Sago Palm – Cycas revoluta

Sago Palm

The Sego, or King Sago Palm is native to Japan and China. It grows on hillsides in thickets on small islands on the Japanese chain of islands. They have a thick 2 foot diameter trunk that reproduces through offsets or suckers that grow at the base of the plant. There are several stands that are protected in nature now, but most of these palms grow in cultivation.

 

According to the ASPCA this plant is toxic to dogs, cats, and horses. It is also highly toxic to humans! Cycasin (a toxic glycoside) may cause these symptoms with exposure: vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, seizures, liver failure, or hepatotoxicity characterized by icterus (jaundice), cirrhosis (scarring of the liver, and poor functioning), and ascites (fluid in the peritoneal cavity). The pet may appear bruised, have nose bleeds (epistaxis), melena (blood in the stool), hematochezia (bloody straining), and hemarthrosis (blood in the joints). This plant has great potential as a toxin with pets, as they find the flavor enticing. Every part of this palm has some Cycasin, but it is especially concentrated in the seeds.

 

Even though there is toxicity present in every part of the plant, it was still used for food and medicine. In folk medicine the leaves were used in the treatment of cancer and specifically hepatoma (liver cancer). The seeds were utilized to help rheumatism, and an extract was used to inhibit the growth of cancer tumors.

 

The seed is also eaten raw or cooked! The seed can be dried and ground to be added to rice which is fermented into date miso. The pith of the trunk is dried and powdered then utilized to make dumplings, which are very sustaining.

 

There are methods of treatment of this plant and its seeds that are very exacting to make it palatable and not toxic! To try and use this plant at home is ill advised!!

Button, Cremini, and Portabella Mushrooms – Agaricus bisporus

Cremini Mushrooms

…So here’s to the mushroom family
A far-flung friendly clan
For food, for fun, for poison
They are a help to man.

By Gary Snider

The little white Button Mushrooms, the slightly larger brown Cremini Mushrooms, and the large, brown Portabella Mushrooms are all the same mushroom…the only differences being color variety and stage at which it is harvested.

In 1707 French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort wrote the earliest found description of this mushroom. In 1893 at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France it was discovered that the spores needed to be sterilized for the culture to grow. Up until that time it was very difficult to cultivate mushrooms, since the farmers would dig them up out of fields to transplant and they were often infected by pathogens and often nothing grew at all.

In 1926 a white mutation was found in a mushroom farm in Pennsylvania. It was seen as more attractive, and so the popular white button mushroom came into popularity. Now the southeast corner of Pennsylvania is considered the mushroom growing capitol of the world!

The Button form of this mushroom is probably the most well known mushroom in the US. Most people when they hear the word mushroom visualize the button mushroom first, even if they are familiar with other varieties. The small button mushroom has a mild flavor which is best if eaten before the veil protecting the gills is broken. Once the veil is broken they are stronger in flavor and cook up darker in color. This common mushroom can be found at the grocer, fresh, canned or dried. It can be found in soups and stew, on pizza, salads, casseroles, and stuffed. They are eaten as a main course, appetizer, or side dish.

Research is being carried out currently to further study the effect of mushrooms on aromatase levels. It may be able to reduce estrogen levels in the female body, which might reduced the breast cancer susceptibility. Women who ate mushrooms daily (in the earlier study) were 64% less likely to develop breast cancer. While women who ate the mushrooms and drank green tea reduced the risk by 90%! Another study showed promise in improving the body’s immune system.

In ancient times mushrooms were eaten in Egypt but only by the Pharaohs. In Rome they believed that mushrooms provided strength to the body. In magic use eat mushrooms to increase psychic awareness.

Yew – Taxus baccata

Yew

Old Yew, which graspest at the stones

That name the under-lying dead,

Thy fibres net the dreamless head,

Thy roots are wrapt about the bones.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

This sacred tree of the Old World is native to all of Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia. It has been around through many of the earth’s climatic changes. Its population in the northern temperate zones was decimated due to its usefulness to man. Due to the high demand for this tree it was gone from Rome and Greece by the time of Christ and from most of Europe by the 17^th century.

