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

[hollowdweller]

Yay! I was thinking about asking about this a couple days ago.:thumbup:

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Just got back from a hike. Nothing too much to take pics of but here's another unusual plant. I don't think it is edible but it had a primitive use. Anyone know it?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldwood
Yup. We call it horse grass, grows in bottom lands. Not edible at all, IMHO, it's got silica in it, tie it up in a bundle and it's good for scouring your pots and pans.

Quote:
Originally Posted by pitdog
If it is another name for the Giant Horsetail then certain parts are edible !

Right We always call them horsetails around here. Have a patch of them in they hayfield near the creek.

After Brian merged the 2 threads, I looked back over the whole thing. Coldwood mentioned that it can be used for scouring your pots and pans and it's probably seen a lot of use for that, in fact in some areas, it's called Scouring Rush. Something I didn't see mentioned is that it can be used as a fine sandpaper.

Doc

 

[tonym]

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
cut open the root or stem and reveal the sap (red or orange in color)
Can be used as a light antiseptic over open cuts or scrapes. It has also been used to treat skin cancer to sore throats. Mostly for skin conditions like ringworm, warts, polyps, etc.

St John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum)

Commonly used to treat depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders.

Common Plantain (Plantago major)

The young leaves are edible. The flower shoots are edible raw or cooked as well as the seeds they bare.

You see I was paying attention during Marty's plant walk.

Alot more to come in the following days.

 

[tonym]

Looks like Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) to me. I've never eaten it so I have no first hand comments about the edibility. However, the green plant, later in the summer (even now) can be used as an expedient lashing material by stripping the outer skin and using it as is. It can also be 3-braided to make longer and stronger cordage. A buddy and I once used the 3-braided green Milkweed skin as a successful bow string for bow drill fire.

After the plant has died, you can process the fibres from the dead stalk to make strong cordage and fine thread (for sewing, etc.)



Doc

I got to make cordage from milkweed at the W.L.C. it is amazingly strong. Marty's top guys Kevin and Bob taught us, They did a great job!

 

[hollowdweller]

After Brian merged the 2 threads, I looked back over the whole thing. Coldwood mentioned that it can be used for scouring your pots and pans and it's probably seen a lot of use for that, in fact in some areas, it's called Scouring Rush. Something I didn't see mentioned is that it can be used as a fine sandpaper.

Doc

High silica content.

 

[scotchleaf]

My daughter and I found some useful plants in Maine. Useful for pie, cobler, and just eating...

 

[scotchleaf]

any more useful plants?

 

[tonym]

Indian Cucumber (Medeola virginiana)

The root is edible, but do not eat lrge quantities

Gold Thread, (Coptis groenlandica)

Its said to be edible but it tastes bitter as hell:barf:
Medicinal purposes are numerous but said to be great for mouth sores, but it has other uses also

The roots

Bed straw (Galium)

Simple... use it as bedding even stuff a shirt with it to make a nice comfy pillow

Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia)

Tuber type roots are edible

 

[DOC-CANADA]

A bit of a caution regarding Arrowhead (S. latifolia) as it somewhat resembles Arrow Arum (Peltandra virginica) seen here

Compare it to Arrowleaf, seen here.

Note the difference in how the leaf veins are arranged.

Doc

 

[hollowdweller]

If any mod reads this we could use some thread cleanup. #14 and #15 posts the links to the pics no longer work and could be deleted

Tinder fungus

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Tinder fungus

Wow, HD, that's scary! Just this afternoon, I downloaded some pictures of True Tinder fungus (Inonotus obliquus) and False Tinder fungus (Fomes fomentarius) for my files.

True Tinder fungus, shown in HD's pictures above is also used medicinally in places like Russia where it's known as Chaga. It is used to treat stomach cancer, among other things, IIRC.

Doc

 

[hollowdweller]

Thought I'd kick this one back up!

 

[Mack]

Thought I'd kick this one back up!

Thanks I love coming back here and refreshing my feeble memory.:thumbup:

 

[TheGame]

I remember when I was reading thru the old topics while back that I went around and looked for all kinds of edible plants around my area. All I found was like 30 Morel mushrooms that I brought and gave to my dad. I don't like them, but he sure did!

 

[tonym]

Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

I used to walk all over this stuff before Marty Simon made me try some at the 1st CT Gathering. I can find it almost everywhere. It is considered a higly invasive weed, but it tastes pretty damn good. Has a garlicy smell to it.

 

[hollowdweller]

Up to the top!