I'm curious if anyone here in the UK has harvested and eaten water lily seeds. If so, what's your verdict?
I'm contemplating harvestin some from my paddleboard.
I'm contemplating harvestin some from my paddleboard.
Waterlily seeds in the UK.
- Thread starter Stew
- Start date
Roots too?
I have never tried eating the roots or seeds of water lillies, but the roots of the water reed.
I have never tried eating the roots or seeds of water lillies, but the roots of the water reed.
I seem to recall Ray Mears harvesting and eating some on one of his programs, possibly Wild Food. He'd had other species abroad and enjoyed them, but the British ones were disgusting. And he'll eat anything.
Cheers, Michael.
Cheers, Michael.
It's from the Wild Food book that I'm curious. He says that the roots are inedible but doesn't say for the seeds. That's why I'm only curious about seeds and only the UK as any overseas info will not tell me anything.
Having got a couple of small lakes/ponds and if I’m not vigilant a lot of water lilies I looked into this several of years ago. There are apparently several types of water lily (plus other plants locally called lilies) some of which are edible and some which are not, to complicate it further, some have parts that are edible and some don’t and then to really throw a spanner in the works they tend to hybridise very easily. It’s a really good escapee and survivor and generally very available from aquatic shops and garden centres so the hardest part is probably going to be KNOWING what you have. Of those that have edible seeds I believe the whole seed head was collected and allowed to dry and then the seeds shaken out and could be fried in oil, (I guess like sesame seeds) or they could be crushed and added to the crushed roots (of those that had edible roots) to make flour. They could also be eaten raw…..The biggest problem I had was identifying the various lilies I had growing…..eventually I chose the easy root for when I wanted a snack and bought a bag of salted peanuts and raisons.
D.B.
D.B.
Drain Bamaged: Did you ever happen to notice if the birds foraged on the seeds?
We have a couple of species here, one with hand-sized leaves and golf-ball sized flowers.
I can only imagine that harvesting would be really tedious for even a handful of seed.
We have a couple of species here, one with hand-sized leaves and golf-ball sized flowers.
I can only imagine that harvesting would be really tedious for even a handful of seed.
I don't think I ever knowingly noticed birds feeding on them. The ones I was considering where the 'Pepper-Pots' simple yellow flower and a seed pod about the size of a golf ball, large 12" leaves plus 'cabbage type leaves under the water'....I tend to think these are our native species but I am only assuming that as they seem to be the most common wild ones.....the smaller fancier double flowers I think are generally ornamental (at least in this country) I do know the bigger floating 'Pepper-Pot' leaves are loved by pond snails both for eating and breeding on Carp, Bream, Rudd and even Tench are often seen 'surfacing' under them, people think they are just sheltering form the glare of the sun but if you watch the fish are actually moving from leaf to leaf eating Snails etc. The 'cabbage' or softer sub- surface leaves are eaten by Swans and Geese. The smaller lilies (though this is only my own observation) do not seem to be touched until the leaves and flowers actually start to break down and rot and I know early winter I can pull rake loads of rotting smaller leaves and stalks out of the ponds but most of the larger ones are gone until next year.....the large tubers/roots of the Pepper-Pots are also very much appreciated by worms in the muck heaps too... weather any of these observations are any indication to how edible and safe the two 'types' are is anyone's guess though.
D.B.
D.B.
Stew, are you first going to try it out on somebody? Wife, neighbour, the postman?
( are not some water lilies poisonous?)
( are not some water lilies poisonous?)