This tree has provided shelter, tools, weapons, and medicine for centuries. The leaves and bark were often carried in medicine bags. In 1021 Avicenna recorded the use of Yew in his Canon of Medicine for the use as a cardiac remedy. The leaves have been used internally in the treatment of asthma, bronchitis, hiccup, indigestion, rheumatism, and epilepsy. Externally they have been used as a bath for rheumatism. A homeopathic remedy has been created from the berries and young shoots to treat cystitis, eruptions, headaches, heart and kidney problems, and rheumatism. Today Yew is being researched for it’s usefulness in treating cancer. Due to the increased demand we will have to be careful not to exterminate this useful tree.

Great care must be exercised in the use of Yew internally, as every part of the plant is toxic to humans and cattle except the red fleshy fruit that surrounds the seed. Toxic exposure to the alkaloid taxine causes a paralyzing effect on the heart!

Due to the toxicity, the only thing that is edible is that red, fleshy fruit, this is very sweet and gelatinous. Many people like the flavor but do not like the consistency or the stickiness. A suggestion that the bark may be consumed as a tea substitute is ill advised!

The wood of this tree has been used for it durability and resistant to water damage.  It has been used for cabinetry, spears, spikes, staves, and small hunting bows. But most famously it became known for making the English Long Bows of the Middle Ages which were noted for being able to fly over 600 yards easily. It had the longest range of any bow in Europe at that time. Also of note was the fact that the arrowheads were often coated with a poison made from the Yew.

This tree is associated with death and rebirth, but most notably with Hecate the Goddess of the Underworld. The tree was often planted in places people expected to be buried, and allowed to grow until that time; it also marked the grave site. Later the Christians adopted this practice and planted them frequently in their cemeteries, they reminded the visitors of eternal life through Christ, but they were also planted to keep the dead souls in their graves until Judgment Day. The ancient Celts made wreaths of Yew to dedicate to Hecate; and in Rome the black bulls that were to be sacrificed to her often wore a wreath of Yew.  The wood was often used to make magic wands, and runes.

Wapato or Duck Potato – Sagittaria latifolia

Wapato

Wapato is blooming this month, Sagittaria latifolia,

“a round root the size of Hens eggs,”

favored as food by native inhabitants of Oregon,

once abundant around here.

Driving north I pass a pond full of wapato

now blooming, the small white flowers

elevated on long stems

like spots of sunlight on shiny leaves….

 

By Barbara Drake

 

 

This aquatic plant of ponds and lakes of most of North America has several names. The Duck Potato is a misnomer, as the tuber is too deep for ducks to unearth, but they do eat the seeds. Beavers, porcupines, and muskrats find the tuber tasty and will in fact eat the whole plant.

 

Humans for centuries have utilized this plant for food. Across North America Native peoples utilized this plant for food; the bulbs were roasted or boiled as food. The Thompson, Winnebago, Omaha, Potawatomi, Pomo, Meskwaki, Lakota, Klamath, Cocopa, Chippewa, and Cherokee used them for food. Many also dried them for winter use (after cooking, and slicing, they were strung and dried). In the journals of Lewis and Clark there is mention of this plant being used as food!

 

The roots were also used in medicine. The Algonquin used this plant to treat Tuberculosis (TB), The Cherokee would make a decoction of the root to bath a feverish baby. The Chippewa used it for dyspepsia; the Mohawk would give it to children who cry a lot at night. It was also used to treat rheumatism, boils, wounds and sores, and as a laxative.

 

The plant had assorted other uses as well. It was used to make a decoction for ‘corn medicine’, it would be poured on the planting site like a fertilizer. The tuber were dried and used in gambeling games.

 

The corms were also used in magic! Plant used as a love charm and for “witchcraft” among various Tribes. The Cherokee may have used this plant in formulae that “created’ witches. They believed that fasting combined with drinking a decoction of the root would cause the ability to transform into animals or other people!

