Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie: An Ethnobotanical Guide / Edition 1 available in Paperback
Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie: An Ethnobotanical Guide / Edition 1
- ISBN-10:
- 0700603255
- ISBN-13:
- 9780700603251
- Pub. Date:
- 07/30/1987
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kansas
- ISBN-10:
- 0700603255
- ISBN-13:
- 9780700603251
- Pub. Date:
- 07/30/1987
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kansas
Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie: An Ethnobotanical Guide / Edition 1
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Overview
Long before sunflower seeds became a popular snack food, they were a foodstuff valued by Native Americans. For some 10,000 years, from the end of the Pleistocene to the 1800s, the indigenous peoples of the plains regarded edible native plants, like the sunflower, as an important source of food. Not only did plants provide sustenance during times of scarcity, but they also added variety to what otherwise would have been a monotonous diet of game. Nevertheless, the use of native plants as food sharply declined when white men settled the Great Plains and imposed their own culture with its differing notions of what was fit to eat. Those notions tended to excluded from the accepted diet such plants as soapweed, labsquarter, ground cherry, prairie turnip, and prickly pear. Today it is strange to think of eating chokecherries, which were a key ingredient in that staple of the Indian diet, permmican.
Based on plant lore documented by historical and achaeological evidence, Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie relates how 122 plant species were once used as food by the native and immigrant residents on the prairie. Written for a broad audience of amateur naturalists, botanists, ethnologists, anthropologists, and agronomists, this guide is intended to educate the reader about wild plants as food sources, to synthesize information on the potential use of native flora as new food crops, and to encourage the conservation and cultivation of prairie plants.
By writing about the edible flora of the American prairie Kelly Kindscher has provided us with the first edible plant book devoted to the region that Walt Whitman called "North America's characteristic landscape" and the Willa Cather called "the floor of the sky." In describing how plants were used for food, he has drawn upon information concerning tribes that inhabited the prairie bioregion. As a consequence, his book serves as a handy compendium for readers seeking to learn more about historical uses of plants by Native Americans.
The book is organized into fifty-one chapters arranged alphabetically by scientific name. For those who are interested in finding and identifying the plants, the book provides line drawings, distribution maps, and botanical and habitat descriptions. The ethnobotanical accounts of food use form the major portion of the text, but the reader will also find information on the parts of the plants used, harvesting, propagation (for home gardeners), and the preparation and taste of wild food plants.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780700603251 |
---|---|
Publisher: | University Press of Kansas |
Publication date: | 07/30/1987 |
Series: | Kansas and the Region Series |
Pages: | 288 |
Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 9.00(h) x (d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
PrefaceAcknowledgments
Introduction
Major Wild Edible Plants of the Prairi
Allium canadense, Wild Onion
Amaranthus blitoides, Prostrate Amaranth
Ambrosia trifida, Giant Ragweed
Amelanchier alnifolia, Serviceberry
Amorpha canescens, Leadplant
Amphicarpaea bracteata, Ground Bean
Apios americana, Hopniss or Groundnut
Asclepias syriaca, Common Milkweed
Astragalus crassicarpus, Groundplum Milkvetch
Atriplex argentea, Saltbush
Callirhoe involucrata, Purple Poppy Mallow
Camassia scilloides, Wild Hyacinth
Ceanothus americanus, New Jersey Tea or Red Root
Chenopodium berlandieri, Lamb’s Quarters
