Skunk Cabbage April 4, 2008
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in spring, wild edibles, wildflowers.Tags: edible wild plant, skunk cabbage, spring, Symplocarpus foetidus, wildflower
28 comments
I wrote a bit about Skunk Cabbage last spring. It’s such an interesting plant… It generates heat in very early spring and actually melts its way through the ice and snow so it can be the first wildflower of the season.
UPDATE: “How does it do that?” asked a reader. So I googled and found this:
A couple of times I’ve been lucky enough to see spathes growing up through a thin layer of ice, the ice melted around the spathe in a circular form. This is an indication of skunk cabbage’s remarkable capacity to produce heat when flowering. If you catch the right time, you can put your finger into the cavity formed by the spathe and when you touch the flower head, your finger tip warms up noticeably. Biologist Roger Knutson found that skunk cabbage flowers produce warmth over a period of 12-14 days, remaining on average 20° C (36° F) above the outside air temperature, whether during the day or night. During this time they regulate their warmth, as a warm-blooded animal might!
Physiologically the warmth is created by the flower heads breaking down substances while using a good deal of oxygen. The rootstock and roots store large amounts of starch and are the likely source of nutrients for this break down. The more warmth produced, the more substances and oxygen consumed. Knutson found that the amount of oxygen consumed is similar to that of a small mammal of comparable size. (source)
Seriously… If you are interested in Skunk Cabbage, click on the word “source” above. You will read more about Skunk Cabbage than you thought was possible to write… and it’s all pretty fascinating!
The flower is odd, resembling raw or rotting meat in color and smell, attracting the only pollinator out at this time of year: flies. Later in summer, it will have leaves bigger than your head!
Those leaves will have a distinctly skunky smell which leads me to question why anyone decided to try to eat them… Except that they are quite plentiful in wetland settings and if you were looking for an easy crop, this would provide… Or maybe someone saw turkeys munching on the stuff:
At any rate, here’s what the Peterson Guide To Edible Wild Plants has to say about Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus):
The thoroughly dried young leaves are quite good reconstituted in soups and stews. The thoroughly dried rootstocks can be made into a pleasant cocoalike flour.
Warning: Contains calcium oxalate crystals; eating the raw plant causes an intense burning sensation in the mouth. Boiling does not remove this property – only thorough drying. Also, do not confuse the young shoots with those of False Hellabore.
Cocoalike… Hmm… Makes me want to try that! FYI: False Hellabore is poisonous. Personally, I don’t think they look anything alike:
Skunk Cabbage is found in the northeast. Here is the range map from the USDA website.
Wintergreen March 22, 2008
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in spring, wild edibles.8 comments
On a south facing bank where the sun had melted away much of the snow, I found a rather large patch of Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), a low, evergreen plant that spreads through slender, underground runners.
Flowers appear on Wintergreen in July and August (as early as May or as late as September, depending on climate). Once the berries set, they remain on the plant throughout the winter and spring, unless someone finds and eats them… The young leaves can also be nibbled, or tossed into a salad. It’s a lovely, fresh flavor, and I love finding it in the woods.
Also known as “Eastern Teaberry”, it is found in most states east of the Mississippi. Other common names include checkerberry, creeping wintergreen, and mountain-tea.
From the Forest Service site:
White-tailed deer browse wintergreen throughout its range, and in some localities it is an important winter food. Other animals that eat wintergreen are wild turkey, sharp-tailed grouse, northern bobwhite, ring-necked pheasant, black bear, white-footed mouse, and red fox. Wintergreen is a favorite food of the eastern chipmunk, and the leaves are a minor winter food of the gray squirrel in Virginia.
By the way, back in January, I posted a photo of Wintergreen, but wasn’t sure what it was. Two readers, Dave W. and cestoady pointed me in the direction of the correct ID. So today’s post is for them! Thanks!
What did you find in the woods today?
