When giving talks I like to renew myself and talk about something different each time. For my talk in Copenhagen at the Future Heirloom event last weekend I focussed during part of my presentation on edimentals in the Asteraceae or Compositae (the aster or daisy family / kurvplantefamilien). These are tbe edible perennial vegetables that are most obvious in the autumn garden and often underutilised by chefs in the west. Visiting the World Garden a few days before my talk on 17th October, I gathered flowers from all the flowering Asteraceae and here they are with names:Most are used for their tasty spring shoots and leaves, used cooked and raw, and most have a characteristic fragrant taste / aroma loved in the Far East (as also Chrysanthemum tea is popular and a refreshing accompaniment to spicy dishes). Aster scaber and Ligularia fischeri are nowadays both cultivated in a big way as “sannamul” in Korea and even exported to Korean markets around the world. Young shoots of other Aster sp. are foraged in Asia as is big-leaf Aster, Aster macrophyllus, in North America. Also from North America, cutleaf coneflower Rudbeckia laciniata or sochan was a popular vegetable for the Cherokee first people and in recent years has, maybe not unsurprisingly become a commercial vegetable in Korea. Annual shungiku or chopsuey greens Glebionis coronaria hails from the Mediterranean but is today an important vegetable in the Far East! Others currently in flower are best known as root crops, including (in the picture) Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) and Dahlia. Yacon (Polymnia sonchifolia) is also autumn flowering but doesn’t manage to flower here (is moved indoors to flower and bulk up). The final flower in the picture is marigold Calendula officinalis, whose culinary use includes decorating and flavouring salads, soups and other dishes. Late flowering also means that the Asteraceae are also particularly important for a range of insect pollinators like hoverflies, drone flies and bees as can be seen in the pictures below, all taken in the World Garden:
Aster scaber
Aster scaber and, behind, taller Aster yomena
Aster yomena
Ligularia fischeri
Ligularia fischeri
Ligularia fischeri
Cardoon
Ligularia fischeri
Ligularia fischeri
Dahlia
Ligularia fischeri from Himalaya is late flowering
A series of pictures taken of edible plants that I spotted in the “ornamental collections” at RHS Wisley Gardens on 11th April 2024. Admittedly, some will be obscure or “emergency food” edibles, but all have been used somewhere for food and have an ethnobotanical story to tell! See also an earlier post from a visit on 28th June 2013 at https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=32483 I was also shown around all the great work being done by the Wisley Edibles Team later the same day; see
See the picture captions for names and use:
1. Smyrnium perfoliatum, perfoliate alexanders. From Cornucopia II: “The blanched leafstalks are eaten raw in salads or used as a potherb. It is considered superior to S. olusatrum, as it not only blanches better, but is more crisp and tender, and not so harsh flavored”
2. Cardiocrinum giganteum? A starch was extracted from the bulbs and used in central and western China; other species were similarly used in Japan ; young leaves were also eaten and a flute was made with the hollow stem!
3. Matteuccia struthiopteris, ostrich fern (strutseving); see my book for more about this great edimental
4. Polygonatum hirtum (P. latifolium); many solomon’s seals (Polygonatum sp.) were traditionally used in the kitchen. Young shoots make an excellent sweet tasting spring vegetable and the rhizomes are also used
5. Trachystemon orientalis, early flowering borage; see my blog post “Trachystemon orientalis, a new Edimental for the dry forest garden” https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=1269 written having discovered this was edible on a trip to Bulgaria:
6. Saxifraga fortunei, the fortune saxifrage is used in tempura in Japan
7. Hosta «Decorata» (Se https://www.hostalibrary.org/d/d.html) (see my book and other blog posts for the importance of this amazing edimental; you can try any Hosta)
8. Kalopanax septemlobus; the young shoots are eaten in the Far East; a friend on my Edimentals FB group has tried but writes: “Kalopanax has a grassy/piney/soapy/bitter taste that the chojang doesn’t fully mask”
9. Gunnera “manicata” (it has recently been announced that the G. manicata found in the UK is actually a hybrid with G. tinctoria, so that both are now banned from being sold as tinctoria has become an invasive species in parts of the UK); I tried the stalks in September when I did a walk and talk at the Edinburgh Botanics some years ago; the taste was good!
