back to the land Archives - The Cargo Cult Café

Spiny-Leaved Sow Thistle: Edible & Medicinal

March 28, 2016 by Mike 1 Comment

Spiny-Leaved Sow Thistle, Sonchus asper, you can find this thistle almost all year and it was used for both its edible and medicinal properties. You can find it in fields, waste places and even in your garden. The leaves can be prepared much like dandelion leaves. They can be eaten raw, added to salads, or cooked and added to soups, stews and sauces. Medicinally a leaf infusion was used to cause urination and open obstructions. The Navajo considered the plant poisonous.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry.

Spiny-Leaved Sow Thistle Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Brill, Steve. Wild Edibles Plus. Computer Software. WinterRoot LLC. Version 1.5. 2012. Web. Feb. 15, 2014.

Culpeper, M.D., Nicholas. Culpeper Color Herbal. Ed. David Potterton. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 1983. Print. pg. 180-181

Fernald, Merritt Lyndon & Alfred Charles Kinsey. Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1996. Print. pg. 373-374

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 115

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 538

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 370-371

Peterson, Lee Allen. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants; Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. Print. pg. 86-87

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Low Hop Clover: Edible

March 25, 2016 by Mike Leave a Comment

Low Hop Clover, Trifolium procumbens, produces irregular yellow flowers that can be witnessed from May to September. This biennial plant is a native to Europe and was brought over by early colonists. Like other clovers it has three leaflets that can be eaten raw but are better if they are soaked in salty water for 5-10 minutes. The flower heads can be dried and added to teas or ground into a nutritious flour that was used to make bread in famine times. This particular species has not been identified for it medicinal properties.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry.

Low Hop Clover Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Fernald, Merritt Lyndon & Alfred Charles Kinsey. Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1996. Print. pg. 246

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 58-59

Peterson, Lee Allen. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants; Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. Print. pg. 80-81

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Sulphur Cinquefoil: Edible & Medicinal

March 23, 2016 by Mike 3 Comments

Sulphur Cinquefoil, Potentilla recta, also known as Rough-fruited Cinquefoil or Five Fingers. The flowers will remind you of strawberries and this plant does produce fruit but it isn’t widely used by foragers. The fruit is said to be edible raw or cooked and “the unripe fruit is almost as pleasant as the fully ripe fruit.” Medicinally cinquefoils have been used as an astringent, tonic, and febrifuge (fever reducer). It was used for fevers, diarrhea, dysentery, passive hemorrhages and a decoction of the root was gargled for ulcerations of the throat and mouth.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry

Sulphur Cinquefoil Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Felter, Harvey Wickes, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D. King’s American Dispensatory, Vol. 2. Cincinnati: The Ohio Valley Company, 1905. pg. 1991-1992

Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey. Cherokee Plants and Their Uses- A 400 Year History. North Carolina: Herald Publishing. 1975. Print. pg. 29

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 435

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 240-241

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Wild Hyacinth: Edible & Medicinal

March 16, 2016 by Mike Leave a Comment

Wild Hyacinth, Camassia scilloides, or Eastern Camas is a member of the lily family and has been a staple food source to many American Indians. It has typically been confused with its western cousins, C. quamash or C. esculenta, but it is believed to be just as edible. The onion-like bulbs can be harvested all year. They were either boiled for 20-30 minutes or baked in a pit lined with hot stones. Some American Indians even preserved it for winter use.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry.

Wild Hyacinth Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Fernald, Merritt Lyndon & Alfred Charles Kinsey. Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1996. Print. pg. 133

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 134-135

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 332-333

Peterson, Lee Allen. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants; Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. Print. pg. 136-137

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Purple Cress: Medicinal

March 11, 2016 by Mike Leave a Comment

Purple Cress, Cardamin douglassii, is a member of the Mustard family but it hasn’t been used as a wild medicine. This plant is a harbinger of spring. The flowers are in bloom from March to April, the plant has opposite leaves and the leaves are toothed or lobed, roundish, oblong to slightly heart-shaped, and the basal leaves are long stalked. The Iroquois used this plant as a poison antidote and anti-witchcraft medicine. Here’s how you get back at the witch. Smash the roots and place them in a small wooden cup then cover it of about a hour. The image of the witch will appear, then you can take out a needle and shove it in his/her eye. This will cause the witch’s eye to get sore as well.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry.

Purple Cress Sources:

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 154-155

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 137

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 140-141

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Wood Sage: Medicinal

March 7, 2016 by Mike Leave a Comment

Wood Sage, Teucrium canadense, a member of the mint family that has interesting irregular flowers that will be in bloom from June to September. The plant has opposite leaves and the leaves are toothed, lance or egg-shaped. This plant has not been used as a wild edible but it was used for a few medicinal purposes. Western herbal medicine had used this plant to cause urination, induce sweeting, and start menstruation. It was used for amenorrhea, leucorrhea, chronic bronchitis, gout, dropsy TB and whooping cough.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry.

Wood Sage Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Felter, Harvey Wickes, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D. King’s American Dispensatory, Vol. 2. Cincinnati: The Ohio Valley Company, 1905. pg. 1924-1925

Foster, Steven and James A. Duke. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. 2nd. ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000. Print. pg. 183-184

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 874-85

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Basil Balm: Edible & Medicinal

March 4, 2016 by Mike Leave a Comment

Basil Balm, Monarda clinopodia, and other Bee Balms were used by the American colonists, as a substitute for the imported tea, after the Boston Tea Party. Leaves and flowerhead’s can be steeped in hot water to make a nice minty tea. Medicinally, it was used by American Indians as a cold remedy, sweet inducer, sedative, kidney aid, for headaches, fevers and as a ghost remedy.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry.

Basil Balm Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Felter, Harvey Wickes, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D. King’s American Dispensatory, Vol. 2. Cincinnati: The Ohio Valley Company, 1905. pg. 1274-1275

Fernald, Merritt Lyndon & Alfred Charles Kinsey. Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1996. Print. pg. 330

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 208

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 348

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 92-93

Peterson, Lee Allen. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants; Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. Print. pg. 118-119

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Pokeweed: Poison, Edible, Medicinal & Other Uses

March 2, 2016 by Mike 9 Comments

Pokeweed, Phytolacca americana, is a poisonous plant but if it is prepared properly it can be edible. It has been used by both American Indian’s and in western herbal medicine as an emetic, cathartic, narcotic and alternative. The berries were used to make dyes, ink and necklaces.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry.

Pokeweed Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Brill, Steve. Wild Edibles Plus. Computer Software. WinterRoot LLC. Version 1.5. 2012. Web. Feb. 15, 2014.

Felter, Harvey Wickes, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D. King’s American Dispensatory, Vol. 2. Cincinnati: The Ohio Valley Company, 1905. pg. 1471-1475

Fernald, Merritt Lyndon & Alfred Charles Kinsey. Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1996. Print. pg. 185-187

Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey. Cherokee Plants and Their Uses- A 400 Year History. North Carolina: Herald Publishing. 1975. Print. pg. 50

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 142

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 397-398

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 200-201

Peterson, Lee Allen. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants; Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. Print. pg. 46-47

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.