Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild

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Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild

JoAnn Guest

Jul 06, 2006 17:27 PDT

 

 

Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild

(and Not So Wild) Places

By: " Wildman " Steve Brill

 

Book Excerpt: COMMON DANDELION

(Taraxacum officinale)

 

The dandelion is a perennial, herbaceous plant with long, lance-

shaped leaves. They're so deeply toothed, they gave the plant its

name in Old French: Dent-de-lion means lion's tooth in Old French.

The leaves are 3-12 " long, and 1/2 - 2-1/2 " wide, always growing in

a basal rosette. The rosette's immature, tightly wrapped leaf bases

just above the top of the root form a tight " crown " .

 

Dandelion's well-known yellow, composite flowers are 1-2 " wide. They

grow individually on hollow flowerstalks 2-18 " tall. Each flowerhead

consists of hundreds of tiny ray flowers. Unlike other composites,

there are no disk flowers. Reflexed bracts grow under each flower.

The flowerhead can change into the familiar, white, globular

seedhead overnight. Each seed has a tiny parachute, to spread far

and wide in the wind.

 

The thick, brittle, beige, branching taproot grows up to 10 " long.

All parts of this plant exude a white milky sap when broken.

 

There are no poisonous look-alikes. Other very similar Taraxacum

species, as well as chicory and wild lettuce (see page ØØ) only

resemble dandelions in the early spring. All these edibles also

exude a white milky sap when injured, but chicory and wild lettuce

leaves have some hair, at least on the underside of the midrib,

while Taraxacum leaves are bald. Unlike the other genera, Taraxacum

stays in a basal rosette. It never grows a tall, central, stalk

bearing flowers and leaves.

 

Dandelions are especially well-adapted to a modern world

of " disturbed habitats, " such as lawns and sunny, open places. They

were even introduced into the Midwest from Europe to provide food

for the imported honeybees in early spring. They now grow virtually

worldwide. Dandelions spread further, are more difficult to

exterminate, and grow under more adverse circumstances most

competitors.

 

Most gardeners detest them, but the more you try to weed them up,

the faster they grow. The taproot is deep, twisted, and brittle.

Unless you remove it completely, it will regenerate. If you break

off more pieces than you unearth, the dandelion wins. " What's a

dandelion digger for? " a dandelion asked. " It's a human invention to

help us reproduce, " another dandelion replied.

 

Collect dandelion leaves in early spring, when they're the tastiest,

before the flowers appear. Harvest again in late fall. After a

frost, their protective bitterness disappears. Dandelions growing in

rich, moist soil, with the broadest leaves and largest roots, are

the best. Select the youngest individuals, and avoid all plants with

flowers. Some people eat the greens from spring to fall, when

they're very bitter. Others boil out the summer bitterness (and

water-soluble vitamins) out in two changes of water. It's all a

matter of preference.

 

Dandelion greens are wonderful in salads, sautéed or steamed. They

taste like chicory and endive, with an intense heartiness overlying

a bitter tinge. People today shun bitter flavors—they're so

conditioned by overly sweet or salty processed food.

But in earlier times, we distinguished between good and bad

bitterness.

 

Mixed with other flavors, as in a salad, dandelions

improve the flavor.

 

I also love sautéing them for about 20 minutes with onions and

garlic in olive oil, adding a little homemade wine before they're

done. If you're not used to the slight bitterness, cook them with

sweet vegetables, especially sliced carrots and parsnips. Boiling

dandelions in one or more changes of water makes them milder—a good

introduction if you're new to natural foods. Early spring is also

the time for the crown—great sautéed, pickled, or in cooked

vegetable dishes.

 

You can also eat dandelion flowers, or use them to make wine.

 

Collect them in a sunny meadow, just before mid-spring, when the

most flowers bloom. Some continue to flower right into the fall. Use

only the flower's yellow parts. The green sepals at the flower's

base are bitter. The flowers add color, texture, and an unusual

bittersweet flavor to salads. You can also sauté them, dip them in

batter and fry them into fritters, or steam them with other

vegetables. They have a meaty texture that contrasts with other

lighter vegetables in a stir-fry dish or a casserole. A Japanese

friend makes exceptionally delicious traditional dandelion flower

pickles, using vinegar and spices.

 

The taproot is edible all year, but is best from late fall to early

spring. Use it as a cooked vegetable, especially in soups. Although

not as tasty as many other wild root vegetables, it's not bad. I

remember finding large dandelions with huge roots growing on the

bottom of a grassy hillside. They were only mildly bitter, so I

threw them into a potato stock. With the added scallions, tofu,

ginger, carrots and miso, this became an excellent Japanese miso

soup.