Cirsium undulatum, Wavy-Leafed Thistle
Cleome serrulata, Rocky Mountain Bee Plant
Corylus americana, Hazelnut
Coryphantha vivipara, Pincushion Cactus
Cucurbita foetidissima, Buffalo Gourd
Dalea candida, White Prairie Clover
Erythronium mesochoreum, Midland Fawn Lily
Fragaria virginiana, Wild Strawberry
Glycyrrhiza lepidota, Wild Licorice
Helianthus annuus, Sunflower
Helianthus tuberosus, Tuberous Sunflower or Jerusalem Artichoke
Ipomoea leptophylla, Bush Morning Glory
Iva annua, Marsh Elder
Liatris punctata, Gayfeather
Lomatium foeniculaceum, Prairie Parsley
Monarda fistulosa, Beebalm
Opuntia macrorhiza, Prickly Pear
Oxalis violacea, Violet Wood Sorrel
Pediomelum esculentum, Tipsin or Prairie Turnip
Physalis longifolia, Wild Tomatillo or Ground Cherry
Proboscidea louisianica, Devil’s Claw
Prunus americana, Wild Plum
Prunus virginiana, Chokecherry
Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac
Ribes aureum, Golden Currant
Rosa arkansana, Wild Rose
Rubus flagellaris, Dewberry
Shepherdia argentea, Buffalo Berry
Stanleya pinnata, Prince’s Plume
Tradescantia occidentalis, Spiderwor
Viola pedatifida, Prairie Violet
Yucca glauca, Yucca or Small Soapweed
Other Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie
Abronia fragrans, Snowball Sand Verbena
Agastache foeniculum, Lavender Hyssop
Androstephium caeruleum, Blue Funnel Lily
Antennaria parviflora, Pussytoes
Argentina anserina, Silverweed Cinquefoil
Artemisia carruthii, Wild Sage
Calochortus gunnisonii, Sego Lily
Chamaesaracha coronopus, Greenleaf Five Eyes
Claytonia virginica, Spring Beauty
Comandra umbellata, Bastard Toadflax
Coreopsis tinctoria, Plains Coreopsis
Cymopterus acaulis, Stemless Indian Parsley
Descurainia pinnata, Tansy Mustard
Dysoddia papposa, Fetid Marigold
Elaeagnus commutata, Silverberry
Ericameria nauseosa, Rabbitbrush or Chimasa
Eriogonum alatum, Winged Buckwheat
Hedeoma drummondii, Drummond’s False Pennyroyal
Heliotropium convolvulaceum, Bindweed Heliotrope
Hoffmannseggia glauca, Indian Rushpea
Hymenopappus filifolius, Fineleaf Hymenopappus
Juniperus virginiana, Red Cedar
Lactuca ludoviciana, Prairie Wild Lettuce
Lathyrus polymorphus, Many-Stemmed Pea
Lepidium virginicum, Virginia Pepperweed
Lespedeza capitata, Roundhead Lespedeza
Lilium philadelphicum, Wood Lily or Prairie Lily
Linum lewisii, Wild Blue Flax
Maianthemum stellatum, Starry False Lily of the Valley
Matelea biflora, Star Milkvine
Mentzelia albicaulis, White-Stem Blazing Star
Mirabilis linearis, Narrow-Leaved Four O’clock
Monolepis nuttalliana, Nuttall’s Poverty Weed
Nothoscordum bivalve, False Garlic
Oenothera biennis, Common Evening Primrose
Orobanche ludoviciana, Cancer Root
Pectis angustifolia, Lemonscent or Limoncillo
Plantago patagonica, Woolly Plantain
Polanisia dodecandra, Clammy Weed
Polygonum erectum, Knotweed
Portulaca oleracea, Purslane
Pycnanthemum virginianum, Slender Mountain Mint
Quincula lobata, Chinese Lantern
Ratibida columnifera, Prairie Coneflower
Rumex venosus, Winged Dock
Silphium perfoliatum, Cup Plant
Solanum triflorum, Cutleaf Nightshade
Solidago missouriensis, Goldenrod
Sophora nutalliana, Silky Sophora
Sphaeralcea coccinea, Scarlet Globe Mallow
Strophostyles helvola, Trailing Wild Bean
Symphoricarpos occidentalis, Wolfberry or Western Snowberry
Thelesperma megapotamicum, Greenthread or Cota
Vicia americana, American Vetch
Xanthium strumarium, Cocklebur
The Grasses (Poaceae)
Achnatherum hymenoides, Indian Ricegrass
Bouteloua gracilis, Blue Grama
Distichlis spicata, Inland Saltgrass
Echinochloa muricata, Barnyard Grass
Elymus canadensis, Canada Wild Rye
Eragrostis pectinacea, Lovegrass
Hordeum pusillum, Little Barley
Koeleria pyramidata, Junegrass
Muhlenbergia asperifolia, Muhly
Panicum capillare, Panic Grass
Phalaris caroliniana, Maygrass or Carolina Canary Grass
Poa fendleriana, Bluegrass
Setaria leucopila, Foxtail
Sporobolus airoides, Alkali Sacaton
Tripsacum dactyloides, Eastern Gama Grass
Vulpia octoflora, Six Weeks Fescue
Appendix: Table of Edible Wild Plants of the Prairie
Literature Cited
Index