Buttercup - a "starvation food"? - I don't recommend it!

[rich59]

Don't try this one.

Having just read through the thread on tasting Lords and Ladies, I thought I would fess up to tasting creeping buttercup (Ranunculus Repens) - twice in the last month. I had a rather intimate couple of hours taking it out of some flower/ fruit beds and started taking an interest in it. I read "Plants for a future" account of how the toxin is deactivated by dehydration or heat and might be counted a "starvation food" so thought I would set myself a project of finding out if it could be eaten if properly prepared. I also now have its flowers decorating my kitchen in a vase and very pretty it looks too.

Well, I reckoned cooking might count as "heat" so I boiled some for 4 minutes and then put a bit in my mouth and then went out on a trip to the seaside. Next thing I was thinking - OOPS - as my tongue felt like it was swelling while I carried on acting as normal. Fortunately is subsided after about half an hour.

So, I decided a little knowledge was a dangerous thing and invested in a copy of "A colour atlas of poisonous plants" by Frohne-Pfander. It is great bedside reading.

Frohne-Phander is pretty authoratitive and detailed in its toxicology and where there is doubt the author has checked it out personally. Their information is backed by statistics from poisonings attending casualty departments and records of fatalities.

This told me about the chemical reaction that detoxifies it with dehydration,[No mention of heat.] and gave me an idea of how it could harm me if I ingested enough into my stomach, so I felt on safe ground with a taste test of a tiny amount. So I dried some for a week in my shed and tried the taste again. I had a sore tongue for a day, so I think I am still way off.

So, look on me as an example NOT to follow. I might just try a proper dehydration with some sun for a week some time, or I might just back off.

 

[rich59]

Having just read my tag I think that I might put in an option of abandoning the project altogether!

 

[Goatboy]

Did you see a tunnell?
LOL

 

[Toddy]

No, buttercups are not a food plant, not even a famine food plant

Good on you testing and reporting it though, not much beats empirical evidence though fatalities can render the experiment kind of null

I think pfaf is a wonderful resource but sometimes I wonder about some of their definitions of safe to eat.

I thought buttercups were only edible by cattle if they were well dried in hay Is that how the idea came about ??

cheers,
M

 

[Barn Owl]

Is Lords and ladies , Cuckoo Pint?
Poisonous plant i've been told.

What thread did someone try it?

 

[Toddy]

Lords and ladies is an arum and properly processed the roots make a good starchy carbohydrate rich meal.
Get it wrong and it's an unpleasant outcome though

Wonder how folks figured it out

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Barn Owl]

Lords and ladies is an arum and properly processed the roots make a good starchy carbohydrate rich meal.
Get it wrong and it's an unpleasant outcome though

Wonder how folks figured it out

cheers,
Toddy

I wonder too.
Not that i've read up on it but would the elderly or infirm have been the testers or the fit ?

Would they have fed new recipies to a captured animal in the first instance?

I really think that the human mind has had the same capacity from inception (that wee jag from our 'alien' brethern ) but governed by concensus and habit.

Would it have been the 'elders' or the 'rebels' who decided to try different things from what was known?

Or the females with hungry children,were they the ones to demand or in desparation have trials done?

Oooh,reading back the above it sounds a bit heavy, sorry if i've hijacked.

 

[jimford]

Lords and ladies is an arum and properly processed the roots make a good starchy carbohydrate rich meal.
Get it wrong and it's an unpleasant outcome though

The native Americans used to eat the roots after boiling.

Jim

 

[xylaria]

I sometimes try out new plants that have no record that I can find of been eaten. First the thing I do is check very thoroughly that it is not poisonious, then I look at the family it belongs to. Personally I wouldn't try any ranunculus, but I have tried bindweed root. Bindweed is related to sweet potato, it is copious and easy to id weed, but i have never eaten more than really small amounts as it is very fiddly to get out of the ground.

I do wonder how anyone ever worked out tomatoes or celery were edible, I suppose the answer is very carefully.

