is found in few places on wave-battered rocks where it is dangerous to collect.
However, once this prize has been won it is washed, salted and preserved in bottles or jars for later use.
In the Philippines, Porphyra is dried into a product called ‘gamet’ which is pressed into flat, round cakes.
These are added to vegetable, chicken or seafood soups, fried and served with rice and vegetables, or softened with water and served with salad vegetables especially sliced or mashed tomatoes.
Southern Kwakiutl Indians and Haida Indians of British Columbia gathered Porphyra from rocks in large baskets and left the plant to rot for four or five days before being pressed and dried in the sun.
The dried seaweed ‘cakes’ were then layered in wooden boxes of chiton juice and red cedar boughs and left for months before finally removing and packing to be stored for winter.
All this hard work paid off at tribal feasts where the seaweed cakes were eaten with dried salmon.
The seaweed was also dried in strips on racks then laid on deer hide to be beaten by a wedge into a fine powder, which was then stored in boxes.
The powder might later be cooked over hot stones and eaten with spoons.
A traditional tribal dessert was also made with Porphyra by beating the seaweed in water into a frothy, white mixture to be eaten with fresh berries.
Porphyra was eaten by Seechelt, Squawmish, Nootka, Bellacoola, Tsimshian, and Tlingit Indians, and by many Pacific tribes.
Nutritionally, laver seaweed has a wide range of amino acids, a vitamin A content that is 67 times higher than eggs and vitamin C content 1.5 times higher than oranges. But the shelf life of vitamin C can be short in the dried product.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, nori is among the most nutritious seaweeds, with a protein content of 30-50 percent, and about 75 percent of that is digestible.
Arguably, nori is the most sought-after Porphyra product in Asia and, largely thanks to the popularity of sushi, in the rest of the world too.
Laverbread was said to improve the health of sick miners who suffered from goitre. In fact, folk records for Porphyra go back further to the Ben Cao of Chinese herbal medicine where the species is recommended for high blood pressure.
Recent studies into the consumption of laverbread suggest that women in South Wales had a lower incidence of breast cancer compared to the rest of Britain.
There have been few concerns about seaweed’s toxicity or side effects.
Bangmei, X. & Abbott, I. A. (1987) Edible seaweeds of China and their place in the Chinese diet. Economic Botany. [Online] 41 (3), 341–353.
Bird, F. (2015) Seaweed in the kitchen. London: Prospect Books.
Bunker, F. S. D. et al. (2017) Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland. Plymouth: Wild Nature Press.
Fleurence, J. & Levine, I. A. (eds.) (2016) Seaweed in health and disease prevention. London: Elsevier.
MacArtain, P. et al. (2008) Nutritional value of edible seaweeds. Nutrition Reviews. [Online] 65 (12), 535–543.
Madlener, J. C. (1978) The sea vegetable book. New York: Potter.
Mouritsen, O. G. et al. (2013) Seaweeds: edible, available & sustainable. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Pereira, L. (2016) Edible seaweeds of the world. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Rhatigan, P. (2009) Prannie Rhatigan’s Irish seaweed kitchen: the comprehensive guide to healthy everyday cooking with seaweeds. Holywood: Booklink.
Surey-Gent, S. & Morris, G. (1987) Seaweed: a user’s guide. London: Whittet Books.
Turner, N. C. & Bell, M. A. M. (1973) The ethnobotany of the Southern Kwakiutl Indians of British Columbia. Economic Botany. [Online] 27 (3), 257–310.
Zaneveld, J. S. (1959) The utilization of marine algae in tropical South and east Asia. Economic Botany. [Online] 13 (2), 89–131.
Purple loosestrife can be used as food and medicine.
Below you’ll learn the parts used, harvest time, nutrition and other ways humans use this amazing plant.
Lythraceae
Stems erect, 2-4 feet high, slightly branched, glabrous or softly downy; leaves opposite, or in threes, sessile, clasping the stem, lanceolate, entire; flowers reddish-purple or pink, in rather dense whorls, forming handsome terminal spikes, more or less leafy at the base, the upper floral leaves reduced to bracts.
Perennial. Native
Fens, marsh and river banks.
Purple loosestrife is widely distributed in Europe, North America, Asia, northwest Africa and southeastern Australia.
Flowers and leaves.
Spring.
Young leaves eaten in small amounts. There are claims that the root is edible, although this is questionable as I can find no reference in the ethnobotanical record. Note: It is illegal to dig up roots without landowner’s consent.
Contains flavonoids, polyphenols and tannins REF.
Purple loosestrife has been used in traditional (folk) medicine as a treatment for diarrhoea, chronic intestinal catarrh, haemorrhoids, eczema, varicose veins and bleeding of the gums REF.
A red hair dye was once made from the flowers REF. The dye can also be used as a food colouring.
The plant is high in tannins, so moderate use of the edible leaves and shoots is advised.
A popular bramble fruit, blackberries are often picked in late summer to autumn to make jams, jellies and pies.
Bramble is one of our most commonly used wild edibles and such a familiar hedgerow plant in Britain that it needs no introduction.
The thorny bush often goes overlooked and underappreciated until it starts to produce its fruit.
Traditionally, blackberry picking was a popular late summer activity for many people in Britain, Ireland and other European countries.
In the West Country of England, blackberries are called ‘moochers’, referring to ‘mooching’ or ‘playing truant’, when children are late for school.
The thorny bramble has always been the friend of poor people because of the wool it collects from sheep. Country women made the wool into mops to sell for a few pence.
The name bramble derives from ‘brambel’ or ‘brymbyl’, meaning prickly. While ‘fruticosus’ comes from the Latin for ‘shrubby’.
Rosaceae.
Trailing, tangled, thorny stems bearing five-petalled flowers of varying size and colour, with prickly and toothed green leaves that turn reddish-purple in autumn. The fruits turn from green to red to deep-purple black.
Native to Britain and Ireland.
Commonly found in hedgerows, roadsides and waysides across Britain and Ireland. According to Mrs Grieve’s A Modern Herbal: “In Australia, the blackberry grows more luxuriantly than in any other part of the world, though it is common everywhere.”
Stems, shoots, leaves and fruits.
Stems/shoots/leaves: Spring
Fruits: August to October
Blackberry picking is a popular pastime in the autumn in Britain and Ireland. Many people in towns and villages will walk along waysides and hedgerows to fill their buckets with blackberries to eat, cook and freeze. However, this is not a modern pastime.
Blackberries have been eaten since early human history. The seeds were found in the stomach of a Neolithic man dug up in Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex. They have also been eaten almost worldwide, for example, the berries are gathered and eaten in China.
