Giant Reed

Scientific Name(s): Arundo donax
Abundance: plentiful
What: roots, leaves, young shoots
How: roots raw, cooked, ground into flour; leaves boiled; young shoots raw or cooked
Where: sunny wet ditches, moist areas
When: spring, summer
Nutritional Value: calories, minerals
Dangers: contains small amount of alkaloid gramine which is more toxic to dogs than to humans

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

Leaf Shape: The leaves are elongated and lanceolate, with a length ranging from 12 to 24 inches and a width of 1 to 2 inches.

Leaf Venation: The venation is parallel, with prominent longitudinal veins running the length of the leaves.

Leaf Margin: The leaf margins are entire, providing a smooth edge.

Leaf Color: The leaves are typically green, and both the top and underside have similar coloring.

Flower Structure: The flowering structures are panicles, characterized by numerous small spikelets arranged on branches.

Flower Color: The flowers are often beige to light brown.

Fruit: The fruits are small and inconspicuous, developing within the spikelets.

Seed: Seeds are typically small and numerous, found within the spikelets.

Stem: The stems are robust, hollow, and cane-like, with a green to grayish color and a diameter ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 inches.

Hairs: The stems and leaves may lack noticeable hairs.

Height: Arundo donax is a tall grass, and its height can reach up to 20 feet or more, depending on growing conditions.

Stand of Giant Reeds. These are over seven feet tall.


Slightly closer view of Giant Reeds.


Giant reeds in later spring. The green ones are this-years growth.


Young giant reed shoot.


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.


Giant reeds look very similar to bamboo, especially towards the base. The reed is hollow like bamboo and structurally can be used in many of the same ways as bamboo though it does not have the full load-bearing strength of bamboo. Giant reeds are considered to be invasive plants and can quickly swallow any location where they get enough sun and moisture.

The roots (rhizomes) are the main edible portion of giant reeds. They contain some calories in the form of starch and even sugars, especially when still young and tender. As the roots age they become fibrous/woody. The young roots can be eaten raw, boiled, steamed, or baked. They can also be dried then ground into flour.

The leaves are edible though quite bitter. Their flavor can be mellowed by boiling. A change of water during boiling usually isn't necessary except with the most bitter of leaves.

The young shoots, when available, are used like bamboo shoots and/or asparagus.


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.

Groundnut

Scientific Name: Apios americana
Abundance: rare
What: tubers, flowers, vine tips, seedpods
How: tubers are boiled, roasted, not raw; flowers & yound seedpods cooked; vine tips raw or cooked
Where: moist areas
When: spring, summer, fall, winter
Nutritional Value: calories, protein
Dangers: 1% of the population is allergic to groundnuts

Groundnut tubers, 1-3 years old.




Groundnut vine.


Close-up of groundnut vine tip.


Close-up of groundnut stem.


Groundnut leaf (odd-pinnate).




Close-up of unopened flowers.


Close-up of opened groundnut flowers.




Groundnut seedpod. Cook before eating.


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.


Groundnuts aka hopniss are a wonderful, potato-like tubers found in moist soils all across North America, including along many Texas streams and ponds. They like river banks, where their vines will entwine anything that will support them. These vines have a rough, hairy feel to them and range in color from reddish at the base up to pale green at the newest tips. The leave are odd-pinnate which means it's a compound leaf with and five to seven (always an odd number) leaflets off the main petiole (leafstem).The purple-white flower clusters appear in late summer and continue to appear into the fall.

The edible, slow-growing tubers can be dug any time of the year as they take up to three years to reach their full size, approximately as big as a hen's egg. The individual tubers will have their highest concentration of starch in the fall, which makes them tastiest at that time. These tubers grow in chains along the roots, once you find one you can follow the root to collect many more. An single vine can produce a dozen or more tubers, most of which will be big enough to eat.

These tubers can be prepared just like potatoes which frying being my personal favorite. They are a bit more bland as well as being a little bit fibrous than regular potatoes, but salt or other seasoning helps with the flavor. Groundnut tubers are significantly higher (up to 17% by weight) in protein than potatoes, which makes them an excellent food source.