Carob – Ceratonia siliqua

Carob or Locust Bean

…I settle into exotic ports

So that I may ply my cacao pod wares for sister carob and patchouli scent

To the peddler who yields cardamom and coriander

 

By Jerry Bradford

The Locust Bean is a tree of Mediterranean origins that is now grown in Mexico and southern California. It was first brought to the New World by Spanish missionaries. In 1856 the Spanish brought 8,000 seedlings and unsprouted seeds to plant in the American south, from Texas to Arizona to California, even a few in Florida.

 

The seed pod of the Locust Bean is known as Carob and was used as a sweetener in Ancient Egypt. The carob pod was used in the hieroglyphs to represent ‘sweet.’ Early mention of the Carob can be found in the Christian Bible and the Jewish Talmud where it has been called a subsistence food. One example is the legend of John the Baptist living on these in the desert; also legend has it that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai also lived on them in the desert.

 

As a food stuff Carob powder and chips are often used in baking, being included in confections such as cakes, cookies, candy, pudding, icing, bread, beverages, shakes, ice cream, muffins, fudge, and brownies. For someone who should not consume caffeine, Carob is often used as a substitute. Although once you taste it, you will not be fooled into thinking it a good substitute, since the flavors differ so greatly. A thickening agent is also obtained from the pods that have been included in processed food production. In Portugal, Spain, and Sicily compotes and liquors are made from Carob. In Germany the roasted beans are sometimes used as a coffee substitute, and in Spain it is mixed with coffee.

 

Under the name of Locust Bean the pods are given to animals as feed. The pods are relished by horses, cattle, pigs, goats, and rabbits. They cannot be fed to chickens, but the flour is often utilized in dog biscuits.

In folk medicine it is a treatment for diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and stomach ache. The powdered beans are mixed with a cup of liquid for this purpose. Mixed with cranberry juice a French physician used it to treat kidney failure successfully. The leaves and bark have been used to treat venereal disease, namely syphilis.

In magic use it was worn or carried to garner protection from evil and secure good health!

Note: Picture above is from Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé, Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, 1885, Gera, Germany

[Image in Public Domain]

English Walnut – Juglans regia

Walnuts

…I stand in the dark for a long time
        under the walnut tree, unable
                   to tell anyone, not even the night,
         what I know…

By Lynn Martin 

The English Walnut, the Common Walnut, the Persian Walnut, or the Royal Walnut are all variant names for one tree and its fruit that grows from the Balkans east to the Himalayas and southwest into China! It is not native to England at all, which the common name wal-nut reflects, as wal is Germanic for foreign.

 

In ancient Rome they were considered ‘food of the Gods,’ and were named for the god Jupiter (Jupiter’s glans being Jupiter’s acorn). The walnut is also associated with Juno, the goddess married to Jupiter, who is goddess of women, and marriage. This association to both God and Goddess led to an odd wedding practice of throwing walnuts at the new couple to ensure fertility! In fact in Poitou, France it was the custom for the new bride and her groom to dance around the large walnut tree there to ensure she produced copious amounts of breast milk for their children!

 

The earliest written record of walnut use is from the Chaldeans who left accounts on clay tablets of the orchards of English Walnut that were in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The earliest cultivation of the walnut is credited to the Greeks who used walnuts for food, medicine, and dye for the hair, wool and cloth.

 

The Walnut has a long history of use in the field of herbal medicine. The nut, the bark and the leaves are astringent, laxative, purgative, styptic, vermifuge, and hepatic. It has been used to cause sweating, treat diarrhea, and treat sore gums, herpes, and swollen tonsils. The hulls were used to treat head lice, body lice, herpes, parasites, liver problems, and skin issues. A tea was made from the leaves to treat boils, eczema, hives, ulcers, and other sores. The nut was used to prevent weight gain, reduce cholesterol, calm anxiety and hysteria, treat morning sickness and to generally strengthen the whole of the body.