Today the fruit is one of the most widely collected wild edibles. Blackberries are used to make jam, jellies, wine, liqueurs and pie fillings.
Blackberries are also mixed with crab apples to make fruit cheeses or can be made into savoury-sweet condiments, such as pickles, chutneys and ketchup, and to flavour vinegar.
In seventeenth-century England, blackberry was drunk as a cordial with spices and brandy. The leaves are used for tea. The stems are steamed and used as a vegetable. The young purple shoots can be added to omelettes or eaten with olive oil and lemon juice, or even with fish eggs.
Blackberry blossom is a useful source of nectar for bees too. Honeybees forage on the flowers to produce light-flavoured, fruity honey.
Blanch the Bramble stems in boiling water for 60 seconds. Drain and set aside. Fry the onion until translucent. Add the flour and stir the mixture continuously for roughly 45 seconds. Add the stock and keep stirring on medium heat until the sauce thickens. Add the seasoning and nutmeg, then add the Bramble stems and sour cream to taste. Cook gently for another 5 minutes. Serves 2.
Wash and drain the fruit and place it in a preserving pan. Add the juice of 2 lemons and ½ pint of water. Simmer the mash for 1 hour. Strain through a jelly bag. Towards the end of the juice straining, sterilise some jars.
For every 1 pint of juice, you extract, measure out 1 lb of sugar. Add the sugar to the juice and heat on low, stirring all the time until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer for 1 hour until the liquid has reached the setting point.
The setting point is when you can put a little bit of the juice on a plate. Now push your finger through the juice. If the juice doesn’t automatically fall back into itself and stays at the point you pushed it to; then it’s ready. Make sure you don’t over simmer the juice as you might end up with toffee. Pour into hot sterilised jars.
Some varieties of blackberries have more dietary fibre than wholemeal bread. Blackberries are also a very good source of vitamin C, around 15mg per 100g. Blackberries contain about 5% sugar.
The first berries that ripen are said to be the sweetest and juiciest, whereas smaller berries further up the stalk that ripen later maybe ‘seedy’.
Herbalists have recommended blackberry jelly, cordial or wine for its potent restorative powers. While Culpeper, who himself needs no introduction, praised the plant as a remedy for almost all ailments from wounds and ulcers to fevers and itching.
In Irish folk medicine, bramble leaves, roots and fruits were a common remedy for ailments such as colds, coughs and flu, because of the plant’s astringent and antiseptic properties.
Bramble was also used to treat sore feet, cuts, burns, ulcers, kidney problems and diarrhoea. There were various remedies from mixing bramble juice with butter to treat swellings and blackberry vinegar to treat fevers, colds, gout and arthritis.
In other uses, bramble stems have been used for weaving baskets, thatches, and even beehives, and the roots yield a black dye, as well as being used in the production of an orange dye and a green dye for wool in Scotland and Ireland.
In Devon, bramble shoots were used as fishing rods to pull young rabbits out of burrows. Thorny bramble bushes also provide useful impenetrable barriers alongside country fields.
There are few concerns about using bramble in food and medicine, but always consult your doctor for advice if you have a specific condition.
Allen, D. E. & Hatfield, G. (2004) Medicinal plants in folk tradition: an ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland. Portland: Timber Press.
Culpeper, N. (1995) Culpeper’s complete herbal: a book of natural remedies for ancient ills. Wordsworth reference. Ware: Wordsworth Editions.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants. Vista, CA: Kampong Publications.
Grieve, M. M. (1998) A modern herbal. London: Tiger Books International.
Mabey, R. & Blamey, M. (1974) Food for free. London: Collins.
Mac Coitir, N. & Langrishe, G. (2015) Ireland’s wild plants: myths, legends and folklore.
Sturtevant, E. L. (1919) Sturtevant’s notes on edible plants. Albany: J. B. Lyon.
Vaughan, J. G. et al. (2009) The new Oxford book of food plants. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Watts, D. (2007) Dictionary of plant lore. Amsterdam?; Boston: Elsevier/AP.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
The leaves of wild garlic (Allium ursinum) harvested before flowering have a delicious, sweet and pungent taste. Excellent raw in salads and as pesto. Dry or dehydrate leaves to make crisps.
Cooked leaves are a good vegetable, and they lose their pungency. All parts of the plant make good lactic acid ferments.
Steamed leaf stalks with buds make an interesting alternative to spaghetti. Young fruits make a spicy condiment.
Wild garlic is a plant of shady, damp woodlands, fields and hedgerows.
Ethnobotanist Peter Wyse Jackson says it is found growing throughout Britain, Ireland and Europe.
Its tiny white flowers and bright green leaves in some places form a canopy beneath the trees and in other areas, it’s quite scarce.
It is commonplace in ancient woods where it creates a flowering carpet of star-like blossoms instead of the blue flooring of bluebells.
The English naturalist William Turner in 1548 knew the plant as ramsey, bucrammes (buck rammes) and rammes, and several places in England share its names, such as Ramsbottom (meaning ‘Ramson valley’) in Lancashire and Ramsey (meaning ‘Ramson island’) in Essex and Huntingdonshire.
The name ramsons was a metaphor for bitterness in Irish folklore. There was a saying in County Donegal: “As bitter as wild garlic”.
Wild garlic is a less well-known table vegetable than its domesticated relative, but it can be used the same as any herb or green.
Finely chop or bruise the plant to use raw in salads and sandwiches, or boil and mix with other vegetables to make into soups and side dishes.
Gerard praised its distinctive taste:
“The leaves of Ramsons be stamped and eaten of divers in the Low-countries, with fish for a sauce, even as we do eate greene-sauce made with sorrel. The same leaves may very well be eaten in April and May with butter, of such as are of a strong constitution, and laboring men.”
The plant was an important wild edible in ancient Ireland. Jackson writes:
“Chopped leaves add interest to salads or can be added to flavour other foods, such as stews, sauces, soup or soft cheeses and cottage cheese. The leaves can also be made into a puree with nuts, mustard leaves, olive oil and lemon juice to make a pesto that can be used with pasta or added as flavouring to stews, burgers and other meats.”
Coitir tells us it was often gathered to eat raw or cooked in soup or broth.
The leaves could be wrapped around lamb or fish and grilled for a mild garlic flavour, as suggested by Houston and Milne, or chopped with butter and spread over French bread to make “wild garlic bread”.
As recently as the 19th century in Ireland, wild garlic was used to flavour butter instead of salt.