The rest of the plant is edible but the flowers, bean-like seedpods, and vine tips aren't nearly as desirable as the tubers.

Groundnuts are easy to grow in your garden or a self-watering Earth Bucket as long as you have patience and plenty of water. I have them growing in both a wet spot in my yard and an Earth Bucket as part of my permaculture food forest.

While ground nut tubers are an amazing food, approximately 1% of the population can develop allergies to them. This allergy can hit the first time they eat the tubers or any time the sit down to a meal of them after that first time. There's no good way of telling in advance if a person might be allergic, but if someone has an extreme allergy to peanuts I would hesitate in giving them any part of the groundnut plant.


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.

Horsetails

Scientific name: Equisetaceae spp.
Abundance: uncommon
What: young stems, roots
How: tea with young stems boiled in 3-4 changes of water or roots after roasting
Where: near water
When: young shoots in the spring, roots all year
Nutritional Value: minerals
Other uses: These plants contain a large amount of silica which makes them excellent for scrubbing dishes in the wild. They also contain some very astringent compounds which makes mashed-up horsetails an excellent clotting agent to help stop bleeding.
Dangers: Equisetaceae species contain thiaminase, an enzyme which removes vitamin B from the body. This enzyme is destroyed by cooking the horsetails.

Medicinal Summary:
Stems - hemostat; wound Healer; diuretic; assists rebuilding non-chronic connective tissue damage (poultice, tisane)

Leaf Arrangement: The leaves are arranged in whorls at regular intervals along the stem. These leaves are small and scale-like.

Leaf Shape: Leaves are reduced to small, non-photosynthetic scales that are fused at the base, forming a sheath around the stem.

Leaf Venation: There is no distinct venation due to the reduced size and form of the leaves.

Leaf Margin: Leaf margins are not applicable, as the leaves are scale-like and fused.

Leaf Color: The scale leaves are usually the same color as the stem, typically green to brownish-green.

Flower Structure: These plants do not produce true flowers. They reproduce by spores produced by "bee hive" looking structures at the tips of the stalks.

Flower Color: Not applicable, as Equisetaceae species do not have flowers.

Fruit: No true fruit is produced; they reproduce via spores released from cone-like structures.

Seed: No seeds are produced; reproduction is through spores.

Stem: The stem is elongated, jointed, and hollow, with ridges and furrows running along its length. Texture is rough.

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

Height: The height varies widely among species, ranging from a few inches to several feet tall.

Stand of horsetails




Close-up of stalk tip.


Spore-producing bodies maturing left to right.


Really close-up of Horsetail tips.


Close-up of Horsetails "joints".


Getting ready to clean some pots.


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.


Looking like prehistoric reeds, horsetails are found in large clumps in the sandy soil along Texas streams. They look prehistoric because they are prehistoric, being 100 million years old. Horsetails reproduce via spores rather than seeds, which puts them closer to ferns than most other vascular plants. A tall stand can reach 30 inches high and densely packed.

Tea from the plant has a slight "black licorice" crossed with green tea flavor. Crushed up a 6-8 horsetails into a cup of water and then boil them for ten minutes. Let stand until cool enough to drink. The silicic acid found in horsetail tea is thought to strengthen the walls of blood vessels and the air sacs in lungs along with promoting regrowth of damaged joint tissue. Its astringent chemicals reduce bleeding especially in the mouth and act as a diuretic to flush out the body.

The high silicate content of horsetails makes them excellent wilderness pot scrubbers. A handful of them rubbed will quickly scrap clean a dirty cook pot, as many old boy scouts know.


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.

Lady's Thumb

Scientific Name(s): Polygonum persicaria
Abundance: common
What: leaves
How: cooked
Where: moist, sunny areas
When: spring, summer
Nutritional Value: assorted vitamins & minerals
Dangers: none known

Leaf Arrangement: The leaves are arranged in an alternate pattern along the stem.

Leaf Shape: The leaves are lanceolate to elliptic, usually measuring about 2 to 6 inches in length and 0.5 to 1 inch in width. A short sheath will run down the stem from the base of the leaf.

