Onion - Wild

Scientific name: Allium species
Abundance: plentiful
What: bulbs and young stems/leaves
How: raw or cooked as seasoning
Where: open, sunny areas
When: all year, more common in cool weather.
Nutritional Values: Vitamin C plus small amounts of other vitamins, minerals, some carbohydrates.
Other Uses: juice acts as a weak insect repellent
Dangers: Rain lilies (Zephyranthes stellaris) look identical to wild onions and can be fatal. Crows Poison (Nothoscordum bivalve) plants also look just like wild onion and may cause upset stomaches. Only wild onion smells like onion. If it smells like onion it is safe to eat, if it just smells like grass it's Rain Lily or Crow's Poison.

Leaf Arrangement: The leaves of wild onions are typically arranged in a basal rosette emerging directly from the bulb.

Leaf Shape: The leaves are long, linear, and hollow or tubular, typically measuring about 8 to 12 inches in length and 0.1 to 0.3 inches in width. Field garlic (Allium vineale) leaves will be U-shaped along their long length.

Leaf Venation: The venation is parallel, as is common in monocots like onions.

Leaf Margin: The margins of the leaves are entire, meaning they are smooth and unbroken.

Leaf Color: The leaves are usually a vibrant green, sometimes with a bluish or glaucous tint.

Flower Structure: The flowers are small and borne in clusters on top of a leafless stalk. The cluster, or inflorescence, is often spherical or umbrella-shaped.

Flower Color: Flower colors can vary but are often pink, purple, or white.

Fruit: The fruit is a small capsule, although wild onions are more commonly identified by their bulbs and foliage.

Seed: The seeds are black and typically found inside the small capsule fruits.

Stem: The flowering stem, or scape, is round, smooth, and erect, rising directly from the bulb and holding the flower cluster aloft.

Hairs: There are no hairs on the leaves or stems.

Height: Wild onions typically grow to a height of 4 to 18 inches, including the flower stalk.

A thick stand of wild onions. These are 12"-14" tall.


A few wild onions...with some poison ivy.


A bunch of invasive Field Garlic (Allium vineale) onions close to flowering.


A single wild onion plant.


Wild onion flowers and seeds.


Close-up of Wild Onion flowers and seeds.


Another type of wild onions flowering.


Wild onion on the Texas-New Mexico border.


Close-up of west Texas wild onion flower.


Texas distribution, attributed to U. S. Department of Agriculture. The marked counties are guidelines only. Plants may appear in other counties, especially if used in landscaping.


North American distribution, attributed to U. S. Department of Agriculture.



Wild onions form large beds of plants which drive out other plants. They are most common in cooler weather. The whole plant can be used same as chives, from the bulb to the tips of the green stems.

Larger wild onion stems can become too tough to eat unless they are boiled or stewed for a long time, but they tough ones can be easily determined when harvesting. If they are tough to cut/break then they'll be tough during eating unless cooked a long time.

The white flowers that they produce can also be eaten and give an interesting appearance to foods when the flowers are left raw. The flowers eventually turn into fairly hard, nut-like seeds that can also be eaten raw or cooked into dishes.

Wild onions can be dried for later use but be warned, if you dry them in a dehydrator your whole house will smell like onions for days.

There is a minimally toxic mimic of wild onion, which is called Crow's Poison (Nothoscordum bivalve). This plant look almost identical to a small wild onion but it lacks the onion/garlic smell when. Crushed Crow's Poison smell like grass whereas the wild onion smells like onion when crushed. The toxins in Crow's Poison are very weak and in a very low amount. You would have to eat a pound of the plant just to get a bad stomach. When dug up, Crow's Poison will have a cluster of attached bulbs underground.

Rain Lily (HIGHLY POISONOUS)


Rain Lily flowers (HIGHLY POISONOUS)




Crow's Poison (MILDLY POISONOUS)


Close-up of Crow's Poison flower (SLIGHTLY TOXIC).


Crow's Poison gets its name from the practice of mixing the mashed-up bulbs of this plant with a handful of grain which was then left out for crows to eat. The crows would get sick, some would die, and the other crows would realize they need to leave the grain of this farm alone.


Buy my book! Outdoor Adventure Guides Foraging covers 70 of North America's tastiest and easy to find wild edibles shown with the same big pictures as here on the Foraging Texas website.

Prairie Parsley

Scientific Name(s): Polytaenia nuttallii
Abundance: common
What: seeds, leaves
How: seeds as seasoning; leaves cooked
Where: fields, borders, roadsides
When: winter, spring
Nutritional Value: low
Dangers: none

Leaf Arrangement: The leaves are arranged alternately along the stem.

Leaf Shape: The compound leaves' leaflets are deeply and widely lobed.  

Leaf Venation: Due to the finely divided nature of the leaves, the venation is not prominently visible.