For a quick bite, the young leaves can be eaten with bread and butter, and the flowers can be sprinkled on salads.
The wild herb was so highly valued in Ireland that, according to the Old Irish Brehon laws, there was a fine for stealing it from private land – the poacher would forfeit “two and a half milch cows”.
One wonders how the penalty of two and a half cows was paid.
François Couplan wrote in his book Le Régal Végétal in 2009 that bear (wild) garlic is one of the most widely consumed wild plants in Europe since human history began.
It has been picked by individuals and families, sold in markets (including France and Switzerland), and commercially marketed in cheeses, sauces and condiments.
In Eastern Europe, its harvested for the food industry. In Romania, the leaves are eaten in spring salads dressed with oil and vinegar, cooked like spinach or made into a sour soup (Ciorba).
In Serbia and Bosnia, the leaves and bulbs are eaten (Srijemoé); in Poland, the leaves are fermented in lactic acid and called Kiszonyczosnekniedzwiedzi.
In Russia, wild garlic and a closely related species A. victorialis are used as an ingredient known as cheremsha.
If you’re thinking about giving wild vegetables a go, why not grow wild garlic in a shady part of the garden or allotment? The plant is not well cultivated and the seeds are largely spread by ants.
Nevertheless, if you can encourage wild garlic to grow on your doorstep, the leaf and bulb are highly nutritious.
The plant has a strong garlic smell that might not appeal to everyone, but its mild flavour is more reminiscent of onions.
Wild food forager Richard Mabey recommends substituting spring onion for wild garlic in salads.
He recalls an Italian chef in the Chilterns, England, who “makes a flavoured olive oil by soaking ramson leaves in it”.
Wild garlic makes a fine addition to omelettes, cream cheeses or dips, sauces, and as a side vegetable to fish.
The bulbs, as well as leaves, can be chopped and cooked in casseroles, and the leaf bulbils can be used like capers.
Wild garlic can be used for several more adventurous dishes, for example: ‘ramsons risotto’, ‘bear garlic soup’, and ‘beartsiki’ – a twist on the Greek tzatziki.
If you don’t have time to deliver your own ramsons delight to the table – don’t worry. Wild garlic leaves are simply delicious in peanut butter sandwiches, according to late English ecologist Oliver Rackham.
The juice of ramsons was once used as a household disinfectant.
The garlic-smelling leaves were used in Scotland to repel midges.
100g of wild garlic leaves contain 45mg of vitamin C and almost 5mg of beta-carotene.
100g of wild garlic bulbs have 16mg of vitamin C and over 2mg of protein.
The plant’s common name of ‘bear garlic’ is from the belief that bears ate wild garlic to regain their strength after a long winter’s slumber.
As one author says:
“Plants of the bear contain the power of renewal and purification. Specifically, they break up hardenings, warm the body and make a person ‘as strong as a bear.”
The cloves of wild garlic were planted for good luck in the thatch of Irish cottages; this custom was also thought to deter fairies.
The plant makes an appearance in Irish legends and poems. The Mad Sweeney – a king of Country Antrim – exiled himself from society and survived in the wild by eating plants, including wild garlic.
The poem about the Hill of Howth, in north County Dublin, mentions the herb: “the peak bright-knolled beyond all hills…full of wild garlic and trees”.
In magic and ritual, wild garlic was thought to scare away venomous creatures; as you’ll read later, this might explain why Dioscorides thought it cured snake bites.
A stranger custom told athletes to chew a piece of the plant before a race to ensure victory, and a similar belief was held for men going into battle.
In astrology, wild garlic was ruled by Mars and Neptune. If it was planted at full moon, it was thought to grow like an onion with only one bulb.
In early Christian traditions, wild garlic flowers were used to decorate churches on the feast day of St Alphege (19 April). The church must have overwhelmed its congregation with the smell.
The ancient Greek physician Dioscorides wrote in the 1st century that garlic could cure the bites of snakes, although this remedy was little mentioned in the works of early herbalists in Britain and Ireland.
Early healers among the Celts, Teutonic tribes and ancient Romans were familiar with the wild herb and called it herba salutaris, meaning ‘healing herb’.
The Physicians of Myddfai, a group of herbalists first recorded around the 13th century in Wales, used wild garlic as a healing plant.
Its medicinal value was believed to be diaphoretic (induces sweating), diuretic (increased urine flow), expectorant (eased breathing), stimulating and antiseptic.
A remedy was recorded by the Welsh physicians: “for a swelling of the stomach. Take goats’ whey, and pound the herb called ramsons, mixing together and straining. Let it be your only drink for three days”.
John Gerard, English herbalist in the 16th century, wrote that wild garlic was good as a cure for stones in the body.
His recommendation was carried into the Scottish Highlands and Islands, where an infusion of the leaves was drunk for ‘gravel’ or ‘stone; the remedy was sometimes taken with brandy.
The plant was made into a poultice for infected wounds and an infusion drunk as a blood tonic.
Wild garlic was greatly valued for its healing properties in Irish folk medicine. It was eaten raw or boiled in milk and rubbed onto skin as a remedy.
The herb was used to treat a host of illnesses: toothache, worms, warts, corns, sores (specifically on the fingers), wounds, sore eyes, toothache, coughs, colds, sore throats, chest and lung infections, asthma, stomach aches, indigestion, kidney problems, measles, mumps, rheumatism, sciatica, tuberculosis; it was even used as a blood purifier and to dissolve blood clots.
The vast range of diseases for which wild garlic was indicated in Ireland made it regarded as a panacea. “’Nine diseases shiver before the garlic’ is a County Sligo saying.
The herb was carried in people’s pockets to ward off flu during the 1918 pandemic in Ireland.
In other parts of the British Isles, the leaves of wild garlic were worn under the soles of the feet to prevent people from catching coughs and colds.
On the Isle of Man, the bulbs were pickled in brown sugar and rum to be stored over winter as a cough-and-cold remedy.
Wild garlic was considered a good preventative in Irish folk medicine to ward off coughs, colds and flu – a belief that was shared in other parts of Britain.
A 17th-century proverb said eating leeks in March and ramsons in May would keep the doctor away:
“Eat leeks in Lide March and ramsins in May
And all the year after physitians may play.
CN French, A Countryman’s Day Book (1929)
In Ireland, wild garlic was sometimes employed as a veterinary remedy for various ailments in horses and cattle, such as ringworm in calves.
In County Westmeath, the herb was grown in fields for cows to graze because of its beneficial effects; although some said it tainted the flavour of butter.