 

[Tengu]

Or Rhubarb. (was given some on the weekend)

If we realised how dangerous the leaves were we would never eat the stems.

 

[gregorach]

I believe that tasting unknown plants was traditionally a job for the young men, in certain Native American cultures anyway...

 

[Tadpole]

I believe that tasting unknown plants was traditionally a job for the young men, in certain Native American cultures anyway...

Rays friend and erstwhile professor, Gordon Hillman (the expert in Palaeoethnobotany) said that it was the job of the strong and young to test new plants. They try a bit raw, then cooked, then steamed, then a bigger bit. I assume that as they were strong and healthy, and given a small amount of luck, they would survive any adverse reactions, whereas the old/infirm would not survive.

 

[Toddy]

I know of it as being the hungry teenagers out a wandering, Having a try at something that looks interesting.
Then it's try a tiny bit and chew with the front of the mouth. If it's good, eat a little and wait and see if there's a reaction before you eat any more, If it tingles, burns, tastes foul, the saliva will pour and spit it out. If the tingling/ burn subsides but still tastes good (think onions) try it cooked. Throw the water away or bury it in hot ashes.
Then if that works and there's no trots or cramps, and it still tastes good, try a bit more.
Maybe try the liquid......it goes on and on.
Plants like Hemlock water dropwart though.........that's a killer, guess we know how they found out. Fungi ?
And how did they introduce safe quantities into the equation ?

cheers,
M

 

[pheasant plucker]

Don't forget to do the skin sensitivity test first though on the inside of the elbow is good, that way if there's any irritation it's only on your skin not on your lips or in your mouth.
PP

 

[Toddy]

Good point

cheers,
Toddy..........who's just been in the garden howking out Houtenania (sp?) we call it hootingannie..........horrible stuff and I've got swollen fingers from where I touched it

 

[pheasant plucker]

it's amazing in this country how people feel so safe in this environment because it's not considered a dangerous place with flora and fauna, and yet how wrong people can be. Whether it's in gardens or countryside. Wear gloves next time Toddy ;-)
PP

 

[Toddy]

Normally I'm fine but there was just so much of it, and the Sun was shining too
Never even gave it a thought

cheers,
M

 

[firecrest]

Of course we must remember that trying new plants and dying as a consequence is by no means a failure - you provided vital knowledge to your brethren!

Incidentally, it is thought children are much less able to tollerate strong and bitter foods because evolution has evolved a saftey buffer - their knowledge of poisons is far less as an adult so the body rejects anything that tastes even mildly unpleasant where as an adult can discern that chillis and onions for example, whilst burning the mouth, are not poisonous, so we develop a broader taste only when our minds have matured enough.

(barring some freaky kids like my cousins who at age 3 loved nothing more than cabbage, vindaloo and crackers with St agur and blue stilton. He can even recommend you a good cheese to select!

 

[xylaria]

Good point

cheers,
Toddy..........who's just been in the garden howking out Houtenania (sp?) we call it hootingannie..........horrible stuff and I've got swollen fingers from where I touched it

Sounds like what used to called a wart charmer. Is it a spurge?

Anybody considering trying out a plant should ID it first. There is enough information out there to then decide if it is safe enough to attempt tasting. Crushing the plant between fingers to assess the sap properties and to get a better idea of the smell is more is practiced by individuals with an already good understanding of plants. But skin testing though advised by survival manuals should only be used as the last ditch method when placed in very unfamiliar environments, it isn't a substitute for knowledge of your local plants. The US army manual that most skin testing is based on says exactly this, and it is an important point that is often missed.

 

[Toddy]

It's the chameleon variety of this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houttuynia

It's supposedly edible, but it smells like scented geranium and the smell clings to hands and clothes. Not fishy like the Japanese claim
The smell is such that I really don't even want to try eating it.
It came in as a present from a friend and I've been trying to eradicate it for ten years now
Bonny plant, pain to get rid off though.

cheers,
M