 

Pre-boiling and changing the water, or long, slow simmering mellows

this root. Sweet vegetables best complement dandelion roots.

Sautéing the roots in olive oil also improves them, creating a

robust flavor. A little Tamari soy sauce and onions complete this

unusual vegetable side dish.

 

The leaves are more nutritious than anything you can buy. They're

higher in beta-carotene than carrots. The iron and calcium content

is phenomenal, greater than spinach. You also get vitamins B-1, B-2,

B-5, B-6, B-12, C, E, P, and D, biotin, inositol, potassium,

phosphorus, magnesium, and zinc by using a tasty, free vegetable

that grows on virtually every lawn. The root contains the sugar

inulin, plus many medicinal substances.

 

Dandelion root is one of the safest and most popular herbal

remedies. The specific name, officinale, means that it's used

medicinally. The decoction is a traditional tonic. It's supposed to

strengthen the entire body, especially the liver and gallbladder,

where it promotes the flow of bile, reduces inflammation of the bile

duct, and helps get rid of gall stones. This is due to its

taraxacin. It's good for chronic hepatitis, it reduces liver

swelling and jaundice, and it helps indigestion caused by

insufficient bile. Don't use it with irritable stomach or bowel, or

if you have an acute inflammation.

 

The modern French name for this plant is pissenlit (lit means bed)

because the root and leaf tea act on the kidneys as a gentle

diuretic, improving the way they cleanse the blood and recycle

nutrients. Unlike pharmaceuticals diuretics, this doesn't leach

potassium, a vital mineral, from the body. Improved general health

and clear skin result from improved kidney function. One man I spoke

to even claims he avoided surgery for urinary stones by using

dandelion root tea alone.

 

Dandelions are also good for the bladder, spleen, pancreas, stomach

and intestines. It's recommended for stressed-out, internally

sluggish, and sedentary people. Anyone who's a victim of excessive

fat, white flour, and concentrated sweeteners could benefit from a

daily cup of dandelion tea.

 

Dandelion root's inulin is a sugar that doesn't elicit the rapid

production of insulin, as refined sugars do. It helps mature-onset

diabetes, and I used it as part of a holistic regime for

hypoglycemia. (low blood sugar).

 

Dandelion leaf infusion also good at dinnertime. Its bitter elements

encourage the production of proper levels of hydrochloric acid and

digestive enzymes. All the digestive glands and organs respond to

this herb's stimulation. Even after the plant gets bitter, a strong

infusion, is rich in vitamins and minerals, and helps people who are

run-down. Even at its most bitter (Taraxacum come from Arabic and

Persian, meaning " bitter herb " ), it never becomes intolerably so,

like golden seal and gentian.

 

The leaf's white, milky sap removes warts, moles, pimples, calluses,

and sores, and soothes bee stings and blisters.

 

Unlike most other seeds, dandelions' can germinate without long

periods of dormancy. To further increase reproductive efficiency,

the plant has given up sex: The seeds can develop without cross-

fertilization, so a flower can fertilize itself. This lets it foil

the gardener by dispersing seeds as early as the day after the

flower opens.

 

Sexual reproduction leads to greater genetic diversity. This may be

important for adapting to predators and parasites, which also change

their genetic makeup to increase effectiveness. But the survival

criteria vary from niche to niche. Moral: When maximum reproductive

speed becomes the key to survival, don't get caught by the

evolution's lawnmower with your plants down!

 

A funny thing happened to me when I was collecting dandelions one

day in Central Park. Two tour participants were undercover city Park

Rangers. They had used marked bills, surveillance cameras, and

walkie-talkies to infiltrate the group. When I ate a dandelion, the

entire Parks Enforcement Patrol converged on my group, and I was

handcuffed and arrested for removing vegetation from the park. But

after I was fingerprinted, they couldn't hold me. I had eaten all

the evidence.

 

I called every newspaper, TV station, and wire service The next day,

when I went to get the paper, five cops stopped me. They wanted my

autograph. I was on page one of the Chicago Sun-Times, in newspapers

and on the radio around the country. WCBS Evening News with Dan

Rather covered the story, national and local talk show appearances

followed.

 

When I had to appear court, I served passersby and

reporters " Wildman's Five-Boro Salad, " complete with dandelions, on

the steps of the Manhattan Criminal Court, and the press ate it up

once more.

 

A month later, the city dropped the charges, and hired me as a

naturalist, to lead tours teaching people to eat dandelions and

other wild foods. I worked for the New York City Parks Department

for four years, leaving and resuming freelance activities after a

new anti-environmental administration took office.

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/dandelion.html

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets