Category Archives: Wild Edibles

Mot en Norsk Spiselig Flora / Towards a Norwegian Edibles Flora

January 23, 2019 Stephen Barstow 2 Comments

English text at the bottom!

Jeg har opp gjennom årene prøvd å dyrke over 6000 spiselige planter i Malvik like øst for Trondheim. Dette har vært inspirert av Food for Free bevegelsen på 1970-tallet og i hovedsak tre hovedverker om verdens spiselige planter: Sturtevant’s Edible Plants of the World Hedrick (1919), Stephen Facciolas Cornucopia II (1998) og Plants for a Future databasen (www.pfaf.org). Dette ble en spennende reise inn i verdens mat, lokal domestisering og sanketradisjoner og jeg oppdaget etter hvert både ville vekster og prydplanter i Norge som var viktige matplanter i andre verdensdeler som var ukjent i Norge som mat. Attpåtil var de ofte godsmakende også.

Jeg skulle gjerne fortelle om disse oppdagelsene og jeg begynte derfor å skrive en serie artikler for bladet Våre Nyttevekster (senere Sopp og Nyttevekster): strutseving (2002), strandstjerne (2004), ormerot (2006), slirekne (2010). Jeg også begynte å holde et foredrag «Jorda rundt med plante som smaker» og dette ble etter hvert til en bok Around the World in 80 plants fra 2014 som handler om min topp 80 flerårige grønnsaker som jeg hadde dyrket og hvordan jeg hadde kommet frem til at flerårige grønnsaker var et bedre valg for kalde strøk, burde generelt dyrkes mer fordi de krever mindre energi og vann, binder mer karbon og er også sunnere enn tradisjonelle grønnsaker. Samtidig, takket være interessen i Middelhavsdietten har det blitt gjennomført hundrevis av etnobotaniske studier i Europa de siste 20 årene og mange nye spiselige arter er oppdaget siden min bok ble ferdig i 2013. Resultatene har vist at det har tradisjonelt vært spist over 3000 planter kun i Middelhavslandene, et enormt mangfold! Det er dette mangfoldet som karakteriserer tradisjonelle kosthold i mange land. I tillegg er det oppdaget mangfoldsretter ofte med over 50 planter villinnsamlet og dyrket. Dette ga inspirasjon til mine mangfoldsalater og min verdensrekord på 537 ingredienser i en salat fra 2004. Med økt interesse i lokal mat (både dyrket og sanket) er det flere av forfatterene av disse etnobotaniske studiene de siste årene som har foreslått dyrking av enkelte arter.

Jeg fikk lyst til å søke systematisk gjennom norsk flora på jakt etter andre spiselige planter som ikke er oppdaget enda og jeg fikk en Excel liste av alle karplanter registrert i Norge, dvs både hjemlige og fremmede arter, laget av Norsk Botanisk Forening (i 2008). Det er til sammen 4613 taksa i listen. Jeg har stort sett bare vurdert spiseligheten av arter (underarter og hybrider regnes å ha samme nytten). Det var igjen en liste over 2806 arter som er vurdert, et arbeid som har tatt 9 år å bli ferdig med (av forskjellige grunner, ikke bare arbeidsomfang som var riktignok mye større enn jeg hadde forestilt meg!). Spiseligheten av aller artene er vurdert og alle har fått en rangering på en verdiskala fra 1-5 hvor 5 er mest verdifull! Verdien i matlaging er basert på Plants for a Future databasen hvor alle plantene er rangert for spiselighet og dette er justert / supplert etter mine egne erfaringer. Når det gjelder de etterhvert mange spiselige arter som ikke er med i PFAF har jeg vurdert plantene så godt jeg kunne. Om det er snakk om planter hvor jeg ikke har erfaring selv og planten er lite brukt har den fått en verdi på 1. Det finnes en del giftige planter som er brukt etter koking / tørking (det gjelder feks smørblomstfamilien) og dette er notert ved å bruke en † symbol. NB! En del av artene er fredet og jeg på ingen måte oppfordrer til å spise feks orkideer, men etnobotaniske informasjon ER med for alle planter!

