edible roots Archives - The Cargo Cult Café

Cut-Leaved Toothwort: Edible, Medicinal, Cautions & Other Uses

December 3, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Cut-Leaved Toothwort, Cardamine concatenata, this spicy plant was once used as a folk remedy for toothaches. If you have a spicy palate, it may be worth checking out. The flavor has been compared to horseradish or wasabi but please only harvest where this plant is abundant. Medicinally, it has been used by the Iroquois as a hallucinogen, an ominous love medicine that is similar to their hunting medicine, and for headaches. The roots were used for fishing by adding a little water then mashing the roots up, you would then leave your hook and line in the solution over night and add a little juice to your worms. Apparently fish like spicy foods. For divination, let the root float in water and tell it what it is to be used for.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry!

Cut-Leaved Toothwort 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.

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. 38-39

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

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 136

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 162-163

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. 100-101

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

Chufa Flatsedge: Edible, Medicinal & Other Uses

July 29, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Chufa Flatsedge, Cyperus esculentus, is a common ornamental grass found all over the world. It has a high content of vitamin E making it great for your skin. The tubers can be harvested all year and can be eaten or turned into a beverage.

Chufa Flatsedge Sources:

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

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 190

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. 230-231

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

Wikipedia. The Free encyclopedia. Web.

Queen Anne’s Lace: Edible, Medicinal, Cautions & Other Uses

July 27, 2015 by Mike 1 Comment

Queen Anne’s Lace or Wild Carrot, Daucus carota, is the original source of the carrots we all know and eat today. Medicinally, the seeds have been used as a form of birth control dating back to Hippocrates.

Queen Anne’s Lace 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. 38-39

Gehring, Abigail R.. Back to Basics; A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills. 3rd ed. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. 2008. Print. pg. 270-272

Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey. Cherokee Plants and Their Uses- A 400 Year History. North Carolina: Herald Publishing. 1975. Print. pg. 51

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 61, 195

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 196

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 220-221

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. 38-39

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

Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Web.

Day Lily: Edible, Medicinal, Cautions & Other Uses

June 23, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Day Lily, Hemerocallis fulva, is a plant of summer. The flower has six orange lobes and basal leaves. You can eat the flower buds, flowers, young shoots, seeds, leaves and roots. Medicinally, Chinese herbalists have used the plant as a sedative, pain killer and for PTSD. The leaves can be made into a good cordage.

Day Lily 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.

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 336-337

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. 92-93 pl. 7

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

Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Web.

Wild Ginger: Edible, Medicinal, Cautions & Other Uses

February 13, 2015 by Mike 4 Comments

Wild Ginger, Asarum canadense, is a common spice of the woods that can be made into candy. It was used medicinally as a cough medicine, febrifuge, anti-convulsive, abortifacient, pain-reliever, antiemetic, ear ache medicine and a perfume.

Wild Ginger 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. 1. Cincinnati: The Ohio Valley Company, 1905. pg. 287

Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey. Cherokee Plants and Their Uses- A 400 Year History. North Carolina: Herald Publishing. 1975. Print. pg. 36

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 93, 49, 52, 55-56, 67, 115-116

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 105-106

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 116-117

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. 96-97, 160-161

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

Large-Leaved Aster: Edible & Medicinal

January 9, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Large-Leaved Aster, Aster macrophyllus, is an edible and medicinal flower of late summer. The leaves can be cooked as a vegetable and the root added to soups or stews. Medicinally it can be used as a blood medicine, analgesic for headaches, a laxative and venereal disease remedy.

Large-Leaved Aster Sources:

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 229

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 111-112

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 454-455

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. 144-145

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