10. Hosta undulata var albomarginata (se https://www.hostalibrary.org/u/u.html) (see my book and other blog posts for the importance of this amazing edimental; you can try any Hosta)
10a. Hosta “Snowden” (see my book and other blog posts for the importance of this amazing edimental; you can try any Hosta)
11. Primula denticulata; this hardy species from East Asia is edible. I use the flowers often in spring mixed salads.
12. Hosta plantaginea var japonica (see my book and other blog posts for the importance of this amazing edimental; you can try any Hosta)
14. Caltha palustris, marsh marigold (soleihov); although quite strong tasting even after cooking various Caltha sp. were used traditionally sa reported in Cornucopia II: “Young leaves are eaten like spinach, especially after having been boiled in two or more changes of water and cooked in a cream sauce. Flower buds are pickled in vinegar and used as a substitute for capers.”
15. Wisteria floribunda “George F Wilson”; flowers of all species are considered edible and there are traditional uses; in Japan, young leaves and flowers are boiled; other species have been used as fritters
16. Hemerocallis sp., day lily / daglilje (see my book Around the World in 80 plants for much more about probably the world’s oldest documented vegetable)
17. Hemerocallis “Little Wine Cup” with flower buds (see my book Around the World in 80 plants for much more about probably the world’s oldest documented vegetable)
18. Bistorta officinalis, bistort / ormerot (see more about this traditionally foraged vegetable, particularly in Easter Ledge Pudding and survival food for Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen in the arctic in my book)
19. Satureja montana, winter savory / vintersar
20. Pinus mugo “Humpy”, dwarf mountain pine; A vanillin flavouring is obtained as a by-product of other resins that are released from the pulpwood
20. Pinus mugo “Humpy”, dwarf mountain pine; A vanillin flavouring is obtained as a by-product of other resins that are released from the pulpwood
21. Gingko biloba “Mariken”; Fresh ginkgo nuts (seeds) Are eaten as a seasonal delicacy, having a mild, sweet, crisp flavor (are preerved and sold in oriental stores around the world and harvested by ethnic communities in Central Park in New York where it is widely planted as a street tree.
22. Muscari comosum, lampascioni is an important edible in the Mediterranean where it is sold on markets; see my blog post about an edimental variety:https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=1670
23. Silene uniflora, the sea campion is probably edible like the closely related Silene vulgaris (see my book)
24. Halesia carolina, silver bell tree, wild olive: From Cornucopia II -he ripe fruits are chewed for their acidity. Unripe ones are sometimes made into pickles
24. Halesia carolina, silver bell tree, wild olive: From Cornucopia II -he ripe fruits are chewed for their acidity. Unripe ones are sometimes made into pickles
25. Erythronium pagoda (see my blog post about Erythroniums in the kitchen at https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=9442; Pagoda is probably the best and is a hybrid between Erythronium tuolumnense and Erythronium californicum ‘White Beauty”); see my blog post about Erythroniums in the kitchen at https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=9442
25. Erythronium pagoda (see my blog post about Erythroniums in the kitchen at https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=9442; Pagoda is probably the best and is a hybrid between Erythronium tuolumnense and Erythronium californicum ‘White Beauty”); see my blog post about Erythroniums in the kitchen at https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=9442
27. Tradescantia (see my book for more about the edibility of this genus)
26. Wisteria floribunda “Strella” (flowers of all species are considered edible and there are traditional uses; in Japan, young leaves and flowers are boiled; other species have been used as fritters)
28. Allium nigrum (used traditionally in the kitchen in Italy including Sicily and Croatia.)
29. Crambe maritima (sea kale / strandkål); see my book for much more about this “King of the Edible Vegetables”
29. Crambe maritima (sea kale / strandkål); (sea kale / strandkål); see my book for much more about this “King of the Edible Vegetables”
30. Campanula poscharskyana; there are many members of the bellflower family used for food around the world (see my book for more)
31. Yucca rostrata (beaked Yucca); edible flowers and flower shoots); the tasty edible flowers of many Yucca sp. are used as are young flower shoots and buds.
33. Yucca filamentosa “Garland’s Gold” (edible flowers and flower shoots)
34. Asphodeline lutea (Jacob’s Rod); One of the best tasting edible flowers!Cornucopia II: The ancient Greeks and Romans roasted the roots like potatoes and ate them with salt and oil, or mashed them with figs.
35. Allium cernuum – probabbly my favourite edimental onion: see much more in my book! I’ve not heard the common name Lady Leek before.