Spiseligheten er vurdert i korthet ved å notere hvilken plantedel som brukes og hvordan, feks blad eller rot i supper, salat osv. Dette er gjort først og fremst ved å sjekke Facciolas Cornucopia II, som jeg fikk av forfatteren som pdf slik at det er lett å søke. Deretter har jeg sjekket samme planten i PFAF. Om planten ikke finnes i primærdatabasene har jeg gjennomført følgende søk ved hjelp av Google Scholar: («Botaniske navn» +Edible +Ethnobotany). Siden 2018 har jeg hatt adgang til NTNUs søkesystem gjennom min gjesteforsker stilling på Ringve Botaniske Hagen. Dette har letet dette arbeidet betraktelig og gitt meg adgang til de fleste artikler jeg vil sjekke. Det er oppdaget ca 90 nye «spiselige» arter på denne måten og referansene brukt finnes nederst her. Analysen av de første 1600 (av 4613) taksa ble gjennomført uten full tilgang til litteraturen. Derfor har jeg startet fra begynnelsen igjen med fullt søk. Jeg kom igjen de første 600 taksa før jeg måtte sette sluttstreken for arbeidet. Derfor er det sikkert noen få uoppdagete spiselige arter. Jeg regner med å fullføre dette eterhvert.

Av de 2806 arter funnet en eller annen gang i norsk natur har jeg dokumentert 1242 av dem som «spist» et eller annet sted i verden, dvs 44% av alle arter registrert i Norge er «spiselige». Men, 458 eller 37% av de «spiselige» er i kategori 1 som er planter som brukes som nødmat evt planter som er sjelden brukt eller har ikke nok informasjon til å vurdere. Videre er 34% (427 arter) i kategori 2, 16% (200) i kategori 3, 7% (91) i kategori 4 og 5% (63) er i den øverste kategori.

Hele databasen er foreløpig ikke offentiggjort i påvente av hva som skal skje videre med dette.

Tabell 1 Eksempler av data fra den store norsk spiselig flora Excel ark (examples of data entries from the 2806 line Norwegian edible flora Excel sheet).

*LATIN*	*RANGERING (Verdiskala) († Mulig helseskadelig)*	*HVORDAN BRUKT?*	*VILL UTBREDELSES-OMRÅDET (fra Lids Norsk Flora, 2005)*
Campanula latifolia L.	4	Blad (rå og kokt); Blomst (rå); Rot (rå og kokt); Se Barstow (2014)	Europa og V Asia
Rudbeckia laciniata L.	3	Ung blad og skudd (rå og kokt, tørket); Stilker (skrellet); Thayer (2017) sier at “Sochan is among the best known wild edibles of the Appalachians”. Cherokee navnet Sochan betyr “grønnsaker”. Er ikke med i Cornucopia II! Det finnes en rekke hagevarianter av denne planten!	Ø og M N Amerika
Scorzonera hispanica L.	5	Rot (kokt); Ung blad og skudd (rå og kokt); Blomsterstilker (søt; spises rå); Blomsterknopper (rå og kokt); Kronblad (i salat); se også Barstow (2014); a Norwegian article has been published recently here: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=21016	S Europa, Kaukasus, V Sibir
Lepidium latifolium L.	3	Blad (rå og kokt); Rot (brukt som pepperrot); Frø (krydder)	Europa, N Afrika til V Asia
Lunaria annua L.	2	Rot (rå); Frø (som sennep)	Europa
Erodium cicutarium (L.) L’Hér.	3	Ung blad (rå og kokt); Rot (tygget av barn)	Middelhavsområdet?

Takk til Landbruksdirektoratet (og tidligere Genressurssenteret) som har støttet dette arbeidet gjennom prosjektet «Kartlegging – innsamling- dokumentasjon og vurdering av genetisk mangfold av spiselige planter i Norge»

References are below the English summary!
English summary: Over the years I have tried to grow over 6,000 different edible plants here in Malvik, Norway, just east of Trondheim. This has been inspired by the Food for Free movement in the 1970s and, mainly, three principal works about the world’s edible plants: Sturtevant’s Edible Plants of the World (Hedrick, 1919), Stephen Facciola’s Cornucopia II (1998) and the Plants for a Future database (www. pfaf.org). This was for me an exciting journey into the world’s food, local domestication and culinary traditions and I gradually discovered both wild plants and ornamentals here in Norway that were important food plants in other parts of the world that were unknown in Norway as food. They often tasted very good too.