Leaf Venation: Leaf venation is pinnate, with a central vein and smaller veins branching off to the sides.

Leaf Margin: The leaf margins are entire, meaning they are smooth without serrations or teeth.

Leaf Color: The leaves are generally green, but they often have a distinctive dark blotch in the center. This splotch can range from a thick "V" to a roundish blotch. How pronounced the sploch is depends on the age of the leaf, with it becoming more distinctive as the leaf ages.

Flower Structure: Flowers are small, grouped in dense, elongated spikes located at the tip of the stem or arising from leaf axils. Each flower is typically around 0.1 to 0.2 inches in diameter.

Flower Color: The flowers are usually pink to red.

Fruit: The plant produces a small, black, shiny nutlet as its fruit.

Seed: The seed is enclosed within the nutlet, which is about 0.1 inch in diameter, round, and black.

Stem: The stem is slender, often reddish, and can be smooth or slightly hairy.

Hairs: There may be fine hairs along the stem and the underside of the leaves.

Height: The plant usually grows to about 1 to 3 feet in height.

Lady's thumb. The dark "V" stain is supposed to look like the thumbprint of a lady.


Lady's Thumb (note the dark smudge on the leaf between the 3" and 4" section of the ruler)


"Smudge-free" lady's thumb.


A stand of lady's thumb blooming along Spring Creek.


Close-up of flowers.


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.


This "weed" prefers moist, sunny locations on the banks of streams and lakes but it can occasionally be found in much drier locations. It will usually be in clumps and standing approximately 18"-24" tall. In early summer the pink flowers will appear in small, round clusters at the tops of the stems. From a distance these flowers will make the whole clump of plants look pink.

A delicious potherb, simply boil the leaves for 8-10 minutes then serve with butter or roasted garlic or bits of bacon or all of those combined. It is better to cook it than to eat it raw because bacteria from the water this plant grows along can contaminate the leaves.


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.

Lizard's Tail

Scientific Name(s): Saururus cernuus
Abundance: uncommon
What: roots, leaves
How: tea
Where: moist areas, edge of water.
When: spring, summer, fall
Nutritional Value: none

Medicinal Summary:
Roots - sedative; pain relief; wound healing (tisane)

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

Leaf Shape: The leaves are heart-shaped (cordate) with a length of approximately 4 to 8 inches and a width of 3 to 6 inches.

Leaf Venation: The venation is prominently palmate, radiating from the base of the leaf like the fingers of a hand.

Leaf Margin: The leaf margin is smooth (entire) with no serrations.

Leaf Color: The upper side of the leaves is typically medium to dark green, while the underside may have a paler hue.

Flower Structure: The flowers are arranged in a spike-like cluster, known as a raceme, located at the tip of a drooping (cernuus) stem. Each flower is small, with a diameter of about 0.2 to 0.3 inches, and has no distinct petals but rather white to greenish sepals.

Flower Color: The flowers are usually white or cream-colored.

Fruit: The fruit is a small, elongated capsule.

Seed: Seeds are tiny, ovoid, and brown.

Stem: The stems are erect, slender, and may have a reddish tint. They bear the raceme of flowers at the top.

Hairs: The plant is generally hair-free but the flower spikes may feel slightly fuzzy while still immature and green.

Height: Saururus cernuus typically grows to a height of 1 to 3 feet, with the flowering spike extending above the foliage.

Bed of Lizard's Tail plants.




Close-up of leaf.


Lizard's Tail flower stalk before flowers develop.


Lizard's Tail flowerhead and leaves.


The rhizome roots of Lizard's Tail.


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.


Look for Lizard's Tail lining the banks of shaded Texas ponds beginning in the late winter and lasting until mid-fall. The "tails" show up in late April, blossoms in May, and are gone by July. The root can be gathered any time of year.

It has no edible/nutritional value but its roots have a long history of being used medicinally as a tea, which has both sedative and some pain-relieving properties. A wash made from boiled roots was used as a surface wash for rheumatism. Also, a paste of boiled then mashed roots was applied the sore, chapped breasts of nursing mothers and to heal flesh wounds.


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.