36. One of the first lowering Hemerocallis sp. (day lily / dagilje)
37. Primula veris (cowslip / marianøkleblom); edible flowers and leaves
38. Hosta plantaginea var japonica (see my book and other blog posts for the importance of this amazing edimental)
39. Hosta shoots (see my book and other blog posts for the importance of this amazing edimental; you can try any Hosta)
40. Polygonatum sp. (solomon’s seals / konvall); young shoots of most if not all species are used cooked and ae surprisingly sweet…
41. Magnolia “Phelan Bright” (unknown parentage); Many Magnolia species are used, mainly in the Far East, young flower buds and flowers
42. Hosta “Ufo”
44. Hemerocallis “Green Gold” (young day lily shoots are used as a vegetable.
43. Cercis giganteus (closely related to Cercis chinensis); buds and flowers are widely used from other Cercis sp.; C. chinensis flowers are widely used for the extraction of natural edible red pigment.
45. Chinese bladdernut, Staphylea holocarpa “Innocence” a species with huge edimental potential! The young leaves are eaten cooked and taste great, and the unopened flower clusters are also edible and can be cooked almost like a small cauliflower (see my Edimentals FB group).
45. Chinese bladdernut, Staphylea holocarpa “Innocence” a species with huge edimental potential! The young leaves are eaten cooked and taste great, and the unopened flower clusters are also edible and can be cooked almost like a small cauliflower (see my Edimentals FB group).
45. Chinese bladdernut, Staphylea holocarpa “Innocence” a species with huge edimental potential! The young leaves are eaten cooked and taste great, and the unopened flower clusters are also edible and can be cooked almost like a small cauliflower (see my Edimentals FB group).
46. Hosta fortunei “Albomarginata”
47. Decaisnea fargesii (Blue sausage fruit)
48. Musa basjoo, the Japanese Banana (nectar can be used and leaves used as wraps)
49. Oplopanax horridus (devil’s club) has edible spring shoots
50. Drimys winteri (winter’s bark) – the bark is powdered and ground as a pepper substitute (southern South America)
51. Phormiums (important plant for the Maori; nectar; fibre)
52. Phormium cookianum subsp hookeri (important plant for the Maori; nectar; fibre)
53. Phormium “Yellow Wave” (important plant for the Maori; nectar; fibre)
54. Cordyline australis “Salsa” (Ti-kouka, Cabbage tree); Root baked, pith of the stem and young shoots; a important food plant of the Maori people
55. Trachycarpus fortunei (the young inflorescence is eaten in much the same way as bamboo sprouts. Fresh flowers and the terminal buds have also been used)
56. Paulownia kawakamii (presumably the flowers can be eaten as with P. tomentosa – served with miso)
57. Alliaria petiolata (hedge garlic; løkurt); leaves and flowers
58. Pachyphragma macrophylla (edible leaves and flowers)
59. Camassia leichtlinii subsp. suksdorfii “Caerulea Group” ( Leichtlin’s camass, wild hyacinth / praerielilje) ; From Cornucopia II: The bulbs are eaten raw, boiled, baked in pits, fried, used in pies, or dried for future use. They were boiled down to a molasses which was used on festival occasions by various Indian tribes.
59. Camassia leichtlinii subsp. suksdorfii “Caerulea Group” ( Leichtlin’s camass, wild hyacinth / praerielilje) ; From Cornucopia II: The bulbs are eaten raw, boiled, baked in pits, fried, used in pies, or dried for future use. They were boiled down to a molasses which was used on festival occasions by various Indian tribes.
60. Opuntia lindheimeri (Texas prickly pear); both ripe and unripe fruits, young pads, flowers and flower buds are also cooked.
61. Allium akaka -in Anatolia, the fresh leaves areconsumed as vegetable. Fresh onions are used in pilaf. And also, it is grown in gardens for daily consumption. People uproot them from the nature and plant in their gardens; in spring they use their leaves as daily vegetable.
62. Tropaeolum leptophyllum
63. Allium aff. elburzense: this is an endemic Iranian plant which grows in the Elburz Mountains. It is known locally as “Valak”, and its aerial parts are used as food.