I was excited to tell others about these discoveries and I therefore started writing a series of articles for the Norwegian Useful Plants Society’s magazine Våre Nyttevekster (later Sopp og Nyttevekster): ostrich fern (2002), sea aster (2004), bistort (2006), Japanese knotweed (2010). I also began to give a lecture in Norwegian with a title that literally translates as “Around the world in tasty plants” and this eventually evolved into my book Around the World in 80 plants from 2014 which is about my top 80 perennial vegetables that I have cultivated and how I had discovered that perennial vegetables were often a better choice for cold climates like mine, and that they also should generally be grown on a larger scale as they require less energy and water, bind more carbon and are also healthier than traditional vegetables (healthy both for us and the planet). At the same time, thanks to the interest in the so-called Mediterranean diet, hundreds of ethnobotanical studies have been conducted in Europe over the last 20 years and many new edible species have been discovered since my book was completed in 2013. The results have shown that there has traditionally been over 3000 plants only in Mediterranean countries, a huge diversity! It is this diversity that characterizes traditional diets in many countries. In addition, diversity dishes have been discovered often including over 50 plants collected and cultivated. This gave inspiration to my diversity salads and my world record of 537 ingredients in a salad from 2004. With increased interest in local food (both grown and harvested), several of the authors of these ethnobotanic studies have in recent years proposed cultivation of certain species.

I wanted to search systematically through the Norwegian flora in search of other edible plants that have not yet been discovered and I was given an Excel list of all vascular plants registered in Norway, i.e., both natives and introduced species, put together by the Norwegian Botanical Association (in 2008). There are a total of 4613 taxa in the list. I have basically only considered the edibility of species (subspecies and hybrids are considered to have the same use as the main species). This left a list of 2806 species that have all been evaluated, a study that has taken me 9 years to finish (for various reasons, not just the scope of work that was indeed much larger than I had imagined!). The edibility of all species is considered and each species has received a rating on a scale from 1-5 where 5 is most valuable! This is based on the Plants for a Future database (pfaf.org) where all the plants are ranked for edibility and this ranking has been adjusted / supplemented according to my own experience. When it comes to the many edible species that are not in PFAF, I have considered the value of the plants as best I could, although this is naturally quite subjective. If it is a matter of plants where I have no experience myself and the plant is little used, it is given a value of 1. There are some toxic plants that have been used traditionally after cooking / drying (for example, some members of the buttercup family) and this is noted by use of a † symbol. NB! Some of these species are rare and protected by law and I by no means encourage eating e.g., orchids, but ethnobotanic information IS given for all plants!

The edibility is assessed briefly by noting which plant part is used and how, e.g., leaf or root in soups, salad etc. This is done primarily by checking Facciola’s Cornucopia II, which I received from the author as a pdf so that it is easy to search. Then I checked the same plant in pfaf.org. If the plant is not found in the primary databases, I have performed the following keyword searches using Google Scholar: (“Botanical Name” + Edible + Ethnobotany). Since 2018 I have had access to NTNU’s (University) search system through my guest researcher position at Ringve Botanical Garden. This has made this work considerably easier and given me access to most articles I wanted to check. About 90 new “edible” species have been discovered in this way, and the references used are found at the bottom of this page. The analysis of the first 1600 (of 4613) taxa was conducted without full access to the literature. Therefore, I have started again from the beginning with the full search. I have now reanalysed the first 600 taxa before I had to finish the work. Therefore, there are probably a few undiscovered edible species.

Of the 2,806 species which have been registered at some time in Norwegian nature, I have documented 1,242 of these as “eaten” somewhere/sometime in the world, i.e., 44% of all species registered in Norway are “edible”. However, 458 or 37% of the “edibles” are in category 1 which are plants that are used as emergency food or plants that are rarely used or do not have enough information to evaluate properly. Furthermore, 34% (427 species) in category 2, 16% (200) are in category 3, 7% (91) are in category 4 and 5% (63) are in the highest category.

