Find:Pigweed is generally found in gardens, cultivated or abandoned fields.
Description:The stem of the pigweed is what makes this plant so distinctive. Stems are erect, and can grow anywhere from 10 cm - 2 m high, but usually 50 - 90 cm, simple or branched, lower part thick and smooth, upper part usually rough with dense short hair, greenish to slightly reddish but usually red near the roots.The leaves are alternate on the stem, long-stalked, and range from dull green to shiny or reddish green. The leaf blade is oval to diamond-shaped, but is usually broader at the base. The margins of the leaves are smooth. The tips of the leaves are pointed or sometimes slightly notched.
Edible parts and uses:Every part of the plant can be eaten, but the young leaves and growing tips on older plants are the tastiest and most tender.
Precautions: no real precautions.
Find:lawns, driveways, and along roads, sidewalks and railroad tracks.
Description:Plantain leaves are easy to recognize by the five or so palmate veins that run parallel to the midrib.They grow from a basal rosette and can be up to a foot long if they don’t get mowed.
Edible parts and uses:The young, tender leaves can be eaten raw, and the older, stringier leaves can be boiled in stews and eaten. The seeds are also edible.It’s also a common component in healing salve.
Precautions:no real precautions.
Find:sun; dry prairie, often rocky soil.
Description:Leaves are palmately compound in groups of 5 on a stalk up to 6 inches long. Leaflets are oval elliptic, 1 to 2 inches long, 1/3 to ¾ inch wide, narrowing at the base, rounded, blunt or pointed at the tip, upper surface nearly smooth, undersides covered in flattened hairs. Plant is stout, stems and leaves are erect with multiple branches. Stems are densely hairy.Short, cylindrical, densely hairy spike of ½-inch pea-shaped flowers. Flowers are light blue to purple turning creamy with age; the upper petal (standard) is round with darker veins; the lateral wings below it are somewhat lighter in color, inflated over a small keel underneath. The calyx tube and floral bracts are covered in long silvery hairs.
Precautions:consuming the plant may trigger a photosentive reaction in some people, due to the presence of furanocoumarins.
Find:tends to grow on roadsides and waste places.
Description:The purple deadnettle leaves are considered dead, and there are no stinging hairs. It is a member of the mint family, which is distinguished by the purple deadnettle’s four-sided square stem. The purple deadnettle is closely related to the henbit, which is often referred to as the henbit deadnettle. The green henbit leaves are kidney shaped and are attached directly to the stem, whereas the purple deadnettle has a triangular shape, and the stalk is attached to the stem’s leaf blade.
Edible parts and uses:Only the leaves are edible. In the spring, the young leaf shoots are harvestable and can commonly used within salads. Some people also use it within smoothies. The leaves are also useful as a good tea, which helps treat chills and promote kidney discharge and perspiration.
Precautions:no real precautions.
Find:found in fields, meadows, waste areas, roadsides and disturbed habitats. They are very hardy and thrive in a dry environment.
Description:The Queen Anne's lace flower resembles lace, and oftentimes the flower has a solitary purple dot in the centre. In addition the root smells like carrots!
Edible parts and uses:Homemade birth control, Using first year Queen Anne’s lace plants are recommended. Roots are long, pale, woody, and are finger-thin and are used in soups, stews and in making tea. First year leaves can be chopped and tossed into a salad. Flower clusters can be ‘french-fried’ or fresh flowers can be tossed into a salad. The aromatic seed is used as a flavoring in stews and soups.
Precautions: no real precautions.
Find:are all over campus, in fields, in thickets, roadsides, and could grow in another random location.
Description:The Red Clover's most defining characteristics are the purple-red flower and the v-shaped stripe of white across the green leaves. The flower has a rounded head. The flowers bloom generally from April through September, but I spotted flowers still in bloom at the end of October
Edible parts and uses:Clovers in general are healthy to eat in any way, basically: in salad, as a cooked green, ground to flour, or blended with another tea. Clover is high in protein! The most common things to eat on the Clover are the flowerheads and the leaves, but are easier to eat if soaked for about an hour or boiled.
Precautions:no real precautions.
Find:are all over campus, in fields, in thickets, roadsides, and could grow in another random location.
Description:borne on long, smooth petioles. Leaflets are oblong to wedge-shaped and are serrated around the margin. Usually variegated with a white or red "watermark." Stems are smooth grow horizontally near the soil. The round head has white to pink flowers.
Edible parts and uses:Both the greens and flowers are edible. Dry the flowers for tea, or add to vodka and fruit jellies for a clover infusion. Fresh flowers and greens can be added to salads, cocktails, and to canapes and desserts for garnish.
Precautions:no real precautions.
Find:are all over campus, in fields, in thickets, roadsides, and could grow in another random location.
Description:is a perennial plant with a semi-erect, sparsely branched, grooved stem, hairy in its upper regions. The leaves are alternate and stalked with small stipules. The leaves have three blunt-tipped ovate, unspotted leaflets with finely toothed margins.
Edible parts and uses:Both the greens and flowers are edible. Dry the flowers for tea, or add to vodka and fruit jellies for a clover infusion. Fresh flowers and greens can be added to salads, cocktails, and to canapes and desserts for garnish.
Precautions:no real precautions
Find:moist to mesic black soil prairies, alongside rivers and lakes, meadows, thickets, forest openings, woodland borders, pastures, and abandoned fields. Self-Heal that is common in lawns.
Description:Typically this plant grows 10 to 50 cm in height although some native varieties may grow taller. It is a fibrous-rooted plant from a root crown or short rhizome that thrives in loamy soil with high organic content.
Edible parts and uses:This wild plant is both edible and medicinal. The leaves and flowers contain high levels of antioxidants (which prevent cancer and heart disease). It has been used for centuries as medicine. Raw self-heal leaves are edible, suitable as a pot herb and have a subtle bitter taste. Although they taste better cooked, a lot of the nutrients are lost (as they are in vegetables as well) in this process. Toss leaves onto a salad, in a soup or stew or once you have mashed potatoes, add them to this. A cold water infusion of freshly chopped (or dried) leaves makes a nourishing drink. (Boil water to make tea as well.) This is an edible plant that can help many health ailments.
Precautions:no real precautions.
Find:sun; dry disturbed soils; fields, roadsides, waste areas, railroads
Description:An herbaceous perennial in the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae) growing to a height of 4 to 12 inches. The stems are upright, branched at top, slender and reddish in color. The arrow-shaped leaves are simple, 1-3 inches long, and smooth with a pair of horizontal lobes at base.
Edible parts and uses:Sheep's Sorrel contains oxalic acid so it has a slightly sour or tangy flavor. It can be eaten raw or cooked, the tangy taste is a great addition to salads, but it also tastes great eaten alone.The roots can also be used in soups or salads.
Precautions:Due to the high oxalic acid content, large doses of sheep sorrel can be toxic. Oxalic acid can cause kidney stones , irritate the kidneys, or worsen an existing kidney disorder. For these reasons, those with kidney problems or who are prone to kidney ailments should not use sheep sorrel.