Why I Love Flickr – Revisited January 26, 2008
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in fungi, wild edibles.5 comments
I wrote a couple of days ago (or was it only yesterday?) about how Jayne got me started working on a book. In doing research for it… cuz I wanted to list the names of all the species… I found myself stumped by one of the fungi. Once again, I turned to Flickr.com’s ID Please group.
It wasn’t long before “Rhizopogon” answered my question:
Velvet Stem - Flammulina velutipes
I was skeptical at first. None of the websites I visited seemed to have pictures at all resembling my specimen. The more I read, though, the more convinced I became.
Tom Volk lists Winter Mushroom and Velvet Foot as additional common names. Michael Kuo must have been feeling a little punchy when he listed my favorite common name: “At Least Something’s Out in January Mushroom.”
It seems this ‘shroom can be either saprobic or parasitic: it can be found on dead wood or living trees. It is particulary fond of elm, which is where I found it.
Get ready for the most fascinating thing I learned: I’ve eaten this ‘shroom, though it looked NOTHING like the above pictures when I did. Have you ever had a Japanese dish, such as Sukiyaki, that has clusters of long-stemmed white mushrooms with small button caps on top? Cooks call them Enoki mushrooms. Well… it’s the same species!
When cultivated in jars in the dark, the stems continue to elongate as the organism tries to find a way out into the open where spores can be released.
I borrowed the Enoki photo above from Michael Kuo’s site. Be sure to click on it and read Michael’s article – especially the part about attempting to cultivate Enoki in space. I love a fellow cynic. The photo at left from Tom Volk’s site shows a colony where the bark is peeled away. Notice the enoki-like, long-stemmed, pale mushrooms growing below the orange fruits that have found their way out into the world.
WARNING: It is VERY important that if you decide you want to eat this mushroom you get the cultivated variety from the grocery store! There is another species (Galerina autumnalis) that is very like this and has been reported growing side by side with this. Galerina autumnalis is highly toxic!!!!
People ask me all the time how I know so much about nature. It’s really quite simple. This is how it happens… I snap a picture. I ask a question. The answer leads me to read and surf the ‘net… Suddenly, I know something I didn’t know before.
Thanks to Rhizopogon for pointing me in the right direction for this identification!
Ain’t life fascinating?
Forest Floor in Winter: Sans Snow – Part I – COLOR! January 14, 2008
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in fungi, insects, wild edibles, winter.15 comments
I let the dog out at 4:15am and it appears we got a dusting overnight. Yesterday I spent over 2 hours in the woods sans snow and took around 120 photos… enough to last for a handful of posts, anyway. When my daughter reviewed them with me, she asked, “How can you find so much color at this time of year?” So I guess I’ll start with the colorful collection…
More fungi, of course:
Turkey Tail Fungus (Trametes versicolor) is very abundant in the woods. It lives on dead or nearly dead trees, helping to break down the wood and return the nutrients to the soil. People don’t eat Turkey Tail even though it is non-poisonous because it is leathery and not very appetizing. That doesn’t seem to stop gray squirrels, box turtles, beetles, slugs, pillbugs, or gnats.
As the Latin name suggests, this fungus can be many different colors… tan, brown, green, maroon, orange, or blue. The orange ones really caught my eye yesterday!
I also found this strange orange fungus. I haven’t looked it up yet… Isn’t it unusual?
Berries:
Just as I entered the woods, I saw a flash of red. I assumed Partridgeberry. But no… I’m not sure what this is, and it’s not that great a photo for ID. Any guesses?
Now this is Partidgeberry (Mitchella repens) and as I got a little deeper into the woods, there was plenty of it! Partridgeberries are edible, but tasteless… so you might as well leave them for the deer and the birds. It is reported that a tea from the leaves of this plant was used by native Americans in the last few weeks of pregnancy to aid with the birth. This accounts for another common name: Squawvine. I read that here: <click>
Leaves:
Finally, I leave you with a leaf. I don’t know what kind it is. I loved the colors!
