Edible plant Foraging Article compiled by By Christina Maloney, Hood Canal Adventures. HCA hosts seasonal foraging classes
Did you know that a large percentage of Washington's native plants are edible? They may not all taste good, but many are nutritious and delicious. Some can be eaten raw and others are best cooked or used in soups or tea. Native plants were critical to the survival of the first people. They used them in all aspects of their daily lives – for food, medicine, construction, and even for ceremony. Early pioneers also used native plants to balance their diets and relied on them in the spring to relieve the monotony of dried meat, fish and bread. Here are some highlighs of the more flavorful plants found locally:
#1: Western Wild Ginger
Asarum caudatum This inconspicuous plant is found low to middle elevations with substantial tree cover and rich soils. Look for moist Douglas tree forests with undergrowth plant colonies of ferns, trillium, and mosses. The leaves are dark green and waxy with an undeniable heart shaped. During the spring and summer they produce a small purple flower growing from underneath the leaves. The root of wild ginger is edible and has a spicy,
even peppery, strong ginger flavor. Native Americans used this plant to treat headaches, intestinal pain, knee pain, arthritis, indigestion, tuberculosis, colic, and as a general tonic.
#2: Licorice Fern
Polypodium glycyrrhiza Often found growing on the trunks and branches of deciduous trees, the fronds do not stem from a central location like a sword fern but are creeping, appearing to have a single root for each frond. The root and young stems of this fern tastes just like strong black licorice! It was chewed for flavor and was traditionally used medicinally as a treatment for the cold and sore throats.
#3: Fiddleheads
The edible young unfurled fern fronds that rise in the Spring are called fiddleheads because they are usually tightly coiled and resemble the head of a fiddle.