IANR News: Nature's Bounty of Edible Plants

Fall is truly a season for the senses. For gardeners, it's time to harvest the last of the tomatoes, squash, potatoes and peppers before the season's end. For others, fall signals the time of year for gathering and preparing edible wild plants from fields and prairies and along Nebraska's roadsides and wooded bluffs.

Not only are certain wild plants nutritious and tasty, but gathering them offers a chance for exploration and discovery. It's a great way to get more connected with the natural world. Plan to visit some wild places this fall to collect nature's bounty. Better yet, try growing some edible wild plants in your home landscape.

Listed below are a few plants that offer a delicious bounty without any help from humans.

Leadplant (Amorpha canescens). Among settlers, leadplant was known as "prairie tea." The leaflets, harvested in late summer to early autumn, can be dried and brewed into a tea with a pleasant, mellow flavor. Leadplant is a small native shrub found in scattered, high-quality prairie remnants throughout much of Nebraska. The small leaflets are covered with fine hairs, giving them a silvery or lead-like appearance. Blue-purple flower spikes bloom on the tips of branches in early summer. Although found in the wild, it makes a wonderful easy-to-harvest garden plant; and the leaflets are usually good for up to three brewings.

American Plum (Prunus Americana). Wild plum is a small native tree or large shrub that forms dense thickets with sharp-tipped twigs. The abundance of ripe 1 inch plums in late summer or early autumn make this a favorite of wild food buffs. When ripe, the sweet yellow, red or purple fruits are fleshy and juicy. Plums can be eaten fresh in season or processed into a sauce for meats or used as a dessert. Plum jelly and jam are great for bread or toast and spiced plum jelly makes a great baste for roast meat, especially wild game.

American Hazelnut (Corylus America). This thicket-forming shrub is native to borders of woods and stream banks in southeastern Nebraska. At one time hazelnuts were so numerous on the wooded bluffs of the Missouri and Platte rivers that families would go "nutting" each autumn. Today few hazelnuts can be found in the wild, but fortunately they make an attractive large shrub worthy of planting in your back yard. Nutritious, high calorie hazelnuts can be used for baked goods, but they are also delicious in salads or cooked with vegetables or meat.

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba). The pawpaw is a small native tree growing in the open woods and ravines of the Missouri River bluffs in southeastern Nebraska. A ripe pawpaw looks like a short, stubby banana and has a rich flavor that is a mix of banana, vanilla custard, pineapple and mango. Pawpaw fruit is very nutritious, being high in potassium, iron and calcium. Pawpaw trees are also beautiful, with large, robust leaves that turn lemon yellow in fall. They will tolerate dense shade and usually grow in colonies, forming an attractive grove. The yellow flesh of ripe fruit can be eaten fresh from the tree or scooped out and used in quick breads, cookies or muffins.

Black Walnut (Juglans nigra). No other nut can compare to the unique, delicious flavor of our native black walnut. They can be used in candies, baked goods and ice cream, but they also complement baked squash and yams. Black walnut caramels and toffee are outstanding, with a flavor all their own. Harvest the nuts while the husks are still green (you should be able to dent the husk with your thumb). The strong juice of walnut husks can stain almost anything, so be sure to wear rubber boots (rolling each nut back and forth under your foot will loosen the husk) and rubber gloves to remove the husks. The nutmeats will be ready to use after curing for about a month.

Prickly Pear Cactus Fruits (Opuntia species). In fall the bright red to purple fruit of the prickly pear cactus is sweet and juicy. The flavor is a little like strawberry and watermelon. Fruits are easily harvested using tongs, and the glochids (tufts of barbed hairs) can be removed with a butter knife. After washing, the fruits can be eaten, seeds and all. without cooking. Kids love to spit the seeds out after sucking out the juice. You can also slice them in half and simmer with water to extract the juice. Cactus fruits make good jelly and syrup, and can be combined with apple cider vinegar to make a great salad dressing.

American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana). Wild persimmon is native as far west as northeastern Kansas and is completely at home in the Great Plains. After the leaves fall, the rounded, smooth fruits look like orange decorations. When fully ripe, usually after a few light frosts, the shriveled fruit is luscious and sweet. The soft orange flesh can be used for pies, cookies, cakes, breads and pudding or used to baste meat dishes, particularly pork.

*Much of this information was gleaned from Kay Young's Wild Seasons (University of Nebraska Press, currently out of print).

Bob Henrickson
Nebraska Statewide Arboretum
Assistant Director for Horticulture Programs
(402) 472-2971

Karma Larsen
Nebraska Statewide Arboretum
Communications Associate
(402) 472-2971

Dan Moser
IANR News & Photography Coordinator
(402) 472-3007

Department: Nebraska Statewide Arboretum