The Feisty Forager: Milkweed

March Madness — Day 29 With more than 35,000 registered cultivars, the daylily (Hemerocallis spp.) is one of the world’s most prolific and varied flowering plants. Despite their common name, they are not a true lily. While true lilies are toxic to humans, all parts of daylilies are edible: shoots…

March Madness — Day 28 All members of the Asteraceae (aster) family are considered edible, including the ubiquitous daisy, a long-time lover of country and city person alike. Who didn’t grow up with the little ditty “Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true…?” My mother, on the day she married…

March Madness — Day 27 Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense), or foalsfoot, is a low growing ground cover with a generous network of rhizomes, velvety heart-shaped leaves, and a burgundy-brown flower which appears under the leaves at ground level. The rhizome is both gingery and peppery, although not as potent as…

March Madness — Day 26 May apple (Podophyllum peltatum), also known as mandrake, hog apple, ground lemon, Indian apple, raccoonberry, and umbrella leaf, is a beauty of a plant, both in its foliage and its drooping flower, and is frequently an indicator that morels may be close by. Toxic except…

March Madness — Day 25 Lamb’s quarters (Chenopodium album), also known as goose foot, fat hen, pigweed, wild spinach, and bacon weed (!) is a member of the Amaranthaceae family. Leaves, shoots, seeds, flowers are all edible, and are purported to contain more iron, protein, calcium, and vitamins B1 and…

March Madness — Day 24 Morels (Morchella spp.) are some of the earliest edibles to appear in the springtime, and some of the least likely to be misidentified. They are also some of the most difficult to spot amidst the leafy leftovers of winter. Favorite hangouts are at the base…

March Madness — Day 23 Poke sallet (Phytolacca americana) has long been a staple in the Appalachian South. As Southern Foodways Alliance member Joe York says, it’s free and you don’t even have to plant it or weed it. “Some people can’t live without it once they’ve tasted it.” In…

March Madness — Day 22 Mustard greens are yet another expression of the Brassicaceae family, and are the delight of spring fields in France, where they proliferate and can often be seen painting the countryside in generous swaths of yellow (when in blossom), frequently offset by brilliant red fields of…