Tomorrow: patterns…
Tackling Maples November 9, 2007
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in trees, wild edibles.7 comments
I taught computers for 18 years before going to work at Audubon 9 years ago. When I taught computers, people asked me, “How do you know so much about computers?” Now they ask me, “How do you know so much about nature?”
The truth is, you don’t have to know much more than the average person to appear an expert. If I happen to know one or two more facts or techniques, you might perceive me as knowing everything when really, I’m just a novice – maybe only half a step beyond you. I’ve learned it before you. That’s all. This is is true whether the topic is technology or trees.
In answer to the questions, I do have a method for learning. Obsession! I pick a narrow topic and obsess about it for a while. I put on blinders to minimize distractions. I cover my desk with every available book on the subject. Sometimes I even schedule a class on the topic – forcing myself to learn before I teach! Teaching is the most effective way to learn, don’t you think?
Naturally, I use Audubon as my training ground. I walk the trails and try to learn what I can about everything I pass with the idea of sharing it later with visitors to the Center. A couple of years ago, I obsessed about coniferous trees. I think I can identify every needled tree on the sanctuary now. (Although, for some… I really need a cone. So don’t ask me the species unless you see a pine cone nearby, kay?)
My current obsession is going to be deciduous trees. You may have already figured that out, based on my Sycamore and Tulip Tree posts. Those two trees weren’t too difficult. There aren’t similar species to confuse with them… they are pretty distinctive.
Then there are the maples. This will be a challenge. There are thousands of species of maples worldwide. There is a 500-page book written about maples. I think there are only around seven species, though, that are native to my region. I’ll start with those and hopefully that will be all I find on the Audubon property. Then again… there’s a Douglas Fir on the Audubon property and they are native only to the western part of the continent… And then there are the cultivars and imports and cross-breeds. Oh dear… well… it will be a challenge. I’ll tackle it one tree at a time…
…starting with Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum), the New York State tree. Famous for the high sugar content in its sap from which sugar makers produce delicious syrup, butter, and candy, this tree is common in the northeastern US and southeastern Canada. A long time ago a forester helped me remember Sugar Maple by pointing out a feature of the leaves. Notice the space between the lobes. It is smooth and shaped like the letter U – just like the U in sUgar! Leaf shape is still the easiest way for me to know the trees. With winter coming on, though, I suppose I’ll have to turn my attention to the buds and bark. There’s always something new to learn, isn’t there?
I love maple syrup. If I can’t have the real thing, then I’d prefer not to have pancakes at all. It concerns me that the sap industry appears to be affected by global warming. I googled “maple syrup global warming” and found more than a dozen articles on the link between climate change and reduced sap production. So sad. It’s funny about maple syrup; people either love it or hate it. How about you? Are you a maple syrup lover?
Need to know more? Check out these maple websites:
American Sycamore November 2, 2007
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in trees, wild edibles.6 comments
There are three species of Sycamore native to the US - two out west, only one here where I live: American Sycamore. Platanaceae Platanus occidentalis. Other common names include American planetree, buttonwood, and buttonball-tree. Like the Cucumbertree I wrote about last time, the Sycamore’s range extends into Canada just a bit in southern Ontario.
The “button” names come from the shape of its fruit – like little round Christmas tree ornaments. The fruits appear in late summer and hang on to the tree through the winter. Each ball is actually a cluster of many seeds which will break apart in spring.
The leaves can get to be quite large making them very conspicuous as you shuffle through the fallen fall foliage. Leaves can be four to eight inches wide! The leaves fade a bit or turn yellow-brown before they fall – and they may fall throughout the summer. No brilliant fall colors here. Still, this tree has its own unique beauty.
The bark is the dead give-away for this tree. It exfoliates giving a mottled, almost camouflage appearance. Very pretty!
Many of the accounts for this tree mention its size – referring to it as massive. Mature trees can get to be 75-100 feet tall and 50-75 wide.