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Garden tour, Wild Edibles

The VanDusen Botanical Gardens in Vancouver BC

January 26, 2018 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

After visiting the UBC botanical garden on 4th April 2018, I bussed across town to Vancouver’s better known more formal VanDusen botanical garden, although it’s a younger garden (from 1970) against UBC which was established in 1916. The rain started when I arrived and I didn’t have that much time. Nevertheless, here are a few impressions!

Hydrophyllum (water leaf / Indian salad) is one of the 80 in my book!

Today in the garden (in flower) from L to R: Ribes sanguineum, Lysichiton americanum, Ribes sanguineum “White Icicle” and Camellia japonica

Today in the garden (in flower) from L to R: Carylopsis pauciflora, Synthuris missurica, edible Primula elatior and Pulmonaria angustifolia and Pieris japonica “Christmas Cheer”

Near the garden entrance was a native garden. Here, native edible Mahonia nervosa

Native edibles Camassia leichtlinii, Allium cernuum, Triteleia laxa and Trillium ovatum!

Kinnikinnick / Common Bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi. I was surprised to see this familiar Norwegian plant (melbær) growing in this totally different climate on coastal dunes in Oregon during my visit there!

Waterleaf (Indian salad) (Hydrophyllum) at the perfect stage for harvesting!

Variegated bulbous oat grass (Arrhenatherum elatius subsp. bulbosum “Variegatum”)

South American section with Monkey Puzzle tree

Emerging sleeping giant Gunnera manicata

I don’t remember seeing this conifer before: Cathaya argyrophylla

Saxifraga cortusifolia is used in Japan, probably in tempura

Saxigraga stolonifera “Harvest Moon”, the main species used in tempura in Japan

Forest Gardening, Fruit, Nut trees, walks, Wild Edibles

Perennialen III: Alvastien Telste – from fjord to shieling

August 16, 2017 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

Documentation of yet another amazing day during last week’s Perennialen III in Hardanger!! Pictures taken on a fantastic 6-7 hour round trip from Eirik Lillebøe Wiken and Hege Iren Aasdal Wiken’s house to their shieling (støl or seter in Norwegian). We took our time botanising on the way up, passing through different types of forest on the way up, from alder (or), ash (ask), planted spruce (gran), lime (lind), elm (alm), hazel (hassel), aspen (osp) and birch (bjørk) at the highest levels. Lower down, old apple trees witnessed that these steep slopes had at one time been worked for fruit production, no easy matter….
Eirik and Hege are planning to rejuvenate and replant some of this area and have planted a multispecies forest garden above and below the house, probably one of the most dramatic forest gardens in the world (more later).

A picture of Alvastien Telste taken last year showing the house at the bottom centre and the walk to the ridge at the top and beyond!

Starting our walk up the mountain, I took this picture of a farm on the other side of the fjord and, next picture, a shieling (seter / støl) is visible on the ridge at the top!

Eirik and Hege’s tree house (I stayed there on my first visit – Perennialen I)

Under the spruce, a ground cover of young ash seedlings…the future of which is uncertain as Ash dieback has arrived here…

Impaties noli-tangere (Touch me not balsam / springfrø) was common on damper soils

Ostrich fern (strutseving) with enchanters nightshade (trollurt)

Cirsium arvense on a small open field halfway up the hill

Late flowering Silene dioica (red campion /rød jonsokblom)

Rock to which an old cable lift was attached

We saw one small population of hedge garlic (løkurt)

There were many amazing trees, many of which were pollarded (for animal feed in the past)

Eirik showed us an old cross on the rock marking the edge of his property

This ostrich fern had over 30 fertile fronds in the centre!!

I was surpised to find an area of Geranium lucidum

Fantastic views of the fjord on the way up!

There weren’t many edible fungi apart from one good patch of chantarelles in the birch zone

…and, finally, after 4 hours we reached the hut!

Foxglove (revebjelle) within the protection of this old wall

Cardamine bulbifera (coralroot / tannrot)

Ostrich Fern (strutseving)

Ants on pine tree

Aspen (osp) and the fjord

Young blackcap (munk)

walks, weeds, Wild Edibles

On the rocks

July 18, 2017 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

Some pictures taken on the beach and rocks below the house while being filmed yesterday harvesting seaweed!

