The flowers, raw or cooked, are edible. What is White Clover? Question: I have read that wood sorrels are poisonous, is it true? Clover flowers – both the red and white varieties – are another lawn plant that can be eaten (in moderation). Luckily, many of those weeds, including clover, are edible, so urban foragers need only to step out their front door to find ingredients for their next meal. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this article about whether clover is a weed or not. Four leaf clovers are lucky, but in a survival situation you will be happy to know that even the normal 3 leaf variety is lucky... by that I mean edible. This species of clover is substantially larger than white – or Dutch, clover. My older brother shared it with me. What this plant is best known for is its tangy flavor. Is It a "Shamrock"? Wood sorrel with flowers It also gets confused with shamrock, but according to the Wisconsin Master Gardener Program website , shamrock is a "corruption of an Irish word that means 'little clover' and generally refers to white clover ( Trifolium repens )". I do know a lot of edible plants but was unanware of this one. I did not know wood sorrel was edible. Red Clover: An Edible Plant that Packs a Punch - Mom Prepares Well they are edible. White clover (Trifolium repens) is a great example of a plant that we take for granted. Answer: Yes, I eat the stems all the time. Consider adding red clover flowers or leaves to: Salads; Soups; Sandwiches and wraps It doesn’t grow tall or have a strong scent. However, they happen to double as a highly nutritious edible flower.. Dandelions have … Its lemony taste is a great addition to a morning salad. Ferns. As I stood there, I became angry all over again. Use them fresh or dried in baked goods. Thank you for your articles! I will be sure to pick some and try it in my salad soon. I will be on the look out next time. They’re both edible and delicious. I also love the images you conjure in my mind of foraging for these plants among the cracks in concrete in the heart of Los Angeles, or picking them in the shadow of a rusty barrel in an empty lot. One thing about the plant is that is has a lot of oxalic acid (a substance that is also found in spinach). Suur meaning sour. All of them are edible and taste lemon-y or "sour" because of the oxalic acid. The grass was filled with a variety of useful plants but nothing I could allow my group to taste—all but the grass had a yellow tinge and was horribly contorted and mutated as if in agony. This means that its flowers, leaves, and even roots,are safe for consumption. Likewise, the young leaves are often consumed in salads. This is said while lawns that could feed and provide healthy supplements to half a dozen families are destroyed in favor of a monoculture of useless green grass. Seeking Pearls from Pueblo West on August 05, 2009: hmm...I'm in Colorado so I wonder if it is growing in this area, it sure does look like shamrock. Dried flowers best known for making tea. Every time we go outside my son runs straight to it and grabs a couple of handfuls to eat in the car. Hi Joan. This is very useful information for me. Five generations of my family have lived in California, it's funny what we've picked up without knowing origins. You wouldn't want to use it as your main salad ingredient, but it adds a wonderful zing to your other salad greens. Chickweed Flowers. The flowers of the Oxalis stricta are yellow with five petals. On our farm, we don’t walk on it carelessly as others tend to. Wood sorrel is one of my favorite edible wild plants. The Clover is, in fact, edible and has been consumed by indigenous Asian and North American cultures for generations specifically for its alternative healing properties. Joan lives in Los Angeles, where she has an enduring love affair with edible weeds. The leaves are usually green, but sometimes you see plants with reddish leaves. 18. Chickweed is not only edible … Never thought of eating it. Basically, all of its traditional uses point to a plant that is helpful at cleaning up all the waterways in the body. Please try again. Clover is everywhere in the United States and very high in protein. I guess I thought wood sorrel was some type of clover all this time. Clover Clover flowers. Not everyone tolerates clover as an edible. We have an abundance of little plants looking just like this wood sorrel, except they have no flowers and the leaves are dark green. So glad you told me about it. It’s so common these days, we don’t really “see” it—it’s just part of the weed landscape. Instead, I headed into the alleyways between businesses. Copyright © 2020 EG Media Investments LLC. I taught my kids to eat it too. The genus name for wood sorrel is oxalis. However, the Taraxacum, or more commonly referred to as “ Dandelion ”, is, in fact, entirely edible. This weekend, I discovered that I have been missing out on a wonderful plant because I had just assumed it was only good for the bees. 7. Sharon Hill May 12, 2017, 2:49 pm. I've always wanted to know more about wood sorrel, as I have eaten and loved it since I was a little girl, but I only knew it's name in my language, Afrikaans, which is Suurrings :). We eventually found our way into a large yard behind a bakery. Everybody knows clover and it falls within the group of edible plants. Alexa Lehr Thinks The All-Black Svart Hona Chicken Shines, Side Hustles Can Help You Earn Extra Cash From Your Farm. The clover flowers can also be eaten, either raw or steeped into tea. I learned the properties of red clover before I learned most of the other herbs in my yard. Kathryn Grace from San Francisco on April 01, 2012: Another wonderful page about edible wild plants. I had planned to take everyone down a creek where there was more “nature,” but at the last minute did something more unexpected. White clover is an alterative like it’s cousin the red clover, meaning it improves the condition of our blood. The heart shape is very familiar. are edible, and have a sweet, mild liquorice flavour. This weekend during a weed walk at a local herb festival, I got another chance to get on my soapbox. Some people use yellow sweet clover to treat varicose veins. Thank you for sharing. It’s helpful both internally and externally in cases of gout. But I think that the weeds are a gift to us to help us survive life in the urban jungle. I think there's some of this growing near the woods in our backyard--I'll have to try it. Thank you for choosing this service. 