Plantlore

[Roving Rich]

Anyone been on a good plantlore course ? I have losts of books on the subject, yet the info never sticks, so i'm looking for a good teacher.
Primarily Edible plants, but also medicinal and general uses. :roll:
Thanks for your advice.
Rich

 

[Gary]

A good tip or saying I find useful, and often pass on to students is that you only need to know the ten most common plants in Europe and the America's to get by (this is as a foundation to build up and not the be all and end all) - these generally are already known to you i.e Dandilion and Cattail to name but two - all others, while interesting, arent much use, in a survival sense, because being uncommon they are harder to find and as such they aren't necessarily going to fill you stomach or help you light your fire ect ect.

A visit to a botanical garden might prove rewarding as you will know for sure what your looking at and as a added plus you can always revisit a plant as you learn.

 

[Richard]

As an ecologist and a bushcrafter I have been on a number of plants courses and have undertaken self-study. For identification, courses are generally useful for teaching you how to use the tools to identify plants (ie using 'keys') and what features to look at. Books are useful for reference, and particularly for edibility (but be aware to check information given is reliable and consistent with other sources before experimenting!). However, the only way to make the information 'stick' is to practice, practice, practice. There are no shortcuts to time spent in the field. Also make sure you go out in different seasons as plants and their i.d. features change as the seasons progress.

 

[george]

Rich

My wife is a botanist and runs various walks looking at the ethnobotanical uses of local plants.

Like Gary says, the biggest problem she has is the amount of information that you need to take in to understand even a little bit. She trys to concentrate on the most common easily identifiable plants so that people go away more confident about their ability to identify them and can associate them with their various uses. ( she also tries to have at least one of the products associated with it, so if she's talking about nettle soup you'll get to taste it and if its Rosehip cough mix she'll have made up a batch to smell and taste.)

Another problem of course is that each plant looks different at different times of the year so something readily identifiable on a walk in May, will look totally different when you see it in say September. On these short courses there just isn't enough time to show people everything.

Both of us reckon the best way to learn about plants is to take a field guide and id key out with you whenever you go out. Learn what you can on your own over the course of a year or so and store up a bunch of questions. Then find someone who knows about plants and go out with them and see if they can answer the questions with you. All of our field guides are full of margin notes and pressed plants that we've had to take back to look up further!

Richard's right too when he says that you need to practise, practise, practise, it's only then that the info sticks.

Most botanical gardens will have an education officer or similar who will be able to let you know about walks or courses in your area, and if you look for amateur botany groups in your area you should find loads of people willing to help answer questions.

I'm sure if you've got any specific questions I could try putting them past the wife though, and see if she can give an answer.


Hope this helps

George

 

[Gary]

Richard, what courses have you attended?

 

[Jack]

Anyone been on a good plantlore course ? I have losts of books on the subject, yet the info never sticks, so i'm looking for a good teacher.
Primarily Edible plants, but also medicinal and general uses. :roll:
Thanks for your advice.
Rich

Rich you are in luck.

My good lady has outstanding knowledge on plants, she had been learning and studying this subject since she was a young girl, when she was in single figures.

The next time you are down, she will walk out with you and you will be amazed at what is around you. She can take you from the two leaf and stage right up to when the plant is decaying..........makes you sick really! But don't forget wild plants are soil specific and we are mainly chalkland down here.........but that doesn't stop her.
:***:

 

[Adi007]

Rich you are in luck.

My good lady has outstanding knowledge on plants, she had been learning and studying this subject since she was a young girl, when she was in single figures.

The next time you are down, she will walk out with you and you will be amazed at what is around you. She can take you from the two leaf and stage right up to when the plant is decaying..........makes you sick really! But don't forget wild plants are soil specific and we are mainly chalkland down here.........but that doesn't stop her.
:***:

Jack, is she coming to the BCUK meetup??? ):

 

[familne]

The Scottish Wildlife Trust ran a course on habitat surveying and management which incorporated plant identification, it's where I started learning - unfortunately no longer running

 

[leon-1]

I think that if you go on a course on plantlore it is worth learning off your own back before you go to a degree, whilst on the course take a camera be it digital, compact 35mm or APS. Take photography of the plants that you see and keep a log so you know what plant relates to what photograph.