Harebell (blåklokke) and lady’s bedstraw (gulmaure)

Birds, walks, Wild Edibles

Vikhammer plants and birds

May 16, 2017 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

Pictures of plants and birds taken on 15th May 2017 on a walk along the beach from Vikhammerløkka to Vikhammer.

Oystercatcher and nest

Common sandpiper

Common gull

White wagtail

Oystercatcher

Wild Edibles, wild flowers

Fawn lilies and Camas in Victoria

March 30, 2017 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

My first day in Victoria and Vancouver Island, BC was a mixed one. As this was probably my only chance I decided to go to the Butchart Gardens, a one hour bus ride outside of Victoria, and rated by some as one of the finest gardens in the world. I didn’t have high expectations, but was disappointed that there were almost no plant labels (apart from the rose collection) and otherwise very few native plants as far as I could see…
The botanical highlight was walking back to my lovely Airbnb room along the 30 min long Songhees coastal path. A interpretive sign informed of the rare Garry oak (Quercus garryana) ecosystem in which both camas (Camassia), an important Native American food plant, and Fawn lily (Erythronium oregonum) grew alongside Dodecatheon (shooting stars)! A couple of minutes later I saw many fawn lilies in the woods and one emerging flower stalk of Camassia (both leichtlinii and quamash grow here)!
Almost exactly a year ago, I was on the otherside of the Pacific witnessing the mass flowering of katakuri (Erythronium japonicum) in Japan: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=9121

I’m staying this week in an Airbnb in the Esquimalt district of Victoria BC

Remnant Garry Oak woodland in Victoria with Sea Blush (Plectritis), Shooting stars (Dodecatheon), Fawn lilies (Erythronium), Camas (Camassia), Sea blush (Sisyrnchium) and satin flower (Olsynium douglasii)

…and then I saw this beauty growing by the side of the path, Erythronium oregonum

…and I’d found this great little bookshop in Victoria

…and 4 books by ethnobotanist Nancy Turner were soon in my possession together with a few others! Turner shows little evidence of fawn lily having been used my native peoples and they may be slightly poisonous…

Edible flowers, Edimentals, Forest Gardening, Wild Edibles

Around the world with Erythroniums

December 28, 2016 Stephen Barstow 2 Comments

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Erythronium japonicum, katakuri in my garden

As an introduction to two soon to be published blog posts concerning visits to two nature reserves in Japan during the mass flowering of katakuri (Erythronium japonicum) in early spring 2016, here is a short around the world with edible Erythroniums review, with an album of pictures of various species and varieties that I’ve grown here in Malvik together with pictures taken in various botanical gardens!

Known in English variously as trout or fawn lilies (on account of the spotted leaves) and dog’s tooth violets (not related to violets, the bulbs resembling dog’s teeth), there are some 25 species found in North America and Eurasia…

There are a number of species in North America, several, if not all of which were used by Native American tribes. In Daniel Moerman’s Native American Ethnobotany (http://naeb.brit.org), 5 species are documented as used for food, with yellow flowered E. grandiflorum (Glacier or Avalanche lily) with most records, including: “Bulbs eaten raw and cooked, dried for winter use; small root ends of corms eaten as candy by children; made into a pudding by boiling black tree lichen, dried saskatoons (Amelanchier), salmon eggs, lily bulbs, or bitter root (Lewisia) and deer fat”. Other species for which the bulbs were either eaten raw, baked, steamed, cooked and (sun)dried for later use are E. mesochoreum, oregonum and revolutum. An interesting technique was to chew the root and spit it into a river to make fish bite (trout, I presume ;) ). One informant says, however, that the raw corms were poisonous (but there are many records of them being eaten raw). Erythronium oregonum bulbs were, according to ethnobotanist Nancy Turner, an important food for the Kwakiutl people on Vancouver Island in Canada. They were eaten raw, baked, boiled, or dried.

