Dan Jason
Herbs & Shrubs
Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
Fabaceae
Alfalfa is sometimes called lucerne or buffalo herb. It is grown in many places for animal feed and is also often seen growing wild in fields. This clover-like plant has a deep taproot, numerous stems, and leaves that appear in threes but are narrower and smaller than clover leaves. It has racemes of small flowers that are usually purple but sometimes yellow.
Alfalfa flowers have been used as a cough remedy, and alfalfa leaves are most commonly used in combination with mint leaves as a food or tonic. The leaves of young plants (best collected in the spring or early summer) can be dried, ground and eaten raw in salad, steeped in hot water as tea or mixed in with prepared cereal. We suggest that the leaves be used as nutrient and tonic: they are an excellent source of vitamins A, B, D, E and K; alfalfa leaves also contain potassium, phosphorous, iron, sodium, silicon, magnesium and many trace elements. Alfalfa is very high in protein (18.9 percent) and calcium, and alfalfa leaves as tea contain no oxalic acid or caffeine. Much more of the protein content can be assimilated if the leaves are put through a grinder first.
Alfalfa
Alum root
Heuchera spp.
Saxifragaceae
Alum root is commonly found in poor soils of exposed mountainsides. At the base of the stem is a group of long-stemmed leaves, which are oval with irregular lobes. A cluster of small yellow flowers blooms in early June along the upper part of the slender, hairy stem. The taproot is surprisingly large.
Young leaves of alum root may be boiled or steamed. Alum root is a strong astringent, and the roots eaten raw are a good remedy for diarrhea. Ground and used as a poultice, the roots’ astringency is good for closing wounds. Wet and pounded, the root may be used on sores and swelling. A tonic of the boiled roots is useful for debility and fever. The root is best dug before the plant flowers.
Alum root
Arrowhead or wapato
Sagittaria latifolia
Alismataceae
Wapato is a bog or water plant of sea-level to subalpine elevations. It is found in ponds, the shallow water of lakes, and slow-moving streams throughout BC. If the water is deep enough, the arrow-shaped leaves don’t develop and only long, slender leaf stalks are evident. Flowers, sometimes several feet above the leaves, are in whorls of three; they have three sepals and three waxy white petals. The long stem contains a milky sap. Seed heads are globular. The tubers are quite large and break off easily. The plant may be in the water or erect above it. It flowers in late June or early July.
Wapato tubers can be roasted, boiled or ground into flour. The milky juice of the stem is unpleasant raw but sweet when cooked.
Arrowleaf balsamroot or spring sunflower
Balsamorhiza sagittata
Asteraceae
Balsamroot is found throughout the dry Interior on fairly open and dry hills and in valleys with deep, sandy soils. It first appears in early April and begins flowering late in the month. It is often near open ponderosa pine forest with buttercup, mullein, yarrow and biscuitroot. Leaves are large, basal, olive green, smooth-edged and arrow-shaped; they have fine silver-grey hairs and grow on large stalks. Bright yellow ray flowers surround the disc-shaped flowers. Balsamroot’s naked stems and silvery appearance distinguish it from sunflower (Helianthus spp.). A dozen or so flowers may arise from each bundle of leaves. Roots are often several inches thick, resinous and woody. At flowering, balsamroot is often two feet high.
The entire plant may be used year-round. Young stems and leaves may be boiled and eaten as greens; they become tougher and more fibrous with age. The root may be eaten raw or cooked. We like it sliced and gently stir-fried. Seeds, when roasted, ground and made into mush, have a toasted popcorn flavour.
The root, when peeled, ground and boiled, can be drunk as a remedy for rheumatism and headache. The mashed root can be used for swelling and insect bites. A decoction of the root causes profuse perspiration.
Balsamroot
Biscuitroot
Lomatium spp.
Apiaceae
Biscuitroot is mainly an Interior plant, found on dry plains and hills and frequently at the base of rock cliffs and outcrops. Height is several inches to several feet, depending on the species. Leaves are greatly divided. Flowers are small and in compound umbels coloured white, yellow, pink or purple. There can be one or several stems; the flower stem, often purplish, is leafless. Leaves of most Lomatium species smell and taste much like parsley. In several species, the root consists of several large connected bulbs; others have thick, fleshy roots. First flowering is around the beginning of April.
All of the many species have edible roots. A tea can be made from the leaves, stems or flowers. The seeds can be eaten raw, roasted or dried. The roots are better if dug after flowering; they are delicious raw, cooked, dried or ground into flour. The green stems and leaves are good spring salad materials.
Biscuitroot
Bitterroot
Lewisia rediviva
Portulacaceae
Bitterroot grows in dry, rocky open places, flowering at the end of April or in early May in the dry Interior. It has thick, oblong leaves and is nearly stemless. The flowers are rose-pink (sometimes white) and have 10 to 15 petals. It is a perennial with a thick and fleshy carrot-shaped root. The plant often appears leafless because the tufts of leaves may have dried by the time flowers appear.
The root and inner bark are starchy and nutritious. The outer covering can be soaked loose and removed. Cooking takes away most of the bitterness; boil it to a jelly-like consistency.
The pounded dry root was chewed by First Nations foragers to help sore throat.
Bitterroot
Broadleaf cattail
Typha latifolia
Typhaceae
The cattail is very common in moist or wet places such as marshes, shallow ponds, ditches and stream borders. The spongy, dark brown spikes are four to eight inches long and contain the pollen grains. The leaves are long, flat and about an inch wide.
The young shoots pulled from the rootstalks in spring are succulent raw or cooked. They can be gathered throughout summer and