If you stick to the name and the identification of the plant it gives you less to worry about, when you get back you can research the plants and the individual properties of each one (edibility and medicinal).

Some you will already know due to having done some research before you went, because you know what they look like you can then find them in your own area and track the changes in the plant as you go through the seasons, catalogueing by camera or pressed in a book.

 

[qweeg500]

Rich,
I can recommend Woodsmoke.
Check their site:-
http://www.woodsmoke.uk.com/plantlore.htm

I've not been on this particular course but I been on 3 of their other courses and I can confidently say with without equivocation they know their stuff and are excellent communicators.
If your after good teachers then give them a call.

Matt

 

[familne]

I would also do a bit of background research into the anatomy of plants e.g. styles, stigmas etc. so you'll be able to understand text keys and what the instructors are talking about!

 

[TheViking]

Hi...

I don't know anyone, but it is very important that people don't just grab their book on edible plants and walk out the woods, to find some. Even if some books says that it's safe to eat Dandelion, it is not!! You can taste them, but nothing more.... Dandelion is toxic in bigger amounts...!

And so there are examples on a lot of plants that seem to be safe and is easy to recognize, that in fact isn't! Stinging nettle is very easy to recognize and beechleafs are too. Before eating a plant, be 110% sure that it's edible and always boil it... Also remember that Oxalis not are good for the human stomach in big amounts. A thing that a lot of survival books survey...!

If you wanna' live, find some cattail roots! All of a plants energy goes down to the roots and here it is stored. All of a cattail can be used. When dried the top can be used for firelightning (my first fire with magnifyer started with cattail down!), isolation and bedding material, The stalk can be used for donut-rafts, and as said the roots can be eaten.

Well, this became more a book, than a post...

 

[leon-1]

Hi...

I don't know anyone, but it is very important that people don't just grab their book on edible plants and walk out the woods, to find some. Even if some books says that it's safe to eat Dandelion, it is not!! You can taste them, but nothing more.... Dandelion is toxic in bigger amounts...!

Yes, but the dandelion root has been dried, powdered and used as a coffee substitute for years :wave:

 

[TheViking]

Yes, but the dandelion root has been dried, powdered and used as a coffee substitute for years :wave:

Just glad that it's not me who's gonna' drink it! :wave:

 

[Roving Rich]

Thanks guys, that bought me back to my senses. I do know some plants honest Just some times I look around and see nothing that I recognise, out of a whole eray of plants
Thanks for putting me back on track. So a visit to Kew is in order (Richard Jeffries advised the same in the late 1800s) followed by another in a different season.
I have just got a nice digi cam, so i can catalogue some. And pressing some cuttings to identify later is also a cunning plan.
Jack, iam sure to take you and your good lady up on that kind offer at some point.
I guess that the local library might be a starting point to find a local botany group. So long as they just "plant spotters" with lots of latin terminology and tick lists.
Are there hundreds of different groups ? or can they be broken down into just a few to start with ?
Thanks
Rich

 

[Richard]

Richard, what courses have you attended?

The reason I ask is I am assuming your talking courses run by 'plant types' and not by a bushcraft school.

Hi Gary

I've attended (and occasionally taught) both types of course in the past. I suppose the ones I was referring to in my last post were those taught by botanists (eg. with the Field Studies Council) and focussed specifically on identification within certain habitats or taxanomic groups (rather than uses). But of course its all 'bushcraft' at the end of the day!

 

[RovingArcher]

I've drank dandelion tea and dandelion wine. Here's some information on the dandelion.

Dandelion
© David L. Hoffmann B.Sc. (Hons), M.N.I.M.H.

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Taraxacum officinale
Compositae

Habitat: Widely distributed throughout most of the world as a "troublesome weed."

Collection: The roots are best collected between June and August when they are at their bitterest. Split longitudinally before drying. The leaves may be collected at any time.