Lotus

Scientific Name(s): Nelumbo lutea
Abundance: uncommon
What: nuts, tubers
How: nuts raw, roasted, pounded into flour; tubers raw, roasted, candied, baked.
Where: still water
When: nuts fall, winter; tubers late summer, fall
Nutritional Value: nuts protein, carbohydrates; tubers starch
Dangers:none...well, occasionally alligators in Texas.

Leaf Arrangement: The leaves are peltate, meaning the leaf's stalk attaches to the center of the leaf blade, and they rise well above the water surface on long petioles.

Leaf Shape: Leaves are circular and large, commonly measuring 18 to 36 inches in diameter.

Leaf Venation: The venation is radiate, sometimes called orbicular. Veins start from the point where the petiole attaches to the underside of the leaf and run out to its edge, sometimes branching between stem and edge.

Leaf Margin: Margins are smooth and entire, forming a distinctive rounded shape without indentations.

Leaf Color: A bright green on the upper surface, often with a waxy coating that can repel water.

Flower Structure: Flowers are large and solitary with numerous petals, rising above the water on stout stalks, typically 12 to 18 inches across.

Flower Color: The blooms are a soft yellow, with a central cone-like structure that houses numerous carpels.

Fruit: The fruit is an aggregate of nuts nestled in a pit in a funnel-shaped receptacle which becomes woody and conical as it matures. Each nut is visible through an opening in the top of the funnel/cone.

Seed: Seeds are large, hard, and ovoid, about 0.5 to 0.8 inches in length, with the capability to remain viable for up to 100 years.

Stem: Stems are actually elongated petioles that are thick and waxy, reaching heights of 3 to 6 feet above the water surface.

Hairs: There are no hairs on the stems (petioles) or flowers; both are characterized by a smooth surface. The top side of the lrge, round leaves are covered in microscopic hairs that impart a hydrophobicity to the the leaf surface, but are too small to feel by touch or see by the unaided eye.

Height: The plant can reach an overall height, including the flower stalks, of up to 8 feet above the water level.

Lotus plants. In shallow water they often stand out a foot or more above the water.




Close-up of a lotus leaf. They are intact circles, unlike the cloven form of regular water lily pads. Lotus pads can grow to over two feet in diameter. Microscopic, hydrophobic hairs on the surface of the lotus pads cause water to bead up and run like mercury.




Small lotus pad in spring. Note the two lighter hemispheres mark at it's center.


Lotus tuber. Raw it tastes kind of like a potato.


Lotus flowers are large, up to a foot across and the number of seeds they contain can vary.




Lotus seed pod ready for picking.


A perfect lotus nut, ready to be shelled.


A shelled lotus nut. You still have to remove the green, baby plant before roasting and eating otherwise the nut will be bitter.


Lotus seedpods and nuts after drying in the wild.


Cracked lotus nut. The small, green plant germ (plant embryo) is very bitter and must be removed. The nuts are very hard to crack.


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.


Common in many shallow, still water, lotus are often mistaken for some sort of large water lily. The main differences between lotus and water lilies are lotus "pads" are round & intact whereas water lily pads have a cleft or gap in the pad and so aren't a complete circle. Also, lotus pads grow up to a foot out of the water on strong stalks while lily pads stop growing at the surface of the water. Lotus seedpods look like weird, green showerheads pointing up at the sky while green and then drooping face down towards the water when brown and dry. The tubesrs are thick, long, segmented and MUCH tastier than water lily tubers!

Lotus nuts were a much-beloved food of Native Americans due to the flavor and high-energy content. After cracking and removal of the small, bitter, green plant embryo the seeds can be eaten raw, roasted, roasted then pounded into flour, or candied. Toasting, boiling, then mushing up the seeds gives a hearty porridge that reminds me of Malt-O-Meal.

Lotus tubers can be somewhat of a challenge to harvest. The tubers grow during the summer at the end of the lotus runners. Follow a pad stem or seedpod stem down to its base runner then follow this runner to its end. These tubers can be eaten raw, roasted, or candied by boiling in a concentrated sugar solution. Mix a little ginger in with the lotus root when you candy it for a real treat!


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.