Useful plants edible/poisonous/otherwise of Northeast merged with HD's thread here

hollowdweller said:
cool. What's it taste like Lefty?:thumbup:
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Rockweed is really more of a texture than a taste IMO. It's good for thickening chilis and stews - it's used for that commercially (carageenan I think). You use the leaves for eating and the bladders for thickening. Natives also used it as a glue and I think it has some medicinal qualities IIRC. We also have bull kelp and elephant grass. There's probably a bunch more, but those are the only ones I've tried. Elephant grass is good to pick and eat raw while beach fishing in waders.

When you wrap fish in it, it allows you to poach it on a fire because it keeps the moisture in while imparting a little saltiness to it. If you dry the leaves in the sun, you get something like a potato chip. That's great as a substitute for croutons in a salad - salty and a bit of a crunch.

There's a woman in Tofino (west coast of Vancouver Island) called the 'Seaweed Lady'. She's made a successful business out of harvesting wild seaweeds and marketing it to restaurant and health food stores. She also does seaweed gathering tours, which would be fun to do.

How does one prepare knotweed ?
 
HD, a friend was in Tn. last week and said he found a nice mess. We are heading to SE Ohio this weekend to look. My favorite time of year! They look great! :thumbup:
 
This is an effort to put some of the important plants (edible, poisonous, and technological) of the Northeast in one location. It is the result of a short discussion between protourist and myself that can be seen in the poisonous plant thread.

I'm confining it to the Northeast because that is the plants I come in contact with. Hopefully, others will start a like thread for their region.

I want to encourage everyone in this area to get out and take some pictures. Post them and write up a little piece outlining their use. Please, use only pictures that you have taken yourself. I'm thinking that dating the pictures might be of help so you can see the growth progression of the plants through the season.

Someone mentioned about making this a sticky. I don't think this is necessary because we have enough stickies already. What you can do, is note the URL of this thread somewhere in your computer and it can be called up that way.

Anyway, that's my take on it. I thought it should be thrown open to get other comments before we get started. So?

Doc
 
When I get back to work on Tuesday I'll get some pics. Thanks Doc. Outstanding idea.
 
Here's what I'm thinking. Comments, please!

This plant is Celandine (Chelidonium majus). Later on it has nice yellow flowers. This is a medicinal plant. There have been reports that the plant has been responsible for deaths in both humans and animals. Also, the stem juice may irritate the skin.

ResizedCelandine.jpg


labelledCelandine.jpg


As the seasons progress, additional pictures could be added by using the 'Edit' button so you can see the changes, if any. For edible and otherwise useful plants, the circle X can be replaced with a check mark. If it is edible with special preparation, or certain times of the year, that kind of thing, the X could be replaced with an exclamation point. (I think I stole this idea from somewhere :o)

Now that I think about it, probably the X, check mark or exclamation mark would be better beside the name.

Doc
 
I believe you are right. This is a great idea. Thanks Doc.
 
I came to the conclusion that to include the name etc. on the picture, I would have to upload it to Photobucket twice, if I wanted to use the picture in another venue, so it will be noted in the text.

Doc
 
X The following is considered a POISONOUS plant.

CommonBuckthorn.jpg


This is Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica). You will notice the leaves have toothed margins (edge of the leaf) and the veins all curve towards the tip. One of the ways it is differentiated from Alder-leaved Buckthorn (R. alnifolia) and Glossy Buckthorn (R. frangula) is that Common Buckthorn has mostly opposite leaves, whereas Glossy and Alder-leaved have mostly alternate leaves. Also, Common often has spines at the tips of the twigs. Here's another picture of the leaves.

CommonBuckthorn2.jpg




This is the bark:
barkofCommonBuckthorn.jpg





The bark will burn as it is, not as well as Birch (Betula spp.) but somewhat like Cherry (Prunus spp.). It could have some applications as a torch, but I have not tried it yet. Also, to get any amount of bark would require a lot more effort than Cherry or Birch.

Common Buckthorn is an invasive plant often forming dense thickets under which few other plants can grow. Apparently it was brought to North America as an ornamental plant in the 1800's.

As per Venomous Animals & Poisonous Plants, Steven Foster / Roger Caras, Peterson Guides, 1994, ISBN# 0-395-35292-4, page 180, the fresh bark or berries of buckthorns can be violently laxative and may irritate the skin or mucous membranes. Deaths in children from eating berries are reported from Europe. Such poisoning is rare. (Pictures taken May 27, 2008 - Southern Ontario)
 
X Poisonous plant - Red Baneberry (Actaea rubra). There is also White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda) commonly called Doll's eyes because it is a white berry with a black spot on it. I'll post a picture if I find any.

RedBaneberry.jpg





X Red Elder (Sambucus racemosa) generally considered poisonous. The Red Elder flowers and fruits earlier than Common Elderberry (S. canadensis).

RedElder-1.jpg



Note: Other contributors welcome!

Doc
 
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hollowdweller said:
Doc. Had this one going for quite some time but doesn't include poisionous

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=535704

PS all the ones I listed in the above thread are of the NE and there are 21 plants or fungi listed in the thread.
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Hey HD,

I wonder if there's a way to combine them, at least the plants of the Northeast so we can keep them in one thread? I could copy your url from the picture if that would be ok with you or you could repost them, or.......?

Yucca, of course, doesn't grow up here, and I don't use fungi for anything but fire making. Anyway, what do you think?
 
Not sure. We could ask the mod. When I was a mod on a difft board I had a "merge threads" control that you could combine them.:thumbup:
 
An experiment:

hz2.jpg


It's a Hazel taken by HD.

If this is agreeable with you, HD and everybody else, we can transfer the pictures of the Northeastern plants to this thread. I won't post the fungi because I don't know anything about them, but somebody else can. Also there is a picture of Paw Paw by J.S.Carter that came from wikipedia. Not that the effort isn't appreciated, but I would like to keep this, if possible, as pictures taken by our members.

Whaddya all think?

Doc
 
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Baneberry - there is also a white baneberry. The last white baneberry I saw was in an elementary school.One of the teachers found it in the woods and brought it to school and put it inwater. She had no idea what it was and that it was toxic !! Educate children not to pick and eat berries that can't positively be identified .Brightly colored berries are very attractive to them !!
Many 'toxic' plants are eaten. The pokeweed for example --only certain parts of the plant are eaten ,cooked in a certain way and picked at a certain time of the year !The rest is toxic.
 
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