Foraging for Wild Edible Plants and Wilderness Survival Food
Day-lilies (Hemerocallis fulva) were imported from Asia as a food plant and have been used in China for centuries. They can be seen growing wild along roadsides, abandoned homesteads or cultivated along highways for erosion control. Day-lilies are an extremely popular landscape flower that can be found in lawns from coast to coast. Extreme caution should be observed when collecting Day-lilies to ensure positive identification is obtained, as Narcissus, Irises, Daffodils, and Atamasco-lily are all poison look-alikes.
Day-lily tubers, shoots, buds, flower, and pods are all edible. The roots of Day-lilies are poisonous, as are the roots on Irish potatoes and should be likewise removed. All edible parts may be eaten raw or cooked. I have found the raw buds sometimes irritate the throat with a burning sensation. Also from personal experience I have also found that over indulgence in the shoots may result in diarrhea. I have only personally experienced this problem from eating raw shoots.
The tubers may be cooked similarly to any potato recipe, while the buds may be cooked like green beans. The Day-lily seed bearing pods may be cut and sautéed, seeds and all, for a unique vegetable. The blossoms may be added raw to salads to add a unique flair and color or may be cooked in recipes similar to those used with squash blossoms. Day-lilies are a beautiful edible flower. This is a great wild edible plant both for wilderness survival, and for incorporating into your daily diet.
If you want to learn more about wild edible and medicinal plants and other wilderness survival ideas go to:
http://www.harvestingnaturesbounty.com.
Kevin Duffy is a retired Naval Officer and currently a Financial Advisor in Louisville, KY. Kevin is married and has two grown children. He lives on a 23-acre farm in Greenville, IN where he spends his time communing with nature, meditating, reading and writing. He has spent thirty-five plus years studying nature and wilderness survival as well as writing about and teaching hundreds of classes. Kevin is the author of Harvesting Natures Bounty (http://www.harvestingnaturesbounty.com) and Awaken to the Here and Now (http://www.awakentothehereandnow.com). He is currently working on his first novel that will be in the genre of visionary fiction where he will incorporate both his love for nature and spiritual enlightenment.
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