As recently as 2001, there is a record of using wild garlic cloves – inserted under the tail – to treat cattle diseases.
Wild garlic has many benefits over its domesticated cousin (A. sativum).
It was recognised as “Plant of the Year” in 1992 by the Association for the Protection and Research of European Medicinal Plants.
Wild garlic has higher quantities of the heart-friendly constituents ajoene and adenosine, which help to lower blood pressure and reduce blood cholesterol.
Research by Professor Holger Kiesewetter at Homburg University Clinic, Germany, found that one gram of wild garlic taken daily can improve blood circulation.
Wild garlic is not only a heart protector and blood purifier, it also cleanses and improves digestion, which is helpful to various ailments from skin disorders to stomach problems, and it boosts the body’s immune system.
The bruised plant releases a chemical called allicin that acts against microorganisms. This supports its use in herbalism for coughs, colds, flu and sore throats.
Present-day herbals also recommend wild garlic as a stomach tonic, and for conditions that benefit from an improved flow of bile and increased urination; it can be used to relieve cramps and tackle obesity.
As a healing herb, wild garlic can be drunk as a tea, taken as a macerated oil (for example, in olive oil), or eaten raw in salads and sandwiches.
Before rushing out to pick wild garlic in spring, however, do check first with your doctor before using a herbal medicine to treat any condition.
Some people are allergic to plants related to garlic and reported side effects from taking wild garlic range from bad breath and stomach upsets to allergic reactions.
Overindulgence in the herb might also cause flatulence and heartburn.
Duke cautions that it may thin blood and therefore is not suitable for people taking blood-thinning medication.
Here are answers to over 20 frequently asked questions about wild garlic.
Lesser Celandine belongs to the buttercup family. The bright yellow flowers appear briefly in early spring.
The plant has a long history as a wild edible with its large fleshy roots and green shoots that appear as one of the first signs of spring.
Ficaria verna (= Ranunculus ficaria)
Ranunculaceae.
The stem and leaves are brightly coloured green, younger leaves are heart-shaped and become ivy-like in appearance with darker markings. The shiny flowers are composed of seven to twelve golden-yellow petals with a green underside. The fruit appears like grains of corn, being globular and whitish.
Perennial. Native to Europe, western Asia and North Africa.
Distributed across Europe, western Asia and North Africa, found in fields, hillsides, riverbanks and woodlands.
Young leaves are picked before the plant flowers. Roots.
Early spring.
The plant’s roots swell up to form bulbs or tubers, which are reputedly delicious and can be eaten as a starchy vegetable. Lesser celandine has been used as a potherb in central Europe, and the cooked young parts of the plant have been added to salads.
All parts of this plant need to be cooked.
Lesser celandine may contain antioxidants that make it worthy as a springtime tonic, although further research into its biological activities is needed.
Lesser celandine was a traditional remedy for piles; its common name of figwort alludes to ‘fig’ as an old name for piles. An ointment of the roots was also said to cure corns and worts.
An unusual use for the petals and leaves recorded in Cumbria, England, was for cleaning teeth.
Do not eat lesser celandine raw. Protoanemonin, which is the toxic compound in the plant is destroyed by cooking and drying.
As a member of the buttercup family, lesser celandine may cause contact dermatitis in humans and animals.
The plant sap may also cause nausea and vomiting if taken internally; the plant’s safety during pregnancy or when breastfeeding is not established and therefore best avoided.
Allen, D. E. & Hatfield, G. (2004) Medicinal plants in folk tradition: an ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland. Portland: Timber Press.
Barla, G. F. et al. (2016) Antioxidant activity and total phenolic content in Allium ursinum and Ranunculus Ficaria. Food and Environment Safety Journal. 13 (4).
Grieve, M. M. (1998) A modern herbal. London: Tiger Books International.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s herbal: the secret history of British plants. London: Penguin.
Karalliedde, L. et al. (2008) Traditional herbal medicines: a guide to their safer use. London: Hammersmith.
Klooss, S. et al. (2016) Charred root tubers of lesser celandine ( Ficaria verna HUDS.) in plant macro remain assemblages from Northern, Central and Western Europe. Quaternary International. [Online] 40425–42.
Komarova, B. institut im. V. L. (1963) Flora of the U.S.S.R. Jerusalem: Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation by the Israel Program for Scientific Translations.
Turner, N. J. et al. (2011) Edible and tended wild plants, traditional ecological knowledge and agroecology. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences. [Online] 30 (1–2), 198–225.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
Common hawthorn in blossom is a familiar sight along hedgerows, woodlands and scrubs in spring.
It was famously known as the May-Tree or may-blossom for it was said to flower in May, and it once played a large part in May Day festivities.
Today it is no longer a fairy tree but it is a useful plant to herbalists and foragers of wild edibles.
Rosaceae
A tree reaching up to 13 ft; it takes around 20–50 years to reach its ultimate height. The bark is deeply fissured with orange lower layers and greyish-brown upper layers. The spiny twigs are stiff red-brown or greenish with brown buds.
The leaves are long, roughly oval and lobed into three segments, dark green above and paler below with a tough feel, the stem is tinged pink. Flowers are five-petalled and white (although sometimes described as creamy and tinged pink); they appear as flat, spraying clusters. Dark red berries appear in autumn.
Perennial. Native.
Found in deciduous woodland, hedgerows, scrub. Native to Europe, Britain and North Africa.
Leaf, flower, fruit.
Spring and Autumn.
Traditionally hawthorn berries are used to make jellies, wines and ketchup. Honeybees foraging on hawthorn blossoms bring a harvest of dark amber and nutty hawthorn honey.
The young leaves and shoots of common hawthorn are edible and were once known as “bread and cheese”.
Hawthorn contains flavonoids with heart-friendly antioxidant activity, as well as tannins, essential oils, fruit acids and sugars. The plant also contains vitamins B and C.
In some parts of Portugal, children were given haws to eat because of their high nutritional content.
Hawthorn has been described as “nutrition for the heart” being widely recommended in herbal medicine for heart complaints.
Common hawthorn remains a frequent shrub of hedgerows in Britain and is an effective barrier against livestock and humans thanks to its thickly twisted, thorny branches.
The tree’s finely grained and tough timber can be used for engraving, carpentry, furniture, boxes and even boat parts.
Do not eat the seed.
Haws, or berries may cause a mild stomach upset.
It is advised that pregnant or breastfeeding women avoid the herb. However, other sources suggest that there have been no adverse effects caused by hawthorn during pregnancy or when breastfeeding.
It is best to speak with a qualified medical herbalist if you are unsure.