Leaf Margin: The margins of the individual leaflets are entire or slightly toothed.

Leaf Color: The leaves are a bright, vibrant green.

Flower Structure: The flowers are small and clustered in compound umbels, a characteristic arrangement where multiple umbrella-like clusters are grouped together.

Flower Color: The flowers are usually yellow.

Fruit: The plant produces small, elongated, ribbed fruits typical of many members of the Apiaceae family.

Seed: The seeds are small, elongated, and contained within the ribbed fruits.

Stem: The stem is erect, ribbed, and can be slightly hairy.

Hairs: There may be fine hairs on the stem, particularly near the base.

Height: Polytaenia nuttallii typically grows to a height of 1 to 3 feet.

 

Prairie parsley plants in bloom.




Close-up of prairie parsley's 5-petaled flowers.


Praire parsley flower umbels (clusters) have a dome-shape when viewed from the side.


Close-up of prairie parsley flower buds.


Close-up of even younger flower buds.


Close-up of flowers gone to seed.


Prairie parsley stem.


Close-up of stem. It's covered with short hairs.




Prairie parsley leaves have rounded lobbed and teeth.




Close-up of prairie parsley leaves.




Mature prairie parsley leaves are compound.




Texas distribution, attributed to U. S. Department of Agriculture. The marked counties are guidelines only. Plants may appear in other counties, especially if used in landscaping.



North American distribution, attributed to U. S. Department of Agriculture.


Perhaps in the scheme of things it is good that Prairie Parsley isn't one of the higher ranked wild edibles. It's seeds can be used as a seasoning substitute for dill or carrot seeds and it's leaves can be cooked, usually boiled, as a pot herb but in both cases the flavor isn't anything over which to get excited. In times of starvation supposedly the root was also boiled or roasted but honestly, it would have been during some pretty rough times. The flavor is...not good.

The plant itself is rather distinctive and attractive to my eyes. It's most commonly seen growing along dry ditches of country roads in late winter through early summer. However, it can also be found in fields, along the borders of woods, and even in woodland glades. The plant itself rarely gets over three feet tall and has an open structure with relatively few, widely spaced branches. This plant has a two-year lifecycle, with the first year it existing as a rosette of leaves, not putting up it's stalk until the second year. The stalk is green with purplish-reddish "ribs" running its length along with coarse hairs. Leaves are arranged in an alternating pattern lower on the plant but seem almost opposite near the tips. This leaves are compound, have three or more deeply lobed leaflets. The small, yellow flowers grow in an umbel clusters, becoming quite noticeable in late March into May. Following the flowers, numerous flat seeds appear, starting out green and then turning brown as they mature and dry.

Medicinally, tea from the seeds was used to control diarrhea. Prairie parsley leaf and root tea supposedly has some blood, kidney, and bladder cleansing/flushing properties but to my knowledge this hasn't been confirmed by western science.

Polytaenia nuttallii leaves are food source for Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars (Papilio polyxenes asterius) while bees and assorted other butterflies seek out the nectar of Prairie Parsley flowers.


Buy my book! Outdoor Adventure Guides Foraging covers 70 of North America's tastiest and easy to find wild edibles shown with the same big pictures as here on the Foraging Texas website.

Sea Purslane

Scientific Name(s): Sesuvium portulacastrum
Abundance: uncommon
What: leaves, stems, flowers
How: raw or cooked
Where: coastal beaches
When: spring, summer, fall, winter
Nutritional Value: NaCl,
Dangers: can be extremely salty

Leaf Arrangement: The leaves are arranged oppositely along the stem.

Leaf Shape: The leaves are thick, fleshy, and cylindrical to oval, typically measuring about 1 to 3 inches in length.

Leaf Venation: The venation is not distinctly visible due to the fleshy nature of the leaves.

Leaf Margin: The margins of the leaves are smooth (entire).

Leaf Color: The leaves are a bright green, sometimes with a reddish or purplish tinge under stress conditions like high salinity or drought.

Flower Structure: The 5-petaled flowers are small, solitary, and borne in the leaf axils.

Flower Color: The flowers are usually pink or purple.

Fruit: The plant produces a small, capsule-like fruit.

Seed: The seeds are tiny and contained within the capsule.

Stem: The stems are succulent, sprawling, and can root at the nodes.

Hairs: There are no significant hairs on the leaves or stems.

Height: Sea Purslane is a low-growing plant, typically reaching only a few inches in height but spreading widely.

Sea Purslane.


Close-up of Sea Purslane flower.


Sea Purslane leaves.


Texas county distribution, attributed to U.S. Department of Agriculture.

North American distribution, attributed to U.S. Department of Agriculture.