Probably seed propagated Erythronium californicum "White Beauty" — Probably seed propagated Erythronium californicum “White Beauty” in my garden

The best North American modern firsthand account is as usual that by Samuel Thayer in his wonderful book Nature’s Garden. He notes that the species he uses most is woodlander Erythronium americanum, not documented as edible (only medicinal) by Moerman. He rates the early spring bulbs highly, tasting “ like sweet corn or snow peas..crunchy, sweet and tender raw”…but he notes that they are small and it takes a lot of effort to pick a decent amount (he also notes that E. grandiflorum bulbs, a species that grows in alpine meadows, are bigger). Various early foraging authors in the 50s and 60s, including Euell Gibbons, note that the leaves, flower stalks, buds and flowers of americanum are eaten raw and cooked. Thayer is not fond of the leaves or flowers, however, saying that they are “best before unfurled…bitter aftertaste…worse after cooking”, but he comments that others enjoy the taste. I haven’t noticed any bitterness the times I’ve tried different species. Gibbons also mentions that white trout lily (E. albidum) has similar uses to americanum.

The species that grows best for me is dog’s tooth violet Erythronium dens-canis. This species was once considered to range from Southern Europe to Japan, but the Eastern forms are now considered to be separate species, E. sibiricum and katakuri (E. japonicum), both of which I grow, but clumps grow very slowly, if at all! In Sturtevant’s Edible Plants of the World (1919), it’s stated that the Tartars collect and dry the bulbs of dens-canis and boil them with milk or broth. Cornucopia II informs us that “Roots eaten with reindeer’s or cow’s milk in Mongolia and Siberia. Leaves boiled, starch from roots..” (presumably this is what we now know as sibiricum).

Ken Fern in Plants for a Future recommends E. “Pagoda” and “White Beauty” as they “grow freely when well-sited” in the UK. Alan Carter in Aberdeen has firsthand experience and on a good blog about Erythroniums for the forest garden (see https://scottishforestgarden.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/eating-dogs-tooth-violet) rates “Pagoda” as the best one to grow for eating, due to its larger bulbs and states that “My favourite way of cooking them is to slice them thinly across and fry the discs”. Pagoda is a hybrid between Erythronium tuolumnense and Erythronium californicum ‘White Beauty’ and is readily available.

All the North American species I’ve tried including Pagoda have sadly not survived more than a few years at best in my garden.

As mentioned, Erythronium japonicum will be the feature of two follow-up blogs and I will discuss this one more later, but the bulb starch, known as katakuri-ko, was important and harvested from the wild in the past in Japan, but nowadays potato starch is used in its place as the wild stands are considered by some to be under threat, not only dug up for food but also removed from the wild for the ornamental plant trade… We will also see that both the leaves and flowers are used in Japan. If using leaves, it’s best to only one of the two leaves produced each year so as not to weaken the stands too much.

If anyone wants to know how these beauties are grown in Scotland – Ian Young’s free e-book is available here: http://files.srgc.net/general/ERYTHRONIUMS-IN-CULTIVATION%20-2016-IanYoung.pdf

Young spring leaves of Erythronium sibiricum

Erythronium dens-canis is widely grown as an ornamental and some 16 cultivars are currently available in UK nurseries

Probably seed propagated Erythronium californicum “White Beauty” according to expert Ian Young…I got this originally in a seed packet Erythronium “Mix” and it survived for over 15 years in my garden!

Probably seed propagated Erythronium californicum “White Beauty” , yound spring leaves

Erythronium “Kondo” at RHS Wisley Gardens

Erythronium “Harrington Snow Goose” at RHS Rosemoor Garden

Erythronium tuolumense emerging in late March in the Copenhagen Botanical Gardens

From 2013- a large trial of Erythroniums was started at RHS Wisley gardens and here are all the “contestants”…and what a shame if, as highly likely, they didn’t do a taste and yield trial while they had the chance :(

Erythronium “White Beauty” at RHS Wisley Garden

Wild Edibles, wild flowers

Katakuri at Mt. Iimoriyama

December 22, 2016 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

This post documents my visit with Aiah Noack of Naturplanteskolen in Denmark to the historical town of Asuke in Aichi Prefecture near to Toyota, where we’d spent the night, on 28th March 2016. Asuke and the Korankei Gorge is a popular place to visit to see the autumn colours, with some 4,000 different maples planted here since a priest started beautifying the place in 1634 (see http://japan-highlightstravel.com/en/travel/nagoya/120029). Aiah had contacted an old plant breeding colleague, Teruo Takatomi, based in Toyota, who had kindly offered to show us around for a couple of days and this was the first day of the itinerary they had arranged for us visiting natural areas and farms growing sansai (wild mountain vegetables). Two of Teruo’s colleagues took us to Asuke to see the mass flowering of katakuri (Erythronium japonicum) on Mt. Iimoriyama right next to the town. However, there was much more than katakuri in the wood as the first album documents and at the end of the walk through the woods we stumbled on a wonderful small nursery specialising in wild and edible plants! The owner ran it as a hobby and kindly invited us back to his house for tea and to see his garden (second album below).

