Harvesting wild plants - risks and dangers

Doc Ruby · 14-11-2011 08:26PM #1

First off let me say that unless you're 90% sure of what you're harvesting, don't go near it. Most edible wild plants have a lot of very similar cousins that will do you great harm very quickly, so take it seriously. Mushrooms and fungi especially, in fact avoid these entirely, even experts sometimes come to a bad end with them.

So with that said, a few ideas to keep in mind:

The proper procedure for testing wild plants:

Choose one part of the plant at first, leaves, roots or berries for example, some parts might not be bad for you while others might be
Its best on an empty stomach to make sure you get the effect properly
Hold the plant against your wrist, inside elbow, or other area of thin skin to see do you get a burning or irritated sensation
Touch a small bit to your lips for three minutes
Put a little bit on your tongue for 15 minutes, then chew it for a quarter hour but don't swallow
Try swallowing the small bit and if you're still good after eight hours, try all the steps with a quarter cup

This might seem overcautious, but unlike most animals and insects, you really don't want to mess around with plants. I'd even say to not experiment at all unless you have no other choice.

This is poison Hemlock, very common in the Irish countryside, the sap can leave a nasty burn:

A few other tips:

Plants can absorb pollutants and poisons, so even a normally edible plant can do harm, in the short or long term
Look out for snail trails on plants, this can indicate the presence of liver fluke
Watch what animals eat, if its good for animals it probably won't kill you
Boiling can destroy some poisons, tannins and rigid fibres
Almonds are bad, anything that smells like them is dangerous
No white or green berries, nothing with a milky sap, pods and beans keep away
Purple or black berries miight be worth a go
If it looks like parsley or carrots, its a no no
Leaves of three, let them be
It generally makes sense to start experimenting on something abundant in the area if you have to

Builderfromhell · 14-11-2011 08:51PM

There are many books out there on eating wild foods. My wife and I have been collecting wild foods for years but only as a hobby. if we go walking in the woods or by a stream we would always come back with something. Depending on the location that might be;
periwinkles and other shore shell fish.
Carageen.
small crabs.

Mushrooms.

Blackberries.
Crab apples.
Nettles.
Fern.
etc.

But generally i would say there is very little out there worth expending the energy to collect. rowing your own berries, salads etc. makes much more sense.

eth0 · 14-11-2011 11:20PM

Doc Ruby wrote: »

This is poison Hemlock, very common in the Irish countryside, the sap can leave a nasty burn:

That yoke is harmless compared to its nastier cousin the Giant hogweed. Thankfully there's few of them around in Ireland. You'd have to be careful it wouldnt sting you and the sting would take a while to appear, after exposure to sun light apparently

slowburner · 16-11-2011 11:05AM

This is the native Hogweed

A117EB0AE35E46C39E66717865B0DAA8-0000345227-0002631179-00500L-CDA02BC1891147E18217F8BE447899B4.jpg

This is poison Hemlock or Water Dropwort

9ED03E703B4D45BE8130289E0C0F4E93-0000345227-0002631178-00326L-69365437E8AF47DEB90925659263DE39.jpg

Giant Hogweed is unmistakable when mature.

581FBA2B5C0749BFB970466D562BD867-0000345227-0002631177-00240L-F92B9AFCB5E94A88A16A52965EAE5F64.jpg

slowburner · 16-11-2011 11:13AM

Data from Biodiversity Maps held by the National Biodiversity Data Centre www.biodiversityireland.ie 2011

slowburner · 16-11-2011 11:22AM

Builderfromhell wrote: »

There are many books out there on eating wild foods. My wife and I have been collecting wild foods for years but only as a hobby. if we go walking in the woods or by a stream we would always come back with something. Depending on the location that might be;
periwinkles and other shore shell fish.
Carageen.
small crabs.

Mushrooms.

Blackberries.
Crab apples.
Nettles.
Fern.
etc.

But generally i would say there is very little out there worth expending the energy to collect. rowing your own berries, salads etc. makes much more sense.

I'm curious about what part of the fern you can eat and what species. I have a notion that the spores of bracken are carcinogenic.

Another good source of starch/carbs in the wild and available all year round is the rhizome of the reed mace (often called Bull rush). Cook the root for 10 to 15 mins on the coals in its skin and eat the stringy white contents. Never tried it myself but it's supposed to taste neutral
This was an essential food source in the Neolithic period and a reason why so many sites are found near old fens etc.

3B09E470D7F84C2A9333AAB7845BC25A-0000345227-0002631209-00251L-824986D63EFF47F68BDE4E99C900BB2E.jpg

Doc Ruby · 16-11-2011 02:44PM

slowburner wrote: »

This is the native Hogweed

This is poison Hemlock or Water Dropwort

I think you may have those two muddled up, the leaves on hemlock tend to be "fingered" like ferns, as in the first image. See, poison hemlock:

Common hogweed:

Whichever the case, unless you know what you're doing you're as well off to give a wide berth to anything that looks similar, and don't eat it.

Tabnabs · 16-11-2011 03:01PM

Doc Ruby, are there any books or field guides suitable for Ireland that you can recommend?

Doc Ruby · 16-11-2011 03:08PM

Tabnabs wrote: »

Doc Ruby, are there any books or field guides suitable for Ireland that you can recommend?