Creeping along coastal sand dunes, Sea Purslane is often responsible for the creation of these dunes in the first place. The thick, succulent stems and leaves look like a somewhat over-sized version of the Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) you find growing out of sidewalk cracks in the hottest part of the summer. The two are related which is evident in both their shapes and their ability to handle extreme environments. Sea Purslane seems to thrive in the sun-baked, salty, coastal sand.

All above-ground parts of Sea Purslane are edible. Raw, they are a delicious though somewhat salty snack. If too salty, boiling the plant in 1-2 changes of water removes most of the salt, leaving behind a basic "boiled green" which can be used in any manner such as soups, stews, or any other way one uses a cooked green. They are great in salads or to add salt to any dish. Be sure the sand is clean and uncontaminated.

According to Green Deane, Sea Purslane contains the natural steroid ecdysterone which supposedly helps improve athletic performance. However, scientific testing did not show any increase in ability by test subjects taking ecdysterone.

Effects of Methoxyisoflavone, Ecdysterone, and Sulfo-Polysaccharide Supplementation on Training Adaptations in Resistance-Trained Males
Colin D Wilborn,1 Lemuel W Taylor,2 Bill I Campbell,3 Chad Kerksick,4 Chris J Rasmussen,3 Michael Greenwood,3 and Richard B Kreider corresponding author3
J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2006; 3(2): 19–27.
Published online Dec 13, 2006. doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-3-2-19


Buy my book! Outdoor Adventure Guides Foraging covers 70 of North America's tastiest and easy to find wild edibles shown with the same big pictures as here on the Foraging Texas website.

Sumac

Scientific name: Rhus lanceolata, Rhus glabra, Rhus copallinum
Abundance: uncommon
What: red berries
How: lemonade, tea, seasoning
Where: fields
When: early summer
Nutritional Value: minor traces of vitamins and antioxidants
Dangers: white sumac berries are very toxic

Leaf Arrangement: Compound leaves are alternately arranged along the stems.

Leaf Shape: The leaves are pinnately compound, consisting of multiple leaflets.

Leaf Venation: The venation of the leaflets are pinnate.

Leaf Margin: The leaflets have serrated margins.

Leaf Color: The upper side of the leaflets is green, while the underside may have a lighter hue.

Flower Structure: The plant produces dense, conical clusters of small greenish-yellow flowers.

Flower Color: The flowers are typically yellowish-green and form terminal (end-of-branch) clusters.

Fruit: The fruit is a red, hairy drupe, densely packed in a compact cluster. They often have a white, crystalline powder coating the mature fruit.

Seed: Each drupe contains a single seed.

Bark: Mature bark is gray-brown and rough. Younger bark is smooth and red or green-gray depending on specific species.

Hairs: The young branches and fruit are fuzzy.

Height: Smooth sumac can grow up to 9 to 15 feet in height, forming colonies through spreading rhizomes.

Sumac shrubs.

Closer look at sumac shrubs.




Ripe sumac (Rhus glabra) berries.


Close-up of sumac berries.




Another view of sumac berries. The white/gray coating is responsible for the tangy flavor.


Topside of Winged Sumac (Rhus copallinum) leaf.


Underside of Winged Sumac (Rhus copallinum) leaf.


Close-up of winged sumac leaf. Note the "wings" along either side of the main leaf stem.


Young sumac flowers which will eventually turn into berries.


Sumac in the fall (Rhus glabra or Rhus lanceolata).


Texas distribution, attributed to U. S. Department of Agriculture. The marked counties are guidelines only. Plants may appear in other counties, especially if used in landscaping.


North American distribution, attributed to U. S. Department of Agriculture.


I wish I had a dime for every person who thought sumac (assorted members of the Rhus genus) and poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix) were the same plant. Or better yet, I'd like to go back in time have a long talk with the guy who decided to call T. vernix "poison sumac". As you may have guessed by now the two are very different plants and the edible sumac doesn't contain the urishiol oil that causes painful poison ivy/sumac/oak rashes.

Often forming beautiful stands along roads, in fields, and at the edges of woods, these small trees rarely grow more than 7-8 feet tall. They are a very "open" tree with single, narrow trunks that don't branch out until close to the top, giving them an elegant appearance in my opinion. The trunks are gray and pockmarked while the branches become reddish and fuzzy near the leaves. The crushed leaves have a very distinctive odor...of sumac.

The dried berries are a traditional Middle Eastern seasoning used primarily on chicken and fish. Place the dried berries in a peppermill and then grind them over the food either before or after cooking, giving it a tangy, desert flair.

A pleasing "pink sumacade" is made by soaking the berries in cold water for at least ten minutes though overnight in the fridge maximizes the flavor, then filtering the liquid to remove berries and fine sumac hairs before drinking.

Making two quarts of sumac-ade.



Buy my book! Outdoor Adventure Guides Foraging covers 70 of North America's tastiest and easy to find wild edibles shown with the same big pictures as here on the Foraging Texas website.