The wood is hard and course-grained. It is used for boxes, barrels, butchers’ blocks, cabinet work, and furniture, according to Peterson’s Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs.
Peterson’s guide to Edible Wild Plants notes that the sap can be used to make syrup and sugar, but “huge amouts of sap are needed and the results are mediocre.” The author also notes that the sap “is a fine source of pure drinking and cooking water in areas with contaminated water.”
While I have issues with the story line and visual portrayal of the characters, I do love the the song “Colors of the Wind” from the Disney movie Pocahontas:
How high will the sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you’ll never know
And you’ll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moonFor whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the windYou can own the Earth and still
All you’ll own is Earth until
You can paint with all the colors of the wind
Need to know more? Check out these websites:
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http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=36
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http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/Volume_2/platanus/occidentalis.htm
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http://hort.ufl.edu/trees/PLAOCCA.pdf (This site shows a range map much broader than the one from Virginia Tech.)
(There’s no such thing as) Free Food – Part II October 12, 2007
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in food, trees, wild edibles.2 comments
When I was a kid, I remember racing the squirrels for hickory nuts, butternuts, and beechnuts – all of which grew in our neighborhood. We learned, as the squirrels know, to distinguish the tasty, meaty nuts from the “duds” by cracking a lot of both. Eventually, we could tell by the look of a nut if it would provide us with a tasty treat and we tossed aside the duds before wasting our energy cracking them.
The beechnuts were easy to open – especially if one the girls had let her fingernails grow out a bit. The shells of beechnuts are soft enough; you can slip your thumbnail behind one of the triangular sides and peel it back to extract the nut.
The hickories and butternuts required tools: one flat rock to place the nut on and another rounder rock that we could use to smash the nuts open. There was some learning involved there, too. If you smashed the nut too hard, your nut meats would be crushed and it would require patience to separate them from the shells. If you didn’t smash it enough, you might end up with perfect nut meats – but they would be stuck in the shell whose contours match the nut making extraction difficult, indeed sometimes impossible.
While walking the dog in the hickory woods behind Bergman Park one fine fall day, I was struck by the sound of falling hickory nuts. It was raining nuts. I decided right then that I would return with a bucket or bag so I could gather some. I felt a little silly passing the other dog-walkers with my blue bucket, but no one asked what I intended to put in there. It took almost no time at all to fill the bucket to the top.
I spread the nuts out on trays in the sun to dry the thick green husks so that they would pop off easily. I’m still going through the nuts, cracking them one by one with channel locks! The sad truth is, I’ve forgotten since childhood how to tell the good ones from the duds… so I’m having to re-learn that! Another sad truth is that from that 3 or 4 gallon bucket of nuts, I will probably only have enough meats to make one batch of cookies. I don’t care though… It’s still fun to say – “Yeah! I gathered the nuts for these cookies…”
(There’s no such thing as) Free Food – Part I October 8, 2007
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in food, wild edibles.11 comments
A few weeks ago, a friend introduced me to Elderberries. Oh, I knew what they were… but I had never harvested them, or prepared them for the freezer, or made them into jam, or baked them in a pie. Now, in case you are reading this thinking, “Ooh, I’m going to do that, too,” let me just warn you: Gathering and preparing elderberries ain’t for sissies!
Elderberries grow in places where the ground is wet. Sometimes Very Wet. We got wet gatherng elderberries. Elderberries are a very dark purplish blue. Our fingers got purple separating the berries from the stems. Elderberries are little. It takes a long time to clean enough of them for a pie.
I’ve experimented with a few recipes with mixed results.
