HISTORY of PLANT USAGE
Over 2,000 years ago, a Chinese named Li Che Ten wrote a plant book entitled Peng T’Sao. It covered over one thousand plants giving nearly 8,000 recipes for their use. Other early civilizations made similar efforts. Over the years, most of the early plant knowledge has been lost. Corn, squash, and domesticated varieties of beans were the three main cultivated plant foods of the pre-Columbia Indians of North America. Sunflowers and Jerusalem Artichokes were two of the main wild food sources. Ground cherry, pokeberry, amaranth, lamb’s quarters, bee plant, and miner’s lettuce were also popular wild delicacies. These wild plants were used as a dietary supplement. They were also beneficial because cultivated plants did not always yield enough by themselves to sustain life. Various wild plants were used for construction, fiber, and for their medicinal properties. Many early civilizations had only plants as a source of medicine. A wall mural near Mexico City contains a fourteenth-century Aztec codex of herbal medicines. Again, most of this knowledge has been lost. Sturtevant and Medsger were among the first to start the recovery of lost plant knowledge in the 1900’s. They were later joined by other botanists and wild plant enthusiasts such as Coon, Schery, Angier, Kirk, Gibbons, Tatum, Knap, Hermann, Williams, Hall, Kretzschmar, Fernald, Kinsey, Rollins, Uphot, Duke, and others. Each of these authors have books on edible or medicinal or fiber plants of the wild. Their efforts are representative of a renewed awareness about plants. Even the National Academy of Sciences has recently discovered that many wild plants should and could be exploited for the benefit of man. Recent emphasis has been on the development of Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) a desert plant containing a liquid wax equal to sperm whale oil. There is also interest in developing the gopher plant (Euphorbia latyris) that pro- duces a natural carbohydrate oil that can be used to make gasoline. Aloe is a well known wild plant now being exploited for its medicinal properties.
The typical survivalist will not be a botanist. The average person may have difficulty in identifying edible plants from similar poisonous plants. Few people will know when or where wild plants can best be collected. Once found, they need to have some knowledge of preparation and storage. There could be difficulties in just being around strange plants because some can inflict injury or pain. Jumping cholla and the nettles are good examples. You will discover and survive these when encountered, and you will not forget what they look like. Use the guidelines previously given (under the Stomach and Food sections) to determine if a prospective plant food could be poisonous. When in doubt, do not eat. Do not forget that plants have more than one use, and that available varieties will change depending upon the time of year and your geographic location. Field preservation will generally be by sun drying as explained in the Food Drying section. Suggested medicinal uses of plants are to be tried at your own risk. The following pages are designed to help you find the most important edible and medicinal plants in North America and other temoerate zones. These solutions were made with survival in mind, and the number of recommended plants have been limited to ease identification problems. To facilitate chart use, those plants with medicinal value have the first common name in bold type. Otherwise, they are edible using the indicated preparation method. The Nettle, Yucca, and Basswood listed also provide sources of fiber.
CAUTION:
1) When in doubt, do not eat.
2) Attempt medical uses at your own risk.