 

The walnut has also been used extensively for food. It is high in protein, Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, and E, folic acid, iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc. 3 Tablespoons of walnut oil will also provide all your daily need of Omega 3 fatty acids! The nut can be eaten out of hand, but the flavor improves with light roasting. It is often included in confections like candy, cakes and cookies. They can also be added to salads, meat dishes and stir fries. The oil can be drizzled over salads or steamed vegetables. The nut has also been powdered and a nut ‘milk’ made from it to increase the nutritional value for invalids.

 

The hull and leaves have been used to make dye stuff for centuries. A dark brown dye that is used for wool and hair is obtained from the leaves and mature hulls. If the dye is made in an iron pot the dye becomes black. The green hulls provide a yellow dye. Both types of dye required no mordant due to the high tannic acid content.  

Common Wheat – Tritcum aestivum

This grass is easily grown, but is only known under cultivation. Since 6750 BC In Iraq and other eastern Mediterranean countries there is archeological evidence of its use. By 6000 BC it had reached the Indian subcontinent, and by 5,000 years ago it had reached Ethiopia, Great Britain, Ireland and Spain. In companion planting it grows well with maize and chamomile; but doesn’t like to be grown near dogwood, cherry, tulips, pines or poppies.

The seed are used in herbal medicine for the treatment of cancers, corns, tumors, warts and whitlows (also called a felon is an infection on the tip of the finger, not the sides or base of the nail.) It is considered a demulcent and emollient and used as a poultice on wounds.

Most wheat is made into flour and consumed baked into breads, cakes, pie crusts, etc. Most wheat flour consumed in the US is white flour, which has the bran and germ removed prior to grinding. The whole wheat flour (leaving the bran and germ in) is far healthier, but also goes rancid more quickly, therefore needing refrigeration to extend its shelf life. The removed germ is often sold as wheat germ and is then added back into food to increase the nutritional value. It can easily be put in ground meat dishes of all sorts.

Raw wheat can be ground into flour, or germinated and dried making malt, or made into bulgur. Wheat is the major ingredient in many popular breakfast cereals; i.e. Wheatena, Cream of Wheat, Wheaties, and Shredded Wheat.

There have been increasing problems with people becoming gluten sensitive or intolerant. When that happens the only solution is to cut wheat and other gluten containing products (barley and rye) from the diet! The inflamed bowel that results with a reduction in the absorption of nutrients can also be painful causing bloating, gas, and diarrhea.

In magic wheat is sacred to Ceres, Demeter, and Ishtar. It is a symbol of fertility and is often carried for that purpose. It is also used to attract money!

Onion – Allium cepa

Onion

“What mean you, sir,

To give them this discomfort? Look, they weep;

And I, an ass, am onion-eyed: for shame,

Transform us not to women.”

 

William Shakespeare’s tragedy Antony and Cleopatra

 

This member of the Lily family is not found in a truly wild situation, but is related to wild species found in Central Asia. Under cultivation they make good companions with winter savory, dill, strawberries, cucumbers, chamomile, lettuce, carrots, beets, and chicory. They don’t do as well with beans, peas, and cabbage.

 

Onions have been under cultivation for a very long time. Traces of onion, dating back 5,000 years, were found in Bronze Age settlements in Canaan. Onions have even been found in ancient mummies from Egypt, and the Egyptians were known to pay workers with onions. A reference in the Ebers Papyrus mentions onions for medical use.

 

In modern herbal medicine onions can be made into syrup for treatment of cough; baked onions can be used as a poultice to draw infection from a wound; and fresh onion juice is useful in treating bee stings, insect bites, grazes and fungal infection of the skin.

 

The fresh juice has also been used in cosmetics to help remove freckles, and as an insect repellent. At one time it was believed that onion juice could restore hair to a bald head. The juice can also be used as a preventative against rust, and as a polish for copper and glass.