Banbery, S. (2010) Collins beekeeper’s bible: bees, honey, recipes and other home uses. London: HarperCollins.
Kress, H. (2018) Practical herbs vol. 2. UK: Aeon Books.
Sánchez-Mata, M. de C. & Tardío, J. (eds.) (2016) Mediterranean wild edible plants: ethnobotany and food composition tables. [Online]. New York: Springer.
Sterry, P. (2007) Complete British trees. London: Collins.Thiselton-Dyer, T. F. (1889) The folk-lore of plants. London: D. Appleton.
Yance, D. R. (2013) Adaptogens in medical herbalism: elite herbs and natural compounds for mastering stress, aging, and chronic disease. Rochester, Vermont: Healing Arts Press.
The Beech belongs to the same family as the oak and chestnut – Fagaceae. Its species name Fagus sylvatica refers to the tree’s woodland habitat.
There are differences of opinion about its arrival in Britain. Some sources lean heavily on the report of the Gallic wars in De Bello Gallico by Julius Caesar (100–44 BC), who said there were no beech trees in Britain and that the beech must have been introduced during the Roman occupation.
Other sources suggest that Caesar did not see enough of the British Isles to know any better. Archaeological finds of Beech pollen in peat deposits suggest that Beech trees arrived in Britain long before the Romans did.
The story of Beech includes more than 100 uses for its wood, bark, leaves, flowers and nuts. If you can’t find a use for Beech in your home and garden, enjoy its decorative features in parks and remember to appreciate its shade in summer.
Be warned. The Beech is easily displeased, so mind your language and don’t swear lest the tree drops a branch.
Fagaceae
Beech trees have smooth, grey bark and bright green, oval leaves with wavy, hairy margins. The fruits contain one or two shiny, brown nuts. Male flowers are numerous and tassel-like, and female flowers are displayed in pairs of erect clusters. The tree grows to about 40-140 ft.
Deciduous. Native.
Damp, heavy soils of forests, parks, avenues, and hedges.
Nuts/mast, leaves.
Spring to autumn.
The ancient Greeks believed that beechnuts or ‘mast’ were the first food eaten by humans. The nuts are edible but should not be eaten in large quantities (see Cautions). The leaves have also been eaten as a salad vegetable.
Beech bark is thought to be astringent, but few data suggest other nutritional properties.
Beech has been used in many healing rituals since ancient times, but traditionally the tree was a remedy for minor ailments such as boils, piles and other skin complaints. These uses may be due to the bark’s astringent effect.
The wood has been used to make furniture, bowls, baskets and kitchen utensils. Tar from the timber can be used to make creosote.
Excessive consumption of raw nuts may cause poisoning. The tree is best avoided in food and medicine when pregnant or breastfeeding.
Cleene, M. de & Lejeune, M. C. (2002) Compendium of symbolic and ritual plants in Europe. Ghent: Man & Culture.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s herbal: the secret history of British plants. London: Penguin.
One of the principal uses of ash (Fraxinus excelsior) has been as a timber tree.
The wood is renowned for its strength and flexibility for building, furniture-making, garden tools, farming equipment, weapons and musical instruments.
Geoffrey Grigson writes that the ash is “immensely useful even in our age of steel and alloy”.
John Evelyn (1620–1706) wrote in his Sylva that the ash is so useful that “every prudent Lord of a Manor should employ one acre of ground with Ash to every twenty acres of other land, since in as many years it would be more worth than the land itself”.
In Britain, ash remains one of the most important hardwoods grown by the Forestry Commission.
Our main interest here lies in the ash tree’s story through myth and magic, food and medicine.
The ash is famous in many cultures as a powerful tree of life, death and rebirth.
It was believed that its roots extended as far below the earth as its branches rose to the sky.
The ash is a tree of immense symbolism and meaning, and as such, it has been protected and respected throughout the ages.
The beautiful elegance of the ash tree earned it the title ‘Venus of the forest’, but its familiarity, as Culpeper said, needed no description.
Oleaceae
Ash has light grey bark, and large compound leaves divided into four or eight pairs of lance-shaped leaflets with sharply toothed margins. The tree grows up to 40 m. The leaves are preceded by black flower buds bursting into clusters of greenish-white or purplish colours. Each fruit or seed has a single long wing called an ‘ash key’, which aids wind pollination.
Deciduous. Native.
Deciduous woodland, hedgerows, scrub.
Seeds, shoots, leaves and sap.
Spring.
The keys (the winged seeds) have been eaten as a pickle in Europe and Asia. The young shoots are edible and can be added raw to salads. The leaves have been used for tea. The tree sap can be tapped to make ash wine.
It is not noted as having any particular nutritional benefits, although its astringency may explain some of its healing effects in folk medicine. The leaves may have a laxative effect.
It was once an ancient remedy for snake bites and was believed to cure many ailments, from obesity to leprosy! The tree was also used to treat jaundice, kidney and bladder stones, flatulence, warts, ringworm, and earache.
The wood was used to make spears and was excellent for firewood.
There is little data that I can find a warning about the side effects of using ash in food and medicine.
Allen, D. E. & Hatfield, G. (2004) Medicinal plants in folk tradition: an ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland. Portland: Timber Press.
Cleene, M. de & Lejeune, M. C. (2002) Compendium of symbolic and ritual plants in Europe. Ghent: Man & Culture.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants. Vista, CA: Kampong Publications.
Kunkel, G. (1984) Plants for human consumption: an annotated checklist of the edible phanerogams and ferns. Koenigstein: Koeltz Scientific Books.
Grieve, M. M. (1998) A modern herbal. London: Tiger Books International
Wild Angelica (Angelica sylvestris) has often been regarded as the poor man’s substitute for garden angelica (Angelica archangelica).
However, the uses of this wild edible are just as varied and interesting.
Apiaceae
Umbrella-like clusters of white flowers tinged with pink or purple burst from a hairy stalk and stem with purple furrows. The appearance of the leaves might be confused with the leaves of poisonous hemlock water-dropwort (Oenanthe crocata). The inner stem is spongy and the short, thick root is filled with milky juice. The seeds are reddish and hard.
Native to Britain, Europe, northern and southwestern Asia; introduced to Canada and North America.
Prefers woodlands, hedgerows, wetlands, streams, marshes, and canal banks.
Stalk, leaves, flowers, root.
A perennial plant flowering from July to September.
The traditional use for angelica – both wild and garden angelica – is as candied decoration for cakes and sweets.
Garden angelica is more often used because the leaf stalks and stems are not as tough and bitter as Wild Angelica.
