Lesser Celendine - Question

[falling rain]

This may be one for you Jak.
In Ray Mears Series 'Bushcraft' The first episode 'Aboriginal Britain', Ray cooks up some Lesser Celendine roots on the embers of a fire for Chris Boynton the Bowmaker and says that they are poisonous raw and only the roots from this plant can be eaten as it's a member of the Buttercup family which is poisonous. (or words to that effect)
HOWEVER in Huge Furry Whittling Tools book 'A cook on the Wildside' page 27 (New edition) it says " Of more culinary interest than the roots are the flowers and leaves. Both are edible and pleasent raw in salads, though neither is worth more elaborate preparation". So which is it, Poisonous or Edible?

Also a local name for Lesser Celendine that I'd not heard before is 'Spring Messenger' as it's one of the first to appear in the spring. Around the last week of February.

 

[match]

All parts of lesser celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) are poisonous - however, the poison is easily destroyed by heat, so cooking makes them edible.

I have heard that the very young leaves can be eaten in salads as their toxicity is low, but I wouldn't risk it

greater celandine (Chelidonium majus) is slightly more toxic, and although the toxicity can be removed by drying then boiling and re-boiling, this is much more of an emergency foodstuff!

See also PFAF:

http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Ranunculus+ficaria
http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Chelidonium+majus

 

[falling rain]

Ahhh Tres interesting. So Both Ray and Huge furry are right then. It dosn't however mention in 'a cook on the wildside' that only the very young leaves of lesser celendine are OK in a salad and that they become poisonous as the plant fruits. It just says they are pleasent in a salad. As the saying goes 'don't beleive all you read'. It just reinforces it pays to do some cross referencing for some of the more obscure potential foods.
I have had a taste of the roots of this plant (cooked in boiling water)and was just interested in the contradiction between Ray and Hugh. I think I'll leave the leaves alone though. Despite the common names Lesser and Greater Celendine are from different families. Thanks for looking that up Match. Much appreciated