Wild Plant Foraging -Tasty or Toxic?

Donna LotzerPoison Education Coordinator

UWHC Poison Education CenterMadison, WI

2012

Before You Decide to “Live Off the Land”…

• It’s not like you see on TV– Dual Survival, Survivorman, Man vs. Wild– Do you notice the disclaimers?

• Be prepared – know your environment– Are you in your backyard garden?– Headed to an exotic locale?

• Act like the locals when traveling– But remember their diet is NOT comparable in most

situations

…Become a Food Prep Expert

• What parts of the plant are edible?– Mayapple RIPE fruit

• Is cooking required to detoxify plants?– Nettles– Elderberries

• What about seasonal variations?– Burdock

Do “Shrooms” Count as Plants?

• Some are delicious– Morels, puffballs

• Some can be fatal– Amanita virosa

• Guidebooks are NOT reliable for mushrooms– Never assume wild

‘shrooms are edible raw– Toxic varieties are in your

yard or woods…

What is “Wildcrafting”?

• Wildcrafting is a term for the age-old practice of collecting plant materials in their natural habitat for food, medicine, and craft. 

• www.wildcrafting.net can connect you– Allows for mapping to share locations for edible plants– Submit pictures for possible ID

• Reasons for wildcrafting– Gather plants to prepare as medicines or food– Harvest plants to sell to others– www.7song.com has an herbalist approach

A “Go-To” Guy for Foraging

• http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/

He even has an app for that on his webpage (!)

• http://foragingpictures.com has pics of edible and other plants and mushrooms

• http://www.motherearthnews.com/ also has good information by searching under “foraging”

WikiHow or What the Heck

• Suggests steps to survive off the land

• Caveat: “If you are near death…”– Lots of confidence (!)– May not survive the

testing steps – Remember you can go

weeks with just water if needed

• Decide what plant part is to be tested

• Test for dermal effects – Which has nothing to

do with being edible!?!

• Test on lips, tongue, then swallow a bit– If you are OK 8 hrs

later perhaps you are safe

Best and Worst Choices for “Edible Arrangements”

• Aggregate berries• Chamomile, Dandelion• Gardenia, Garlic mustard• Jasmine, Lilac, Mayapple• Nasturtium, Nettles• Radish, Rose • Squash blossom, Sumac• Violet, Water cress• Wild carrot, garlic, leeks

(roots)

• Berries (all colors) – most• Bulbs (daffodil, tulip)• Castor beans• Hemlock, esp. roots• Horse chestnut• Jimson weed• Mushrooms

Often due to mistaken ID

Foraging Fatalities• Two people “living off the land” found dead in a

forest– Opted for a vegan lifestyle– Turns out they ate oleander leaves which are very toxic

to the heart (contains digoxin)

• Mistaken identity – hemlock vs. wild carrot or parsnip– Easy to confuse, especially in spring– Seizures and death possible in minutes to hours, and no

antidote

• Apricot pits and cyanide– Very toxic in small numbers, especially in children

Foraging Misadventures

• Jimsonweed stew– Six people hospitalized with hallucinations and other

symptoms– Leaves picked from plants growing in the yard (!)

• Tomatoes and potatoes– Leaves, sprouts, vines poisonous while tuber/fruit

are edible

• Easter lily toxic – fatal in cats– Even though safe for humans, plants in Lily family are

toxic to the kidneys in cats and can kill them

Foodborne botulism• Asparagus, mushrooms, chili, ketchup, beef

stew, beans, (along with fish, beaver tail & whale blubber {Alaska})– Not exactly foraging but can come from harvesting/collection in

a contaminated environment

• Due to improper processing– Must follow strict storage/canning/processing guides

• No signs that food is bad when eaten– Look, taste, smell all normal

• Prep/preventive steps critical

Where Does Your Poison Center Come Into the Picture?

• Help to ID plants (or mushrooms)

• Help to determine if plants are toxic

• Not so helpful with recipes (!)

• Available 24/7/365 to handle questions or exposures

Poison Center Poison Center 1-800-222-12221-800-222-1222

Tips for Foragers• Educate yourself

– Get a GOOD guidebook to help ID plants– Being “pretty sure” isn’t good enough

• Learn from an expert– Take classes or forage with an experienced

person

• Know the environment where you are foraging– Avoid areas likely to have contamination with

pesticides, and soil that may be contaminated with pollutants

• Be sure foraging is legal– National and state parks often do not allow

harvest of plants or mushrooms for environmental reasons

– I broke the law unknowingly in Alaska by picking morels in a national forest

Sources for Edibles, Recipes• Going online is great

– Be sure source is reliable

– This site also has links to toxic plants

• County ag. extension• Historical cookbooks

– I have some recipes from a 1940’s cookbook that are delicious