User:Tr3ndyBEAR/local plants
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Version 2
Useful sites: EatTheWeeds, EatTheInvaders, BackyardForagers, PlantsForAFuture, UsefulTropicalPlants, UsefulTemperatePlants,
Edible
cooking
nuts and seeds
greens
- Chinese hibiscus
- Mission prickly pear
- Harvest young pads, which are a lighter green color, in the morning when acid content is lowest. If it's a spiky variety, harvest in early spring before the spikes and glochids have formed.
spices
- Chinese juniper
- Brazilian peppertree. This tree is in the cashew family and is native to subtropical and tropical South America. This tree, along with Peruvian peppertree, are the sources of pink peppercorns. Dried, they have a bright pink color, but they can also be pickled and given a dull greenish hue. In addition, this tree has many important medicinal uses where it is indigenous.
- To harvest, simply pick ripe fruit and lay them out on a sheet at room temperature. In a few days they will harden and be ready for use.
fruits and berries
tea
edible flowers
Utility
oils
- Castor bean. This invasive plant (native to southeastern Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, and India) is notorius for the famous poison ricin. However, poisonings are rare from consumption as the ricin is protected by layers of shell and usually has to be specially processed for the ricin to actually be available. Instead, this plant has a long history of cultivation for the production castor oil which was historically used in lamps, soaps, perfumes, and has even been used medicinally. To produce the oil, the plant must be boiled multiple times and, as a result, the oil does not contain ricin.
- Here is a video tutorial showing how to produce the oil at home: [1]
dye
wood
fibers, ropes, and twines
Medicinal
- Tree tobacco. The Cahuilla (ʔívil̃uqaletem) smoked many native tobacco species. Tree tobacco is an introduced species from South America, but the Cahuilla people also make use of this species. Tree tobacco is unique among the Nicotiana species in that it's main pyridine alkaloid is anabasine rather than nicotine. There have been a few documented fatal poisonings from consumption of tree tobacco, but these were always due to the confusion of the plant with a spinach where it was eaten as a leaf vegetable. All the characteristics of poisonings are the same as nicotine poisoning so it is likely that consuming the plant is no more toxic than consuming any other tobacco species. However, there is still uncertainty around the toxicity and safety of anabasine. Anabasine is very similar structurally to nicotine and has been reported to have very similar effects.
- To harvest, the leaves need to be picked and cured, usually by tying them up and hanging them out in the sun for a few days until the water content has decreased sufficiently for the leaves to be burned and smoked.
- It is a member of the Solanaceae (Solanales) family which also contains: potato, tomato, eggplant, deadly nightshade, datura, tomatillo, peppers, cape gooseberry, black nightshade, ashwagandha, mandrake, tamarillo, and many more.
Version 1
Non-native plants
Introduced and invasive
Landscaping
Cahuilla Land
Cahuilla taxonomy is extremely sophisticated and the names given to plants were very exactly chosen and are often in keeping with modern botanical classifications. Some family names and more general terms are also recognized:
- navtem for members of Cactaceae
- piklaym for genera of berry-producing plants
Cahuilla plant knowledge is deeply intimate with deep knowledge of medicinal and edible uses of many plants. Shamans (puvulam) and doctors (tingavish) concerned themselves with botanical knowledge and experimentation. Morphology and smells of plants were an important part of identification. Some rules of thumbs mentioned are:
- See if plants are eaten by birds and other animals.
- Plant color: i.e. white berries were usually avoided.
Plants mentioned in Temalpakh[1]
Fabaceae legume family (751 genera, 19000 species) beans, chickpea, peanut, pea, soybean, wattles, clovers, alfalfa, vetches, carob, licorice, kudzu, lentil, mesquites, tamarind
- Senegalia greggii (aka catclaw acacia) = sichingily[1]: 29
Nyctaginaceae four o' clock family (33 genera, 290 species) mauka, Bougainvillea
- Abronia villosa (aka wild sand-verbena) = temal nyuku ("earth cousin")[1]: 28
Orange County/Tongva Land
List of plants
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Tongva
- Wilakal aka California Buckwheat
- Ashuwet aka Toyon
- Pawots aka California Sagebrush
- Sorah aka Lemonade Berry
- Pa.akal aka California Brittlebrush
- Atuto’nar aka Laurel Sumac
Phylogeny
- Wilakal aka California Buckwheat [eudicots > caryophyllales]
- Ashuwet aka Toyon [eudicots > rosids > eurosids > fabids > rosales]
- Pawots aka California Sagebrush [eudicots > asterids > asterales]
- Sorah aka Lemonade Berry [eudicots > rosids > eurosids > malvids > sapindales > anacardioideae]
- Pa.akal aka California Brittlebrush [asterids > asterales > asteraceae]
- Coast Live Oak aka California Live Oak [rosids > eurosids > fabids > fagales]
- Western Sycamore aka California Sycamore [eudicots > proteales]
- Coastal Goldenbush aka Menzies' Goldenbrush [asterales > asteraceae]
- Atuto’nar aka Laurel Sumac / Lentisco [sapindales > anacardiaceae > anacardioideae]
See also
Papers
- (1985, Acquisition cost and nutritional data on Great Basin resources[2]) contains a list of food plants (and some animals) gathered in the Great Basin region with calculations for estimating the energy cost to gather and process vs the energy returned.
- (2014, What can traditional healing do for modern medicine) in which a person indigenous to Southern California gives examples of some important medicinal plants, how they're processed and used, and evidence for their efficacy.
Books
- (1969, Temalpakh: Cahuilla Indian knowledge and usage of plants[1]) one of the most detailed ethnobotanical accounts of Cahuilla plant knowledge