For edimental gardeners, katakuri is one of the most exclusive vegetables, requiring at least 7-8 years to flower from seed! Two plants I was given by Magnar Aspaker in April 2008 still only produce one flower a year and I’ve never seen a flower, but it’s growing in a less than optimal environment… It has survived the worst of the freezes here including the coldest winter since records began (frozen solid for 3-4 months)! Ian Young relates the same problem in his excellent e-book “Erythroniums in Cultivation” (available for free at http://files.srgc.net/general/ERYTHRONIUMS-IN-CULTIVATION%20-2016-IanYoung.pdf). He says that the bulbs divide slowly and seed is important to increase plants, but it takes time. On the other hand, individual plants can, according to a Japanese site, reach 50 years old with a new bulb every year! This seems to be his favourite Erythronium, easy to grow (although slowly increasing) with dramatic markings on the flowers.

As an edible plant, it was once an important source of an edible starch, katakuriko, but the plant was overharvested (also due to its popularity for the wild flower industry) and potato starch is used today, retaining the name! Both the leaves and flowers are used in Japan in various ways and I’ve given a few recipes roughly tranlated from various Japanese pages in the following document:

Download (PDF, 257KB)

…or as in this picture from one of my Japanese foraging books:

The leaves are also fermented!

We also spent some time at Sanshu Asuke Yashiki, a working traditional crafts museum next to Mt. Iimori and had a gourmet lunch at the Kunputei restaurant overlooking the river gorge (third album below). This restaurant specialises on tofu dishes, handmade every morning and we ate konjac for the first time here (Amorphophallus konjac) (see this blog post for my experience with growing konjac: http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=845)

Approaching Mt. Iimoriyama (254m) 岡崎市飯盛山 through Asuke town!

Mt. Iimoriyama (254m), the maples for which this place is famous in autumn (next picture) are not yet in leaf!

Poster showing the beautiful autumn colours of the Acers on Mt. Iimoriyama

Katakuri (Erythronium japonicum) nature reserve!

Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus) is a Japanese goat-antelope and seems to be as fond of katakuri as humans are :)

….with one white flower (Erythronium japonicum)

Chloranthus japonicus (Chloranthaceae) ia a speciality that I had no idea what was the first time I saw it – the young spring buds seem to be used as a minor vegetable. There are at least two other edible plants in the Chloranthaceae (Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants)

Cardiocrinum cordatum, one of the Giant lilies, closely related to true lilies, Lilium…both young leaves and bulbs have been eaten.

Tricyrtis (a toad lily) have edible spring shoots

Asarum nipponicum: our guide helped us with some of the IDs via smartphone!

I’ve been told this is a Croomia (a primitive plant from the Far East and SE USA!)

Lycoris sanguinea (Kitsune-no-kamisori meaning “fox’s shaving razor”!) considered to be very poisonous, but has been processed to remove alkaloids ane eaten in the past it seems!

Young Cacalia delphinifolia (shidoke) with the larger leaves of Erythronium japonicum. I later found this species for sale in a supermarket, see http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=6340

Our guides were able to provide the botanical name on their smartphone!

Trachelospermum asiaticum (Asiatic Jasmine), an evergreen climber with scented flowers. It has the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. Not edible!

Anemone flaccida, nirinsou was an important wild foraged plant, collected in large amounts in May and June in particular by the Ainu people and used in winter! Cooking presumably destroys any protoanemonin present….

From our guide’s foraging book, showing a picture of monkshood (Aconitum) a poisonous look-alike of Anemone flaccida!