I don't know to be honest, I've never used any myself. If I run across something I don't recognise I either leave it alone or ask someone handy. Old people in the local area are a great source of knowledge. I suppose botanists must use something to learn the ropes, though.

slowburner · 16-11-2011 04:51PM

I think you may have those two muddled up, the leaves on hemlock tend to be "fingered" like ferns, as in the first image

More than likely

. I think maybe I got the giant Hogweed right

Whichever the case, unless you know what you're doing you're as well off to give a wide berth to anything that looks similar, and don't eat it.

Agreed

krissovo · 17-11-2011 12:08AM

I have some bad experiences of foraging, when I was younger in my early 20's and keen on learning the ropes as quick as possible plus armed only with an early print version of the SAS survival handbook I made some bad choices. It ranged from diarrhea and vomiting, blistering of the mouth to some scary trips from mushrooms.

Some of the plants were later confirmed by experts as safe so I obviously had a allergic reaction to some of them. Once I followed these tests posted by DOC FOR PLANTS and armed with the Collins book "Food for Free" I have not had another situation. I also have the Collins book "Mushrooms" which is cautious and leaves out some of the best tasting fungi but safe to follow.

Doc Ruby · 17-11-2011 08:55PM

krissovo wrote: »

I have some bad experiences of foraging, when I was younger in my early 20's and keen on learning the ropes as quick as possible plus armed only with an early print version of the SAS survival handbook I made some bad choices. It ranged from diarrhea and vomiting, blistering of the mouth to some scary trips from mushrooms.

Thats a good one actually, I'll add a couple more notes:

Just because plants might be edible in general doesn't mean they are edible for you, beware of allergies
Young and growing leaves/roots seem to be more palatable, presumably because they are putting more energy into growing than defending themselves

Builderfromhell · 17-11-2011 09:50PM

slowburner wrote: »

I'm curious about what part of the fern you can eat and what species. I have a notion that the spores of bracken are carcinogenic.

A few of us went walking in woods one spring and a Korean girl who was with us was amazed to see so many fern pods which had not yet produced foliage.
She told us these plants, when they are young and tender, are a delicacy in Korea and are steamed and eaten. She did point out that you can only eat a small amount at a time as they as mildly toxic. they also cannot be eaten after the pods open.
We ate some with her and they were OK.
I would not recommend eating them without doing further research

slowburner · 18-11-2011 08:39AM

Builderfromhell wrote: »

A few of us went walking in woods one spring and a Korean girl who was with us was amazed to see so many fern pods which had not yet produced foliage.
She told us these plants, when they are young and tender, are a delicacy in Korea and are steamed and eaten. She did point out that you can only eat a small amount at a time as they as mildly toxic. they also cannot be eaten after the pods open.
We ate some with her and they were OK.
I would not recommend eating them without doing further research

Very interesting. There are many different species of fern but I think Bracken is a special case amongst them.
See here,
http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/ptq/ptq.htm

Sticky_Fingers · 18-11-2011 10:33PM

Builderfromhell wrote: »

A few of us went walking in woods one spring and a Korean girl who was with us was amazed to see so many fern pods which had not yet produced foliage.
She told us these plants, when they are young and tender, are a delicacy in Korea and are steamed and eaten. She did point out that you can only eat a small amount at a time as they as mildly toxic. they also cannot be eaten after the pods open.
We ate some with her and they were OK.
I would not recommend eating them without doing further research

That's very interesting, I'm sure if someone with a bit of entrepreneurial spirit tried to start up exporting Irish fern pods to Asian they could make a decent go of it if they are delicacy over there.

Sky King · 23-11-2011 03:21PM

Common stinging nettles are surprisingly nutritious. Probably well worth eating if you're stuck.

steddyeddy · 27-11-2011 04:06PM

Be careful of foxglove as it contains digitalis which has cardio toxic properties. If I was in the wild and hadnt a clue about toxic plants I would carefully observe what the animals around me were eating. Im aware that some animals are better at digesting toxins than we are but still a lot of animals will go out of their way to eat around certain plants. If I saw sheep for instance eating around a certain plant I wouldnt think it was a good idea to eat it.

Morag · 27-11-2011 04:23PM

http://www.nhbs.com/the_wild_flowers_of_britain_and_ireland_tefno_108194.html

The Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland: The Complete Guide to the British and Irish Flora

Fully illustrated and mapped guide to the British and Irish flora. Its restriction to the British Isles alone allows for more detail, more local information, easier identification and the inclusion of extensive maps. With specific details about plants appearing in certain areas and coloured maps designed to make location and identification easy, the book also includes details of local specialities for the Isles of Scilly. Also featured is an illustrated survey of recently disappeared British and Irish plants, some of which may return. Information about grasses, sedges, rushes, horsetails and clubmosses is included, as well as coverage of ferns - though not strictly speaking flowering plants, their inclusion is warranted by popularity.

With over 2000 detailed colour paintings, and more than 800 maps, this is the most extensively illustrated wild flower guide to Britain and Ireland yet published.

Would be my recommendation plus Culpeper's Complete Herbal by Nicholas Culpeper.

When harvesting, you should also take into consideration the environment in which the plants have grown. Hedgerows too close to roads will result in toxins from the exhaust fumes of cars being present on and in the plants and the same consideration should be taken into what may be in the local area is impacting on the water table the plants are grown in.

Harvesting wild plants - risks and dangers

Comments