Sea Plantain / Spring / Summer / Autumn / Edible Other Common Names: Coastal Plantain, Plantain by the Sea, Goose tongue Latin Name: Plantago maritima subsp. maritima (there are several subspecies, differentiated by their geographical distributions). Physical Characteristics: Looking a bit like a wider, more succulent grass stem with a…
Tag: edible
Salty Fingers / All Year / Edible Salty Fingers are an absolutely outstanding species that grows at certain special coastal spots throughout the UK and the rest of the world. This one looks prehistoric and like it shouldn’t be eaten, however it has a delightful salty flavour and the way…
Lilac / Spring / Summer / Edible Other Common Names:Â Lilac flower, sweet lilac Latin Name: Syringa vulgaris and other species Physical Characteristics:Â This is a deciduous shrub that blooms in spring with cones of wonderfully fragrant flowers. It can grow up to 7m tall and can form suckers with…
Buck’s Horn Plantain Other Common Names: Stagshorn plantain, Minutina Latin Name: Plantago coronopus Physical Characteristics:Â The whole plant rarely grows more than 10cm tall. Leaves Hairy leaves growing in a basal rosette. Each individual leaf has teeth’ coming off the sides that look like a crow’s foot at the end,…
Reindeer Moss / All Year / Edible Other Common Names: Reindeer lichen, Reindeer cup lichen, Grey reindeer lichen, Caribou moss, Deer moss Latin Name: Cladonia rangiferina Physical Characteristics:Â While it is colloquially known as a moss, this is actually a lichen, which is a symbiont of at least one fungus…
Old Man’s Beard / All Year / Edible After processing Old Man’s Beard, it can be dried, or powdered and added to energy balls, crackers, and sauces that need thickening. Other Common Names: (this refers to the lichen, not the species of Clematis that goes by the same common name).…
Oak Moss / All Year Round / Edible Oak Moss and other Lichens have been used as food and medicine as long as there have been people. Other Common Names: Tree moss Latin Name: Evernia prunastri Physical Characteristics:Â Growth primarily on the trunks and branches of oak trees. It is…
Nori / Spring / Summer / Autumn / Winter / Edible Other Common Names: sometimes called Laver (not strictly correct, but they are very similar) Latin Name: Pyropia yezoensis, californica, tenera and other species. Note that Laver is in the Porphyria genus, but the seaweeds in each are often reclassified.…
Irish Moss Seaweed /Autumn / Winter / Spring / Edible Irish Moss (the source of carrageenan) Note: You may have heard more about Carrageenan than about Irish Moss, and you may be surprised to find controversial material after googling carrageenan! Irish Moss is the seaweed from which the fibre/carbohydrate carrageenan…
It’s early in the year, and the perfect time to start learning to forage as the season kicks off. You may be inspired and excited, but also wondering where to start. Start with One Overwhelm is the enemy. We recommend starting with a wild plant that is super distinctive, abundant…