Yet another woodland edible and common ornamental….Saxifraga stolonifera (yuki-no-shita), again with many cultivars.. See also http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=5495

The flower appearing above a ring of Anemone flaccida looks like a Sanicula species?

On the trail around the nature reserve, we were asking our guides whether there were any wild plant nurseries in the area…..and as if my magic a small nursery selling local wild plants, including some edibles, appeared at the end of the trail on the edge of the wood! The owner was knowledgeable about the edible plants! We called the number and the owner turned up in a little while

Anemone flaccida being sold as food in the nursery

Masashi Fujiwara – do you know which wild plant you are sampling in these three pictures? Fuki, I think?

Anemone flaccida (left) with Wasabia japonica in flower on the right in the nursery!

Small plants of Anemone flaccida for sale

Taraxacum albidum, the white flowered dandelion!

The nursery owner on the left with one of our guides Masashi Fujiwara on the right

Wasabi and Anemone flaccida in the nursery

The owner was also selling Erythronium japonicum, which can take 7-8 years to flower from seed

He was growing wasabi all along the edge of the nursery

Adonis is one of the first to flower, we were lucky to see the last one!

Petasites japonica, fuki is very popular wild and cultivated edible, often seengrowing near houses and the leaf petioles and flower buds were available in all supermarkets

Petasites japonica in our foraging book!

Part of the nursery was set aside to shiitake mushrooms grown on logs

From top left and clockwise: Anemone flaccida, Erythronium, Hemerocallis, Tricyrtis, Cardamine and Angelica, Saxifraga stolonifera, Taraxacum albidum and Erythronium japonicum (bottom left

Me, the owner and the white-flowered dandelion (Taraxacum albidum)

Mass flowering of katakuri video!

In the afternoon, we were invited to the house of the nursery owner in the old traditional part of town. He also had a garden full of interesting plants!

Our host’s house was an old fashioned shop that closed down as tourist numbers decreased

Our host, the nursery owner, also made various ferments.

This one was made with fuki (Petasites japonica)

Another hobby was pottery…he kindly gave the one on the left as a gift!

This poster was on the wall showing the maples in autumn colour

Out in the garden and there was a Taraxacum albidum, still with one white flower

On our host’s wall was a poster of wild flowers on the mountain where we had botanised :)

Finally, a gallery of pictures from our visit to the traditional crafts museum, Sanshu Asuke Yashiki, and our gourmet lunch at the Kunputei restaurant within the museum grounds:

Sanshu Asuke Yashiki traditional crafts museum

Katakuri art, the blue dye from Japanese Indigo (Polygonum tinctorium)

The blue dye from Japanese Indigo (Polygonum tinctorium)

Area for growing dye plants with Magnolia in full flower on the river bank

Blue dye from Japanese Indigo (Polygonum tinctorium / Persicaria tinctoria)

Japanese Indigo (Polygonum tinctorium / Persicaria tinctoria) seed

Japanese Indigo (Polygonum tinctorium / Persicaria tinctoria)

Gourmet lunch at the Kunputei tofu restaurant…I miss the Japanese food!

Konjakku is the jelly-like substance on the right! From Amorphophallus konjac

Onions, Perennial vegetables, Wild Edibles

More seed for stratifying

December 21, 2016 Stephen Barstow 7 Comments

An early Xmas present from Alexander Naumenko! Thanks!

Several new very interesting Alliums, Taraxacum lilacinum (lilac flowered dandelion…hope they will germinate!), Hyssopus tianschanicus, Tragopogon capitatus, Angelica brevicaulis and Serratula coronata (an important wild edible food plant in the Far East that I’ve been looking for for some time; this species has a very wide geographic distribution and is in the same family as saw-wort/jærtistel, Serratula tinctoria )! Also a nice little book in Russian on the Plants of Kyrgyzstan…

walks, Wild Edibles, wild flowers

Danish walk down the Homla canyon

July 26, 2016 Stephen Barstow Leave a comment

On the 2nd day of the Malvik permaveggies course, we walked the Homlastien (path along the mighty Homla river) from the waterfall down to the station at Hommelvik! As always it takes longer than expected and my estimated 4 hours became 6-7 hours with all the stops!
See the pictures here:

http://www.edimentals.com/pictures/index.php?/category/115

Edimentals !