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plants to avoid? | (Read 474 times) |
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rachael hamblin
Posts: 129
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March 30, 2008, 11:28:02 PM |
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After learning this afternoon that I very nearly sampled some hemlock while digging through the ruins of an old garden on our property, I thought it would be good to find out--what are plants one should be careful to NOT eat that grow wild in the Cascadia region? Any look-alikes?
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kelda
Posts: 263
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April 01, 2008, 06:47:43 PM |
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Hi!
Hemlock, for sure, and I think that's the most dangerous one.
Also watch out for deadly nightshade it's a vine related to potato (similar-ish leaf) that has tempting red berries. Don't eat!
And then the cow parsnip has medicinally properties, if handled with bare skin can cause dermatitis bad enough to send someone to the hospital.
I've also heard of dermatitis happening from euphorbias, (though they're neither native nor medicinal)...I guess on that note too, rhododendron is poisonous. That's especially handy to know because those branches always look so perfect for roasting marshmallows on. Nope!
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rachael hamblin
Posts: 129
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April 06, 2008, 11:20:31 PM |
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Thanks! I'll look those up so I don't mix them up. I've heard hemlock looks really similar to queen anne's lace, any tricks for telling these apart? Do any of the others you mentioned look similar to other useful plants?
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kelda
Posts: 263
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April 07, 2008, 07:48:52 PM |
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hm. the deadly nightshade looks like attractive red berries on a vine. alert! the only other maybe red berry that's okay to eat On A Vine (when unripe) is dewberry, and that has a blackberry shape to it. the nightshade is just smooth orbs in clusters
i guess there's also poison oak, though that's pretty limited in washington. it's in seward park in seattle though. 'leaves of three let them be'. but the biggest prevention with that is just knowing when and when not you're in poison oak country. do i look around before popping a squat to pee next to the trail? nope. that's fine usually around these parts, but when i'm in oregon i have to remind myself all the freaking time to pay more attention.
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rachael hamblin
Posts: 129
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April 08, 2008, 06:35:14 PM |
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thanks for the info Kelda
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permaculture.dave
Posts: 113
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April 23, 2008, 06:50:35 PM |
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If you get into harvesting camas you'll need to be super careful to look out for death camas. As I understand the only way to tell them apart is while they're flowering. However, you harvest them when the flowering is done! Make sure you know a patch well and take great care if you choose to harvest.
Dave
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jen m
Posts: 21
Jennifer A Moore, Acupuncturist and Chinese Herbs
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June 07, 2008, 08:25:38 AM |
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don't eat the digitalis, either! fox glove. it's easy to spot in bloom, but not in bloom, well, it can look like mullen or comfery or dog's bane or any number of other things to the untrained eye. and there are two kinds of hemlock- water hemloc and poison hemlock. both deadly.
i asked a guy who has a phd and owns a wild flower preserve about the camas, because i want to harvest some, and he said they don't grow in quite the same habitat or bloom at the same time, and he thought i would be safe to harvest it while not in bloom. however, i thought it would be prudent to scope out some sites to harvest that i know are free and clear of death camas, and i found a nice big patch or two that is filled with wild onion, so while i'm harvesting the camas, i'll get some onions, too.
only eat/use medicinally things you know for absolutely sure 100% positive you know what they are. if you really want to learn, take a class on plant taxonomy so that you are sure of your identification. get a good book that has good visuals of the plants, both edible and poisonous, (such as Gregory Tillfords book, and i'm sure Arthor's book is most excellent) and double/triple check. the deadly ones are, well, deadly.
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"a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." -Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu
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SueinWA
Posts: 303
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October 08, 2008, 06:07:13 PM |
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The Golden Rule of wild harvesting: Don't eat anything unless you're SURE you know what it is.
All the berries that have multiples forming a berry (like blackberries and raspberries) are all safe to eat. Many of the single berries are toxic.
And all parts of cattails are safe.
Never eat anything that looks like an onion but doesn't smell and taste like one.
There, the total sum of my knowledge of the Wild Country Buffet.
Sue
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crows daughter
Posts: 13
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November 02, 2008, 07:25:51 PM |
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Hi,
I was at the AHG symposium, on a plant walk.
We picked some hemlock. I smelled it. It was pretty strong.
It was on my hands for the rest of the walk and I had to wash them to get the smell off.
I think you would know if you had it.
Deadly nightshade doesn't grow on the West Coast. The plant you probably saw was black nightshade which isn't really poison but could make you sick.
There is a really good book on Northwest Berries I bought at the Burke Museum .
It list most of them, and tell whether edible, pallatible, poisonous etc.
I agree, don't eat it unless you know for sure.
It is such a great skill and task to know your wild edible plants.
I am looking forward to learning more and more for the rest of my life.
So many plants, so little time.........
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