3. My white clover isn’t blooming yet, but I’d guess that as soon as the other gentle blood cleansers in my yard have been destroyed by summer’s increasing temperatures, I will start to see this hardy perennial. She is the author of, Soulful And Affectionate Creatures Thrive At Stone House Mini Donkeys, Crop Rotation Matters In Home Garden Beds, Too. Dried leaves can have a hint of vanilla aroma. However, it doesn’t always taste nice. Answer: Start picking the wood sorrel and adding the tangy, vitamin-packed leaves and flowers to your salads, and you'll probably run out it before you know it! Question: Is the whole stem of the wood sorrel edible? At night and in the rain, the leaves and flowers fold in. Another common lawn weed, clover flowers are a bit sweet and make a great tea. White clover is the reason we have clover honey. I so enjoy these pages. {62 comments… add one} Denis October 25, 2011, 2:42 pm. Wood sorrel is high in vitamin C and also contains vitamin A. Required fields are marked *. Mature clover is tough to digest, and may cause bloating. Reply. One of the plants destroyed in this particular lawn is ironically sold in bulk as a lawn alternative. Bill from Gold Coast, Australia on December 03, 2011: Wood Sorrel is not one that I was as familiar with in Australia, but a visiting American friend who is an expert in the field of edible weeds managed to find some growing earlier this year at a retreat that I was at with him. For the most part, they add bright colors to recipes, but not a lot of flavor. All of the aerial parts of the clover plant are edible : leaves, stems, flowers, and seed pods. As we walked, I pointed out all the medicine and food tucked along the sides of buildings and in the cracks of sidewalks. Red & White Clover Flowers. Trained in ethnobotany, she travels across the country to speak about botanical wellness using functional foods and home health proficiency. Allan R. Wallace from Wherever Human Rights Reign on January 10, 2011: I grew up in Orange County, I think this is what we ate as sour grass -- just the long yellow flower stems, usually eaten on the way to and from school. They are used in teas, syrups and a range of desserts. ... CLOVER Flowers are sweet with a hint of licorice. White clover is edible, and actually contains some nutrients that will benefit your dog or cat. Living in the middle of the woods like I do, I've wondered how many of the different weeds that grow around here are edible. It’s worth noting that all parts of the wild plant are consumable. Our experts will call you on your preferred time. Question: How do you control wood sorrel in your lawn? Dried seed pods and flowers ground into powder used as a flour, young flowers in salads. The leaves and flowers of clover can be eaten cooked or raw. I've never seen that one around here, however. They can also be dried and ground into flour. Eat red clover uncooked. I try to make very sure I am certain before I try eating any of these plants :), Thank you for the introduction to wood sorrel. It has even been made into a tea to use as an eyewash. Very nicely done lens. The dried leaves and flowers are slightly sweet and can leave behind a faint vanilla-like flavor. Wood sorrel leaves are also recommended as a medicinal herb. Another great lens! Scientific name: Trifolium repens L. Abundance: common What: leaves, flowers, root How: leaves-raw or cooked before flowers appear; flowers-raw, cooked, dried for tea or flour, also smoked; root-dried then cooked Where: lawns, fields When: spring, summer, fall Nutritional Value: protein Danger: soon after picking white clover can form dangerous cyanide. Each flower has 5 petals and a light green calyx with 5 teeth. These are usually cooked as vegetables and eaten. I would love to share knowledge about edible weeds with homeless people who need food to eat, but I'm not sure how I would do it. Clover is very common but the four leaved clover is fairly rare and is considered lucky when found although the record for number of leaves is fifty six. I learn a lot from them! Make sure to pick flowers that are free of wilted brown petals. Everyone can be self-sufficient no matter where they live or work, and I was intent on proving that. I love the taste of sorrel and mine has purple leaves and pale pink flower; but I have heard oxalic acid is bad for gout sufferers - do you know if its true? Flower heads can be used fresh or dried as a tea. The sorrel that we have in abundance in the Los Angeles area is yellow wood sorrel (oxalis stricta), which has yellow flowers. It can grow wild here, living off nothing but rainfall. Clover. Mary Norton from Ontario, Canada on September 30, 2010: I never knew this. They are a member of the pea family. I too live in Los Angeles and have happily munched this plant for a long time but need to correct your naming. If you keep your eyes open, you're bound to encounter it. I have to admit that I had no idea about the qualities of this weed. Look for bright green leaves about a quarter of an inch to just over an inch long, and tiny white flowers with five double-lobed white petals. Are there any toxic look alikes you know about? White Clover is an edible weed and has many uses along with different benefits. It’s helpful both internally and externally in cases of gout. I haven’t stepped down yet, so I thought I’d share a few more tidbits with you. Thanks for all your info, long live Wood Sorrel! Fresh while clover flowers can also be used as an edible garnish in various dishes. The flowers can be added to jellies during the cooking stage and turn the liquid a lovely violet color. To no surprise, oxalis is also high in oxalic acid, which is the same substance that causes experts to tell us to eat spinach in moderation. 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