The shoots, stalks or stems are boiled till soft then peeled and the fleshy pulp is crystallised by soaking in sugar syrup and baking in the oven.
Wild Angelica is almost as versatile in the kitchen as garden angelica, and it can be used as a substitute for garden angelica in most recipes for sweet and savoury dishes.
Boil the young leaves and stems to eat as a vegetable or chop the leaves and add them to stewed fruit like rhubarb.
The sweet-tasting roots are also edible and the aromatic seeds can be used as a culinary spice.
There is little information on the nutritional properties of Wild Angelica; however, it may be helpful as a medicinal food.
The plant can be useful for minor stomach upsets and indigestion thanks to its antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory actions.
Wild Angelica is often recorded in herbals as a poorer substitute for garden angelica.
Like garden angelica, it may be used for many complaints from lung and chest diseases to rheumatism and corns – however, garden angelica is often the preferred plant of choice.
There are specifically documented uses for Wild Angelica in Irish folk medicine. For example, chewing the plant’s roots before breakfast was said to cure heart palpitations and promote urination.
Irish records also document Wild Angelica as a treatment for epilepsy and to treat hydrophobia (a fear of water that was a symptom particularly associated with rabies in humans).
Young children used the plant’s hollow stems as ‘pea shooters’.
Like all species of angelica, Wild Angelica contains phototoxic compounds called furanocoumarins that may cause sensitivity to the sun.
Wild angelica juice may also cause some individuals a rash or skin inflammation.
Jackson, PW. Ireland’s Generous Nature. The Past and Present Uses of Wild Plants in Ireland. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. St Louis, Missouri, 2014.
Facciola, S. Cornucopia II. A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications. Vista, California, 1998.
Quattrocchi, U. World Dictionary of Medical and Poisonous Plants. CRC Press. Taylor & Francis Group. Florida, 2012.
Allen, DE. Hatfield, G. Medicinal Plants in Folk Tradition. An Ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland. Timber Press. Portland, Oregon 2004.
Pieroni, A. Quave, CL (eds). Enthobotany and Biocultural Diversities in the Balkans: Perspectives on Sustainable Rural Development and Reconciliation. Springer. London, 2014.
Couplan, F. The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America. Nature’s Green Feast. Keats Publishing. Connecticut, 1998.
Home > Plants > Alexanders
Alexanders has a fascinating past, used as food and medicine since Roman times.
Once called “parsley of Alexandria,” people grew this herb in gardens for years. But then celery became more popular. Even so, Alexanders still grows near the sea today.
What makes Alexanders special is its ability to create aromatic oils. These oils have a strong, sweet smell that attracts many pollinating insects.
This happens because it’s part of the Apiaceae plant family. This family is famous for making fragrant oils.
Pliny, a Roman naturalist from the first century AD, called Alexanders “Smyrnium” because it smelled like myrrh.
This tall plant can grow up to 1.5 meters in height and produces greenish-yellow flowers arranged in umbrella-shaped clusters. The flowers emit a strong, myrrh-like scent. The leaves are bright green and have toothed edges, arranged in groups of three at the end of the leaf stalk. The fruit is round and has ridges, and when fully ripened, it turns blackish in colour.
Biennial. Mediterranean native.
You can find this Mediterranean plant in many places. It grows near the coast, on sea cliffs, and along roadsides. It also does well in old ruins, hedges, banks, and quarries. The plant comes from Asia Minor, Syria, and the Canary Islands. People have brought it to the British Isles, where it now grows naturally.
Leaves, stalks, fruit and root.
Spring to summer.
Alexanders, once called “black potherb,” has black, spicy seeds. It often grows in old monastery ruins where monks grew it as a garden herb.
Cook the leaves and stalks for soups, broths, and stews. Use the flowers as spice and decoration in salads. Eat the buds pickled or fried. Add the root to casseroles and stews like parsnip.
This plant is a valuable source of protein, carbohydrates, and fatty acids, which are all found in its fruits.
Furthermore, the plant is rich in flavonoids and other bioactive compounds that offer a range of health benefits.
Alexanders was a traditional plant for cleansing the blood and a digestive herb for strengthening the stomach.
Seafarers used it to treat scurvy and herbalists used it to relieve stomach and urinary problems.
Alexanders was also a remedy for headaches, toothaches, swellings of the body, cuts and bruises, asthma and consumption, or tuberculosis.
There is not much data on this plant’s toxicity. Talk to a health advisor before using it as medicine.
Guarrera, P. M. & Savo, V. (2016) Wild food plants used in traditional vegetable mixtures in Italy. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. [Online] 185202–234.
Bertoli, A. et al. (2004) Volatile constituents of different parts (roots, stems and leaves) of Smyrnium olusatrum L. Flavour and Fragrance Journal. [Online] 19 (6), 522–525.
Mugwort is one of our commonest weeds, with around 250-300 species in northern Europe, including wormwood, southernwood and the common mugwort.
As a group of plants, mugworts held an important place in antiquity. They were dedicated to Artemis in Greek mythology or to her equivalent Diana in Roman mythology, the goddess of the moon, women and childbirth.
Her temples were places of healing, and her sacred herb was often used for curing female-related illnesses.
Another ancient story tells of Queen Artemisia, who was sister, consort and successor to Mausolus (c376–353BC) of Caria in southwest Anatolia. Around 352BC, she built a monument using mugworts to her husband Halicarnassus.
We don’t know whether the common mugwort was the same Artemisia of legend, but it’s likely to be the same plant known to herbalists in the Middle Ages.
It is considered a female plant reflecting its mythical origins; another species in the same group, wormwood, is considered to be male.
Common mugwort was known as the Mater Herbarum, or Mother of Herbs, in Europe with a formidable reputation as a magical plant, a reliable remedy for female complaints, and an effective nerve tonic.
Asteraceae.
Small reddish or pale yellow woolly flowers on short reddish or purplish stems with shiny green, pointed leaves. The roots are long, tough and brown with inner white flesh. The plant grows up to 1.5 m.
Perennial. Introduced.
This European and Asian native is naturalised in North America and Canada and has been introduced to Iceland. Mugwort is found growing along roadside verges, waste places and fields.
Young shoots, flower buds, flowers, stems and leaves.
Summer to autumn.
Mugwort can be used as an aromatic herb added to soups, stews or stuffing for meat dishes, or infused as a tea. The herb is said to improve digestion.
The young stems can be added to salads and the leaves or shoots can be cooked as a vegetable.
The plant is rich in vitamin C and unsaturated fatty acids.