64. Allium tolmiei var platyphyllum
65. Cyclamen persicum: the leaves of this species were used Cooked with rice and meat, or raw as salad in Palestine
65. Cyclamen persicum: the leaves of this species were used Cooked with rice and meat, or raw as salad in Palestine
65. Cyclamen persicum: the leaves of this species were used Cooked with rice and meat, or raw as salad in Palestine
66. Allium grosii
67. Lewisia columbiana: the roots of this and other species of Lewisia were cooked and eaten by first peoples in North America
68. Allium libani
68. Allium libani
69. Phyteuma scheuchzeri (see my article about the Phyteuma genus here: https://www.edimentals.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Phyteuma_Final-1.pdf
70. Silene uniflora “Rosea”; sea campion
71. Silene uniflora “Rosea” can probably be eaten like big sister Silene vulgaris
72. Oxalis obtusa “Sunset” is a South African species – corms of several SOuth African Oxalis species can be used
73. Wisteria. Different Wisteria species flowers are variously cooked, eaten raw and fried in oil as fritters in different parts of the world
74. Saxifraga spathularis, St. Patrick’s Cabbage: along with several other Saxifraga species this one can probably be safely eaten
75. Trillium chloropetalum – It’s generally not recommended harvesting to eat in North America except where super abundant. The young shoots while the leaves are drooping or folded can be eaten raw and coooked (Sam Thayer in Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants); I find the leaves to have a pleasant nutty taste; I sometimes decorate spring salads with flowers.
76. Polypodium glycyrrhiza “Lawrence Crocker”; a North American licorice fern – it is chewed for flavor by numerous Native American groups, including the Squamish, Shishalh, Comox, Nuxalk, Haida, and Kwakwaka’wakw (wikipedia)
16th May 2024: Dandelions in white, pink and (self-sowed) yellow in the Asian part of the World Garden at the Væres Venner Community Garden in Trondheim. I planted both Taraxacum albidum, Taraxacum leucanthum and Taraxacum pseudoroseum in this part of the garden and suspect these are albidum and pseudoroseum but am not sure. Will post separate albums below showing detailed studies of the pink and white one in case anyone has a key to these (there are several white flowered dandelion species in Asia).
Botanical details of what I’m growing as Taraxacum pseudoroseum in the World Garden at the Væres Venner community garden in Trondheim:
Botanical details of what I’m growing as Taraxacum albidum in the World Garden at the Væres Venner community garden in Trondheim. Anyone have a key to this species?
There are two new salsify/havrerot relatives flowering in the garden! Presenting: Tragopogon coloratus (first 3 pictures) ranges in the mountains of Turkey to Iran Tragopogon balcanicus (Balkan goatsbeard) (last 3 pictures) is found throughout the Balkans.
My attention was drawn today to two articles in which my word Edimentals featured (made up in the late 2000s): EDIMENTALS AT CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW
“Edimental plants that are both edible and ornamental have emerged as a star of the Chelsea Flower Show.”
The article from the Daily Telegraph about this year’s Chelsea Flower Show can be read in the 3 pictures! The second article had actially been published last year on the BBC Food site. Here’s the link to “The low-maintenance edible garden for lazy gardeners” which both mentions Edimentals and credits me with the word!
This is one of the most exclusive vegetables and finest edimentals out there, Megacarpaea delavayi (Brassicaceae), a plant found in the high mountains of southwest China at high altitudes (3000–4800 m), and one of the most beautiful! Flora of China says it grows in swampy meadows, grassy slopes and open thickets. It also states that it is used for medicine and as a vegetable. Consulting Google Scholar I found a paper “Eating from the wild: diversity of wild edible plants used by Tibetans in Shangri-la region, Yunnan, China” by Yan Ju et al. (2013) which states that the young stems and leaves are used.
I purchased two young plants I found for sale in a small selection of plants for sale at the Gothenburg Botanical Gardens shop in Sweden in 2011. They took two years to flower and set seed in a shady, dry spot in my garden. It is thought that Megacarpaea can be monocarpic (dying after flowering) but it did come back three more years but grew weakly and did not flower again. I therefore moved the plant to a new location in 2016 which was a bad move as it died…
Sadly, I never did get to eat some….
I put the seed I harvested on my seed list two years in a row and sent to a few people, so if you are one of them and have seed, I am very interested! I germinated some of those seed myself (picture), but I don’t recall what happened to them…
Megacarpaea delavayi flowering on 30th May 2014 with Aquilegias, Hosta spp. and Tulipa sylvestris
Despite the fact that the soil is frozen solid apart from the top couple of cms, I was surprised to discover the year’s first flowers in the garden: 1. I received this as Primula veris subsp. macrocalyx but is always a couple of months earlier than Primula veris, so I wonder if it’s a hybrid?