 

For edibility it can be consumed raw or cooked. Raw it can be sliced and added to salad, on top of sandwiches, etc. Cooked they can be chopped, sliced, or diced for use in stews, soups, chili’s, almost any recipe you would like. They are good as a pickle also. The flowers are often used as a garnish on salads, although the flavor of the bulb is much nicer.

 

The onion has even found its way into spiritual use, being considered sacred in ancient Egypt where it was worshipped in several cities. Onions are protective, used to encourage prophetic dreams and lust, and used in exorcism and to attract money. They are used to purify the blades of knives and athames.

Peanuts – Arachis hypogaea

Peanuts

“…Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don’t care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don’t win it’s a shame.
For it’s one, two, three strikes, you’re out,
At the old ball game…”

Jack Norworth, 1908

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_stmo.shtml

 

“Peanuts! Get your fresh Roasted Peanuts here!” Whether you are at the circus or a ball game that is the infamous cry. Mr. Peanut graces bottles of peanuts on the grocer’s shelf. Peanuts have been an integral part of American culture for decades, maybe centuries. In China, where they were first introduced by Portuguese traders somewhere in the 17^th century, they became very popular also. They are often included in Chinese dishes. By 2006 China was the leading producer in the world!

 

The groundnut or goober peas were first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. Today the most frequently found wild strains are in Paraguay and Bolivia. When I was a kid I was told a story of where they came from that has seemed to be proven a myth. The story said that the peanut came to North America with the African people brought here for slavery. It relates that the peanut was seen as an inferior food, so that the slaves could grow it freely. Now this story may be false, or they may have come over with these unfortunate people since the peanut was imported into Africa in post-Columbian times.

 

The peanut is not really a nut, but is really a legume which grows below ground on the root system. The peanut has become a popular ingredient in Peruvian, Chinese, Israeli, and American cooking. They can be roasted, blended with other ingredients to make a sauce; they can be ground into a paste and added to rice, meat and vegetable dishes. They can also be roasted first, and then ground into one of America’s most popular sandwich makings…peanut butter! PB & J sandwiches may be the most popular sandwich in school lunches! Peanuts can be included in candies, cakes, cookies, and other sweets. In the American South a very popular way to eat peanuts is to boil them for several hours until they are soft and moist…different flavorings can be added. The best flavored boiled peanut I have ever eaten was a Cajun spice peanut.

 

Peanut oil has been used in herbal medicine in China to treat gonorrhea, rheumatism, insomnia. In Zimbabwe one of the folk remedies uses the peanut in a treatment for plantar warts. The seeds have been used as a demulcent, pectoral, and peptic.

 

In magic the peanut is believed to attract money. When eaten, while visualizing the end result, the peanut dish just may increase prosperity. Oh, and it can be eaten anyway you like to eat it, anyway at all will work, including the infamous PB & J!

Tamarind – Tamarindus indica

Tamarind pods

The exact origin of this Pea family tree is unknown, but is thought to be eastern Africa. Although India has had it under cultivation for so long that it is often thought of as indigenous there. The specific name is ‘indica’ showing that belief.

 

If you have gas or a sore throat and you happen to be in tropical America look for one of the young boys that will be selling bags of the pods. The fruit is good for relieving intestinal gas; it improves digestion, acts as a mild laxative and soothes sore throats. In the Philippines the leaves are made into a tea for relief of fever, being employed for malaria.

 

For food the tart pulp is used to make chutney, curries, beverages and sauces. The pulp is also an ingredient in making the popular seasoning Worcestershire sauce. It is also part of a favorite Indian dish Tamarind fish, which is a pickled product. The young leaves, flowers, and seedlings are cooked and eaten as greens. In Zimbabwe the leaves are added to soups and flowers added to salads.

 

Because few plants survive living under a Tamarind tree there is an old superstition that it is unwise to sleep under one or to tie your horse beneath one! African tribes in some areas held the tree sacred. And in Burma the tree is believed to be the dwelling of the Rain God.

 

In dying the leaves and flowers are used as mordants. The leaves provide a yellow dye for wool, and turns indigo dyed silk green.