Mugwort is sometimes referred to as the ‘women’s herb’ because it was used to promote menstruation and induce childbirth.
Another common use for the plant was to treat stomach disorders, including stimulating the appetite, easing nausea or curing worms.
Mugwort is sometimes used as an ingredient in perfumes and soaps. It has also been used as an insect repellant.
The Irish smoked the leaves as a substitute for tobacco, which was said to stimulate poor appetites.
Mugwort should not be used during pregnancy because it can promote menstruation.
Grieve M. A Modern Herbal Vol 2 (I-Z): The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs, & Trees with All Their Modern Scientific Uses. Dover Publications; 1971.
Cleene M de, Lejeune MC. Compendium of Symbolic and Ritual Plants in Europe. Man & Culture; 2002.
Carvalho IS, Teixeira MC, Brodelius M. Fatty Acids Profile of Selected Artemisia Spp. Plants. LWT – Food Science and Technology. 2011;44(1):293-298. doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2010.05.033
Kermath, BM, Bennet, BC, Pulsipher, LM. Food Plants in the Americas: A Survey of the Domesticated, Cultivated, and Wild Plants Used for Human Food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Published online 2013.
Hatfield G. Hatfield’s Herbal: The Secret History of British Plants. Penguin; 2008.
Wyse Jackson P. Ireland’s Generous Nature: The Past and Present Uses of Wild Plants in Ireland. Missouri Botanical Garden Press; 2013.
Couplan F. The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America. Keats Pub; 1998.
Kuhnlein HV, Turner NJ. Traditional Plant Foods of Canadian Indigenous Peoples: Nutrition, Botany and Use. Routledge; 1991.
Dandelion grows abundantly in many parks and gardens. This easily recognisable weed was once a cure-all of herbal medicine and is still popular in food and drink.
Asteraceae.
Bright yellow composite flowers crown an erect stem (up to 1-30 cm) emerging from a rosette of large jagged, green leaves. Older plants have a long tapering white root and younger plants have thinner roots and rhizomes.
Perennial. Distributed in temperate zones.
Native to many temperate parts of the world, they are found growing in gardens, parks, lawns, roadsides, waysides, meadows, fields, orchards and woodlands.
Roots, leaves, buds and flowers.
Early spring to late autumn.
Dandelion-and-burdock is a popular fizzy drink made in the north of England. The root has also traditionally been used to make a coffee substitute.
The leaves of the plant are considered to be very nutritious and can be eaten as a salad or fresh vegetable. In Asian cooking, for example, the leaves are used like lettuce, boiled, made into soup or fried.
The flower buds can be added to omelettes and fritters, the flowers baked into cakes, and even the pollen sprinkled on food for decoration and colouring. Blossoms make a delicious country wine and beer is brewed from the whole plant before it flowers.
The greens contain vitamins A, C, E, K, B6, beta carotene, folate, thiamine, riboflavin, calcium, iron, potassium and manganese.
The plant has been used as herbal medicine to treat wide-ranging conditions, including stomach and liver complaints, diabetes, heart problems, anaemia, respiratory ailments, consumption (tuberculosis), toothache, broken bones and sprains, sore eyes, cuts and nervousness.
The plant provides a rich source of nectar and pollen for bees and other pollinating insects from early spring to late autumn.
As a member of the same plant family as ragwort and daisies, dandelion may cause allergies. However, there are few documented cases of the plant’s toxicity in humans.
Couplan, F. (1998) The encyclopedia of edible plants of North America. New Canaan: Keats Pub.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants. Vista, CA: Kampong Publications.
Hatfield, G. (2008) Hatfield’s herbal: the secret history of British plants. London: Penguin.
Mills, S. Y. & Bone, K. (eds.) (2005) The essential guide to herbal safety. St. Louis: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone.
Tanaka, Y. & Nguyen, V. K. (2007) Edible wild plants of Vietnam: the bountiful garden. Bangkok: Orchid Press.
Thayer, S. (2006) The forager’s harvest: a guide to identifying, harvesting, and preparing edible wild plants. Ogema: Forager’s Harvest.
Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
The plant was introduced to the British Isles in 1730 and is now considered naturalised.
The dried, red fruits are eaten in rich tonic soups and stews of poultry or meat, to which they impart a delicate sweet flavour.
Leaves and fruits are used for making tea.
Fruits are sold in health shops and known as Goji berries.
Scientific name: Lycium barbarum
Family: Caprifoliaceae
Common Mallow is an attractive species that has been used throughout history in food and medicine.
In traditional folk medicine, common mallow was often used for making medicinal poultices and soothing ointments.
It was also harvested as a nutritious wild edible, as you will see below.
Malvaceae
Purplish, pink flowers adorn a coarse, hairy stem with lobed, crinkly leaves that resemble ivy. The plant grows up to 40-120 cm. The seeds appear as edible flat discs.
Biennial or perennial. Native.
Cultivated land, grassland, roadsides, scrub, wasteland
Leaves, flowers, roots and seed or ‘nutlets’.
March, April, July, August, September.
Common mallow yields disc-shaped seeds, or ‘nutlets’, that are edible and snacked on like ‘cheeses’. The leaves can be cooked and eaten like spinach, added to thicken soups or deep-fried like green wafers. The flowers and buds can be pickled.
Common mallow is a highly nutritious green, containing (per 100 g of fresh weight) 4.6 g protein, 1.4 g fat, 24 mg vitamin C, as well as vitamin A and carotenoids.
The fats contain important omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which could help to reduce the incidence of chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
The leaves also contain health-giving antioxidants. Common mallow is also a good source of dietary fibre.
Common mallow was once a ‘cure-all’ of Medieval herbal medicine. It was used to treat many conditions from stomach ache to problems during childbirth.
In Britain and Ireland, the plant has been used as a laxative, to cleanse the liver, to cure blood poisoning, and to treat urinary problems, rheumatism, heartburn, coughs and cuts.
The mucilaginous roots, in particular, were used to make poultices and soothing ointments.
There are no particular uses for common mallow outside food and medicine, although the pretty flowers can be used for decoration around the home.
The seeds may be poisonous if eaten in large quantities.
Barros, L. et al. (2010) Leaves, flowers, immature fruits and leafy flowered stems of Malva sylvestris: A comparative study of the nutraceutical potential and composition. Food and Chemical Toxicology. [Online] 48 (6), 1466–1472.
Duke, J. A. (1992) Handbook of edible weeds. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Eland, S. C. & Lucas, G. (2013) Plant biographies.