Part Used: Root or leaf

Constituents:

Sesquiterpene lactones; taraxacoside (an acylated [[gamma]]-butyrolactone glycoside) & at least 4 others of the eudesmanolide, germacranolide & tetragydroridentin types
Triterpenes; taraxol, taraxerol, [[psi]]-tarazasterol, [[beta]]-amyrin, stigmasterol, [[beta]]-sitosterol
Phenolic acids; caffeic and [[rho]]-hydroxyphenylacetic acids
Polysaccharides; glucans and mannans and inulin
Carotenoids such as lutein and violaxanthin
Actions: Diuretic, hepatic, cholagogue, anti-rheumatic, laxative, tonic, bitter.
Indications: Dandelion leaf is a very powerful diuretic, its action comparable to that of the drug `Frusemide'. The usual effect of a drug stimulating the kidney function is a loss of vital potassium from the body, which aggravates any cardio-vascular problem present. With Dandelion, however, we have one of the best natural sources of potassium. It thus makes an ideally balanced diuretic that may be used safely wherever such an action is needed, including in cases of water retention due to heart problems. As ahepatic & cholagogue Dandelion root may be used in inflammation and congestion of liver and gall-bladder. It is specific in cases of congestive jaundice. As part of a wider treatment for muscular rheumatism it can be most effective. This herb is a most valuable general tonic and perhaps the best widely applicable diuretic and liver tonic. Ellingwood recommends the root for the following patholgies: chronic jaundice, auto-intoxication, rheumatism, blood disorders, chronic skin eruptions, chronic gastritis, aphthous ulcers.

Combinations: For liver and gall-bladder problems it may be used with Barberry or Balmony. For water retention it may be used with Couchgrass or Yarrow.

Preparations & Dosage: Decoction: put 2-3 teaspoonfuls of the root into one cup of water, bring to boil and gently simmer for l0-l5 minutes. This should be drunk three times a day. The leaves may be eaten raw in salads. Tincture: take 5-l0 ml of the tincture three times a day.



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Citations from the Medline database for the genus Taraxacum

DandelionAkhtar MS Khan QM Khaliq T Effects of Portulaca oleracae (Kulfa) and Taraxacum officinale (Dhudhal) innormoglycaemic and alloxan-treated hyperglycaemic rabbits.

JPMA J Pak Med Assoc 1985 Jul;35(7):207-10Baba K Abe S Mizuno D [Antitumor activity of hot water extract of dandelion, Taraxacumofficinale-correlation between antitumor activity and timing of administration(author's transl)]

Yakugaku Zasshi 1981 Jun;101(6):538-43 (Published in Japanese)Chakurski I Matev M Koichev A Angelova I Stefanov G [Treatment of chronic colitis with an herbal combination of Taraxacumofficinale, Hipericum perforatum, Melissa officinaliss, Calendula officinalisand Foeniculum vulgare]

Vutr Boles 1981;20(6):51-4 (Published in Bulgarian)Racz-Kotilla E Racz G Solomon A The action of Taraxacum officinale extracts on the body weight and diuresis of laboratory animals

 

[RovingArcher]

Jacks right in that you would be totally amazed at the wealth of food and medicines you have all around you. Jacks wife would be an excellent source of information on your local flora, because identifying the plant is only a very small part of what you will need to know. Other things needed to know are when and how to collect what parts for what purpose, as well as how to prepare those herbs for consumption.

 

[nowhere]

Viking,
Do you have a reference to any info talking more about the toxicity of dandelion? I have never heard this before - are we just talking common sense - for example as long as you don't try to live off it for 2 weeks it's fine!?

I try to include dandelion fairly regularly in my diet, both cooked and raw, as i have always read of it as a healthful plant.

Thanks,
Steve.

 

[TheViking]

for example as long as you don't try to live off it for 2 weeks it's fine!?

I think it's something like that! I talked to a guy who had been studying plants for a long time and he said it was toxic. Almost every book today refer to it as edible but get a german one and you see something else... The guy I writed with recommended a german book, if I wanted to learn more about plants.
The book is called: "Giftpflanzen, Gifttiere, - Merkmale, Giftwirkung, Therapie" by Horst Altmann.
But i'm pretty done with this topic... :biggthump