Rose hips-Prickly Rose
Find:part shade, sun; dry to moist; boreal forest, woodland edges, rocky openings, lakeshores, thickets
Description:A deciduous shrub up to 4 ft. tall with densely prickly stems & pink, 5-petaled flowers. Foliage is pinnately compound and somewhat pubescent. Flowers, usually solitary but sometimes in small clusters, are followed by smooth rosehips.Bloom Color are White and Pink. Blooming Time is Jun and Jul.
Edible Parts and uses:Rosehips for jelly and tea; edible flowers.
Precautions:Prickly.
Rose-Low Prairie and the very similar Smooth Rose
Find:It occurs on hills and other well-drained, open sites on the prairies throughout the province.
Description:The bark is red-brown in colour and densely covered with prickles. The leaves are dark green and pinnately compound. The leaflets number 9–11 per leaf, are usually smooth and shiny, and measure 2–5 cm in length. The flowers appear in June and July and occur in corymbs of 2 or 3 flowers. Each blossom displays five broad, white to light pink to dark pink petals which measure 1.5–2.5 cm in length. Five sepals and numerous yellow stamens are also present. The fruit is a rounded, dull orange to red structure called a ‘hip’ which contains a number of hairy, dry achenes. The petals and hips are high in vitamins A and C, calcium, phosphorus and iron and are used to make tea.
Edible Parts and uses:Most parts of the rose are edible—flower buds, petals, young leaves—but the hips are most nutritious
Precautions:no side effects.
Skunkberry
Find:part shade, shade; moist to wet; swamps, bogs, conifer and mixed forests, thickets, ravines, rocky shores
Description:Leaves are 1 to 2 inches long, 1¼ to 3 inches wide, coarsely toothed, heart-shaped at the base, with 5 to 7 primary lobes that may be again shallowly lobed. Veins are prominent and radiate from the base. Leaf stalks are 1 to 3 inches long and hairless to sparsely glandular, and may have a few long hairs at the base.Erect to ascending clusters arising from leaf axils on lateral branches, made up of 6 to 15 stalked flowers. Flowers are ¼ to 1/6 inch across, saucer to bell-shaped with a shallow, bowl-shaped tube. The 5 petals are tiny, erect, more or less spoon-shaped, pink to purplish, alternating with 5 pink to purple stamens that are about the same length as the petals. The calyx cupping the flower is yellowish to greenish white, hairless to sparsely hairy and sometimes glandular, with 5 sepal lobes that are rather petal-like, much larger and showier than the actual petals, rounded or lobed at the tips, widely spreading and white to creamy colored.
Edible Parts and uses:Most parts of the rose are edible—flower buds, petals, young leaves—but the hips are most nutritious
Precautions:no side effects.
Smooth Blackberry
Find:farms,woodland,in the woods and sandhills.
Description:has almost completely smooth stems that are free of prickles and spines. Leaves are smooth with few hairs on the underside.
Edible Parts and uses:The fruit is edible raw or cooked.Leaves can be dried for tea.
Precautions: no side effects.
Strawberry-American Wild
Find:Found in patches in fields and dry openings.
Description:Wild strawberries are very to spot as their leaves have toothed edges and hairy undersides. The white flowers have five petals and a golden centre; and the distinctive red fruit look like cultivated strawberries with tiny seeds on the outside.
Edible Parts and uses:Fruit.Tea can be made from either fresh or dried leaves.
Precautions:no side effects.
Western Mountain Ash
Find:Likes acidic soil with good drainage, full sun to light shade. Grows to 10'–30'.
Description:green leaves turn yellow, orange and reddish-purple in the fall. Showy white spring flowers are followed by large clusters of flame-red, berry-like fruit loved by birds.
Edible Parts and uses:The berries may be used fresh, dried, or cooked and then dried. People take mountain ash for diabetes.
Precautions:Eating large amounts of raw mountain ash berries can also be unsafe.
Wild Sarsaparilla
Find:can grow in full shade and semi-shaded areas.
Description:A separate stalk, shorter than the leaf stalk, bears ball-shaped clusters of tiny, greenish-white flowers followed in fall by dark purple berries. The leafless flower stem, topped with clusters of greenish-white flowers, is beneath a large, umbrella-like leaf. Often grows in colonies from extensive rootstock.
Edible Parts and uses:The leaves, fruits, and roots of this plant are edible, but the roots are by far the most commonly used one. They're used as a substitute for sarsaparilla, to make root beer, to make syrup, as well as to flavor other foods and beverages.Young shoots are often cooked as a potherb as well. They can be stir-fried, blanched, or added into soups and stews. Lastly, ripe wild sarsaparilla fruits can be used to make wine and jelly.
Precautions:There are no known side effects of using sarsaparilla. However, taking a large amount of saponins may cause stomach irritation.