Facciola, S. (1998) Cornucopia II: a source book of edible plants. Vista: Kampong Publications.
Gasparetto, J. C. et al. (2012) Ethnobotanical and scientific aspects of Malva sylvestris L.: a millennial herbal medicine: Scientific evidences of Malva sylvestris. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology. [Online] 64 (2), 172–189.
Grigson, G. (1996) The Englishman’s flora. Oxford: Helicon.Guil, J. L. et al. (1997) Nutritional and toxic factors in selected wild edible plants. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition (Dordrecht, Netherlands). [Online] 51 (2), 99–107.
Kuhnlein, H. V. & Turner, N. J. (1991) Traditional plant foods of Canadian indigenous peoples: nutrition, botany, and use. Food and nutrition in history and anthropology v. 8. Philadelphia: Gordon and Breach.
Mabey, R. & Blamey, M. (1974) Food for free. London: Collins.
MacNicol, M. (1972) Flower cookery: the art of cooking with flowers. New York: Collier Books.
Quattrocchi, U. (2012) CRC world dictionary of medicinal and poisonous plants: common names, scientific names, eponyms, synonyms, and etymology (5 Volume Set). Boca Raton: CRC press.
Sánchez-Mata, M. de C. & Tardío, J. (eds.) (2016) Mediterranean wild edible plants: ethnobotany and food composition tables. [Online]. New York: Springer.
Wyse Jackson, P. (2013) Ireland’s generous nature: the past and present uses of wild plants in Ireland. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
The common name for Burdock that we are familiar with today, the English ‘bur’, originated from the French bourre, meaning ‘woolly’.
Grieve attributes the French bourre to the Latin burre, or ‘lock of wool’ frequently found entangled with the plant where sheep have grazed.
Burdock might be a form of beurre or butter, which comes from a farm custom of wrapping butter in the large leaves to keep it cool.
While the plant’s resemblance to docks, literally seen as a ‘dock with burs’, led to its name bur-dock.
Arctium lappa and Arctium minus
Asteraceae
Greater burdock grows up to 1-2 m bearing large, heart-shaped, dull green leaves with fine hairs. The flowers are globe-shaped and thistle-like, becoming bur-like seed heads.
Lesser burdock grows up to 1-1.5 m tall with longer heart-shaped, dark green leaves and prickly flowers varying from pink to lavender in colour.
Biennials. Native.
Scrubs, woodlands, roadsides, fields and wastelands.
Largely the roots, but also the flower stem.
Summer to autumn.
Roots can be eaten cooked as a boiled or fried vegetable. It is more common in Asian cooking in Japan and China. The flower stem can also be used as a wild edible salad vegetable, but it needs peeling first.
Contains vitamin C as one of its most valued nutrients.
Primarily used as a blood purifier and as a herbal remedy for skin diseases and infections.
The large heart-shaped leaves were used as masks by actors in Ancient Greece. The prickly burs helped to inspire the invention of velcro.
May cause contact dermatitis in some. The plant is best avoided in pregnancy due to oestrogenic effects. Burdock may also interfere with some medications.
Duke, J. A. (1985) CRC handbook of medicinal herbs. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Grieve, M. M. (1998) A modern herbal. London: Tiger Books International.
Pedersen, M. (2010) Nutritional herbology: a reference guide to herbs. Warsaw: Whitman Publications.
Home > Plants > Field bindweed
Convolvulus arvensis
Convolvulaceae
Cultivated land, dunes, hedgerows, roadsides, short turf, wasteland.
Reliable resources for accurate botanical photo identification of field bindweed.
May, July, August, and September
WARNING: Very experimental; tread cautiously.
Just because a plant was used as food in the past does not mean it is safe to eat. Borage and comfrey are classic examples of this. When you see a warning on these plant profiles like this, it is for a reason, consume at your own risk.
Bindweed contains several alkaloids, including pseudotropine and lesser amounts of tropine, tropinone, and meso-cuscohygrine.
Recently a scientist from a French university contacted me. She wrote:
“Here is an article about the distribution of ergot-alkaloids in different plant parts of several Ipomoea species, comparing untreated with fungicide-treated seeds to try to figure out how much was due to the plant (answer = probably some) and how much to the fungus (answer = more).
Admittedly I have found nothing on Convolvulus, but I suspect this means that nobody has looked, not that there is none.
The toxicity of Morning Glories was (in part at least) due to ergot-like producing micro-organisms that grow endophytically.
Because of this, since infection rates with these microbes can vary over time and space, but that some are very very toxic and disturbing, it may be best to avoid morning glories entirely.”
Rhizomes, young shoots, young rosettes, young leaves, seeds.
In Croatia, the leaves are boiled and eaten as a vegetable.
In China, tender young rhizomes with a few young leaves are gathered from sorghum fields in early spring, mixed with cracked wheat and ground beans and made into a thin gruel. They are used in very small amounts as too much will cause diarrhoea.
In Spain, in the regions of South Eastern Albacete and South Central Jaen, the flowers are sucked for their honey-like nectar. They are not eaten. In Palencia, the leaves are boiled before being added to salad.
In Turkey, they cook the leaves in with other vegetables.
In Ladakh, the leaves are eaten raw as well as cooked. The seeds are boiled in onion and tomato and then fried in oil before being eaten. Tender young leaves and shoots are boiled and washed extremely well with water before being mixed with curd in a dish called tangthour.
In Poland, at the end of the 19th century, young shoots were gathered and boiled, then fried with butter, cream, flour or eggs.
Couplan, F. & Coppens, Y. (2009) Le Régal végétal: plantes sauvages comestibles. Paris: Sang de la Terre.
Hu, S. (2005) Food plants of China. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press.
Jain, S. K. (2016) Indian ethnobotany emerging trends. India: Scientific Publishers.
Kizilarslan, Ç. (2012) An ethnobotanical study of the useful and edible plants of Izmit. Marmara Pharmaceutical Journal. [Online] 3 (16), 194–200.
Luczaj, L. et al. (2013) Wild food plants used in the villages of the lake Vrana nature park (northern Dalmatia, Croatia). Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae. 82 (4).
Muthaiah, P. et al. (2010) Phytofoods of Nubra valley, Ladakh – The cold desert. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge. 9303–308.
Pascual, J. & Herrero, B. (2017) Wild food plants gathered in the upper Pisuerga river basin, Palencia, Spain. Botany Letters. [Online] 1641–10.
Tardío, J. et al. (2006) Ethnobotanical review of wild edible plants in Spain. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. [Online] 152 (1), 27–71.