First, my failures: I tried an Elderberry Jam recipe I found on the Internet. It involved cooking berries and sugar until it got to a particular temperature and then pouring into jelly jars, etc. I don’t have a candy thermometer, so I just guessed. Hahahaha… I REALLY overcooked it. If you can even get it out of the jar with a jackhammer, you may break your tooth trying to eat it. I gave it to my friend. He calls it Elderberry Crunch. If I try jam again, I think I’ll add pectin instead of guessing the right temperature…
Another on-line recipe was for Elderberry Crunch Bread. (Surprisingly, it did not call for overcooked “jam.”) It was a very healthy recipe: no sugar, whole grain flour, etc. I’m sure it’s very good for me. But it has no flavor. I’m still baffled. How can you put strong-flavored elderberries in a recipe and end up with something that has no flavor? There’s another loaf of it in the freezer. I can’t get motivated to thaw it out…
My first Elderberry Pie was tasty, though my mom recommended a bit of lemon juice to bring out the flavor of the berries even more. My second pie, this time with lemon juice (and I think slightly riper berries) was delicious.
Apparently, you can also eat the blossoms in June or July. Dip them in batter and fry them in oil, so says the Peterson guide to Edible Wild Plants. Sounds like a lot less work. I don’t know though… flowers turn into berries. The berries are so incredibly delicious… I would hate to forego berries in favor of flowers. Maybe next summer I’ll try just one cluster.
I titled this post “(There’s no such thing as) Free Food – Part I”. There was no exchange of money for the berries. A little gasoline was burned looking for bushes on back roads. A lot of time was spent cleaning the berries… but what else was I going to do? Watch TV? Some people knit or crochet or embroider or sew. I like to have something to do with my hands, too. Since I love food way more than hand-knit socks (nothing personal, Suzzles or Nature Knitter!) using my hands to prepare food is satisfying to me. I found cleaning the berries on the front porch to be rather meditative and relaxing. Plus, there is great satisfaction in knowing where your food comes from. It was worth the “price.”
Elderberries also make for great art! I am making a series of notecards on the theme of “native berries.” I turned the above image into this.
You should Google “elderberry.” It’s a pretty interesting plant. It has many reported health benefits. It has been used for jams, jellies, wine, pies, and other recipes. Berries can be frozen or dried for long term storage. The wood has been used to make flutes and arrows. Oh and there is so much more!
Part II – coming soon – Hickory Nuts!
Jack-in-the-Pulpit September 18, 2007
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in wild edibles.1 comment so far
In yesterday’s post, I re-posted a posted picture from spring (I love the word post) of the Jack-in-the-Pulpit flower. Last night I went hiking to the same spot and found what I believe is the same plant, now with berries.
According to the Peterson Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants, the corm (underground root-like structure) can be eaten after it is thinly sliced and thoroughly dried. You can eat the slices like potato chips, or grind them into “a pleasant cocoa-like” flour. Don’t eat them raw, though. They contain calcium oxalate, a substance that will cause an “intense burning sensation” in the mouth.
The book says nothing about eating the delightfully red berries. My opinion is, since berries contain the seeds, wait until they are ripe – or even gone – before you collect the corm. That way we’ll have more Jack-in-the-Pulpit next year! (Indeed, the Peterson Guide suggests collecting from fall through early spring.)
Hiking! August 12, 2007
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in hiking, photography, wild edibles, wildflowers.3 comments
What an incredibly beautiful day it was yesterday. I hiked a 4.5 mile stretch of the Westside Overland Trail – and back… I’ve really improved my time. You may recall that the 6-hour Beehunter Trail in Allegany State Park took me 8 hours to hike. This 9-mile jaunt took me about 9 hours. Speedy!
The section I hiked takes you through Mount Pleasant State Forest between Route 430 just outside of Mayville New York to Titus Road in Sherman. Most of the trail is cool and somewhat dark – so I didn’t take a whole lot of photos. In the spots that did open up to sunlight, I got rather distracted by the raspberries and blackberries that were deliciously ripe. When I reached the Beaver Pond which is very near Titus Road, I took the following shots:
Ooh. I wish you could smell that mint. Or better yet – taste it! Delicious!