2. Primula elatior (oxlip / hagenøkleblom) – this could also be a hybrid
I was going to post an album of pictures showing off all the late flowers in the garden this record-breaking mild autumn still without any frost, but as they’re all edible I made a salad instead! There were 33 different edible flowers (see the list below the pictures) plus 30-40 greens and a whopper carrot which I decided to keep whole as a feature! It was cut up when the salad was tossed afterwards. It has a story too as it is one of the Danish accessions rematriated from Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) in the US last winter. I took a few seed before sending the rest on to Danish Seed Savers (Dansk Frøsamlerne). It’s called Kämpe which means Giant in Swedish/Danish (I call it Whopper as it’s probably the biggest/thickest carrot I¨’ve grown here). It’s not a very old variety and SSE informed that it was a cultivated variety originally from the Swedish seed company Weibulls. Anyone know more about it? Salad flowers, all harvested from the garden Salvia (blackcurrant sage / solbærsalvie) Fuchsia magellanica Hemerocallis “Stella de Oro” Taraxacum spp. (dandelion / løvetann) Rubus fruticosus (blackberry / bjørnebær) Papaver somniferum (opium poppy / opium valmue) Viola altaicum Campanula persicifolia (peach-leaf bellflower / fagerklokke) Sonchus oleraceus (common sow-thistle / haredylle) Glebionis coronaria (chopsuey greens / kronkrage) (3 varieties) Daucus carota (carrot / gulrot) (unopened flower umbel) Geranium sanguineum (bloody cranesbill / blodstorkenebb) Brassica oleracea (kale / grønnkål) Oenothera biennis (evening primrose / nattlys) Begonia Malva moschata (musk mallow / moskuskattost) (white and pink flowered) Malva alcea (hollyhock mallow / rosekattost) Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot / rørhestemynte) Monarda “Elsie Lavender” Calendula officinalis (pot marigold / ringblomst (2 varieties) Campanula trachelium (nettle-leaved bellflower / nesleklokke) Calamintha nepeta (lesser calamint / liten kalamint) Tropaeolum majus (nasturtium / vanlig blomkarse) (2 varieties) Pisum sativum (garden pea / ert) Origanum spp. (wild marjoram / bergmynte) (2 varieties) Campanula lactiflora Alcea rosea (hollyhock / stokkrose) Tragopogon pratensis (Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon / geitskjegg)
September is the month when several Asteraceae are in flower including one of my favourite perennial vegetables and edimentals Aster scaber (yes, I know it’s officially Doellingeria scabra) or chamchwi in Korea where it’s cultivated commercially for Korean markets around the world (often sold dried). It’s also popular with pollinating insects as can be seen in the gallery taken this week here.
Gulfotdroneflue (Eristalis pertinax) on Aster scaber
Hoverfly / hageblomsterflue (Syrphus spp.) on Aster scaber
Hoverfly / hageblomsterflue (Syrphus spp.) on Aster scaber
Aster scaber
Aster scaber
….and a parasitic wasp on the flowers:
See this page for more links to articles about this plant on this blog: https://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=6080 It’s also one of the 80 in my book Around the World in 80 plants.
Somebody asked me a few days ago if one could eat Angelica gigas (Korean Angelica) as you can Angelica archangelica (see my book Around the World in 80 plants for more about that). In my book, I do mention gigas as one of several other Angelica species used in other parts of the world, but until yesterday I hadn’t eaten it myself, partly as I¨’ve never had many plants and the flowering is wonderful!!
On the Korean wiki page, it simply states that “dangwi / dangquai’s petioles and tender stems are eaten raw or seasoned with herbs”. The root is also used medicinally along with Angelica acutiloba and Angelica sinensis. You can find various instructional videos and recipes on Korean pages by searching For example, the spring leaves and petioles are boiled and served with onions, garlic, sesame oil and sesame seeds. As my plants were close to flowering (they darken quickly to deep red at this stage), I decided to go for using the flower stems in salad:I first took one of the thicker flower stems… ….and sliced off a bit at the base for a taste! I was taken aback by how sweet it was (flower stems of Angelica archangelica were in the past considered to be candy by Norwegians). This reminded me of other plants that have surprisingly sweet flower stems: Scorzonera hispanica (scorzonera / scorsonnerot) and Arctium (burdock / borre). I assume that as plants like these approach flowering they produce less insect repellent chemicals and transfer their energy to producing flowers and seeds. For the salad, I peeled off the outer layer as it is fibrous and sliced it into the salad. Young seed pods of sea kale / strandkål were also available as were Scorzonera flower stems and buds.
As with most Apiaceae, Angelica gigas is very popular with the pollinators, so this one definitely fits into the Edi-ento-mental category (delicious, ornamental and popular with the pollinators – what more could you wish of a plant!). Unfortunately, like Angelica archangelica this species dies after flowering.
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden