Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants that We Have Used

Notice the curled leaves of this Curly Dock which its name is derived?

We have been learning about medicinal and wild edible plants for several years now and some seem to be extremely common in our rural neck of the woods. There are far more than listed below, but these are the ones we have personally used in season right now. In this post I will cover Yarrow, Plantain, Curly Dock, Poor Man's Pepper, Wood Sorrel, and Greenbrier. I will add posts as the season progresses and more wild edibles are growing.

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT an expert on medicinal or wild edible plants and don’t claim to be. I’m sharing information from our own personal experience. If you are new to learning about plants, PLEASE do not eat any if you are not 100% sure they are safe. Some plants can make you extremely ill while others can kill you. Be wise and cautious before ingesting any.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a common medicinal plant with tiny white flowers with 5 petals and arranged in flat clusters. I like to describe the leaves as soft and feathery. It has a strong odor that stays on your hands a long time after touching it, even after washing them.

We have used the undried leaves in tea and it tastes very bitter but honey should sweeten it up. I’ve also made a salve out of it for bug bites but I prefer Plantain over Yarrow for that.

Medicinal uses for Yarrow that I’ve read about are to use the flowers to make a poultice to stop bleeding. I’ve never tried it to see how well it works. You can also dry the leaves and flowers to make a tea. The tea has been used to treat colds, fever, flu symptoms, indigestion, gastric inflammation, and internal bleeding. We have not tried the flowers in tea which may taste better than the leaves, but both can be used.

Yarrow flowers are white and lay in clusters.

WARNING: If you are just learning how to identify medicinal plants, Yarrow flower clusters are very similar to Wild Carrot, also known as Queen Anne’s Lace (edible), Caraway (edible), Water Hemlock (can be DEADLY), and Fool’s Parsley which is also POISONOUS. The easiest way to identify Yarrow is by its finely dissected leaves. Note in the pictures its unique leaves and when handled, they are very soft. The flowers are also different but it you are new to this, it may be harder to distinguish.

Yarrow flowers have 5 petals that are slightly wider than long and have 3 teeth at the tip.

Notice the distinct finely dissected leaves of the Yarrow plant. They are very soft and have a woodsy odor.

Once you have the leaves, little flowers, and odor down, the Yarrow plant is easy to identify.

Plantain (Plantago virginica) is a great plant for cuts and stopping the itching of bug bites. There are two other varieties that I know of; Narrow Leaved Plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.) and Common Plantain (Plantago major L.). I’m going to focus on the Plantago virginica variety because it’s the only one I’ve used.

This plantain grows close to the ground, is kinda fuzzy (hairy), has 3-5 distinct veins running vertical with the leaf, and tiny flowers eventually bloom from elongated grooved stalks that don’t have leaves.

The hairs on the Plantain leaves are very noticeable, as well as the elongated stems.

The underside of the leaves usually have three vertical ribbed veins but there can be up to five.

I have used this often and it is my favorite go to for the previous mentioned reasons. I make a salve with it for use when it’s not growing but when you can find this plant in spring is when its properties are strongest. I’ve also made a poultice by smashing the leaves until they are wet and using a bandaid to hold them over a cut or to help draw out splinters.

Curly Dock tastes best when it is young. Older leaves are bitter.

Curly Dock (Rumex crispus L.) is known for its curled leaves and is related to the Buckwheat family. Their leaves are high in beta-carotene, vitamin C, and zinc, while their seeds are rich in calcium and fiber. The seeds can be ground up and used as flour, although when we tried it with our Nutri-mill it didn’t grind them well, so next time we will try a coffee grinder. I have no idea how the seeds will taste.

The root is a yellow color and is used mostly for medicinal purposes such as detoxifying the body by being a tonic to the liver and gall bladder. The roots can be up to 2 feet in length and are hard to dig up at times.

This plant grows in abundance in our garden area. We usually sauté the young leaves in butter or with onions and bacon for a pretty tasty green. The flavor is often described as lemony or tart. They can be added to salad without being cooked when young, however when the leaves are older they are very bitter.

The entire plant is edible although it can be bitter.

This dock is too big for the leaves to taste their best.

This is dock that has bolted. It will bloom and then you can harvest the seeds once they have turned to a dark color. Some make flour from the seeds.

This is a small Curly Dock root but this is the medicinal part of the plant which I have never tried.

Poor Man’s Pepper (Lepidium virginicum L.) is a tasty plant that tastes like its name. It has a spicy kick very similar to pepper. Leaves of Poor Man’s Pepper are lanced shaped and toothed, the seed pods are flat, nearly circular, notched, and have one seed on each half of the pod. This is where the peppery taste is and can be added to soups or stews and salads. The leaves can be boiled or added to salads. I have tried to dry the seeds for use later on but they lose their pepper taste so only fresh will do.

Poor Man's Pepper has a unique look. The individual pods have 2 seeds, one on each side. This is where the pepper taste comes from.

Poor Man's Pepper leaves are lanced shaped with "teeth."

The small leaves are all along the stem.

Wood Sorrel (Oxalis spp.) is my favorite wild edible plant so far. There are several varieties and all are edible. The most common one we find around here is Yellow Wood Sorrel. This plant is often mistaken for clover but if you study the leaves, they are quite different. Wood sorrels have three distinct leaflets shaped like hearts and each heart looks like it has been folded in half. Whereas clover leaves are more round. Their seed pods are elongated and shaped like little bananas and have the biggest sour taste. The leaves taste good too and are sour. They are added to salads and you can also cut a bunch up, soak in cold water for a couple hours then drain the leaves and drink it. You may want to add sugar or honey so it’s not too sour. It’s similar to lemonade. The kids and I eat the leaves while we are working in the garden.

Notice the heart-shaped leaves that appear to be folded down the center? They also have smooth edges. A great indicator you have found wood sorrel.

This is my favorite wild edible so far.

This is white clover, not wood sorrel. Notice that the leaves are more round and have little teeth around the edge? This plant is also edible and has medicinal uses.

The last edible plant I will cover in this post is Greenbrier (Smilax spp.). There are several different varieties and I will cover two here. Common Greenbrier (Smilax rotundifolia) and Bullbrier Greenbrier (Smilax bona-nox).

The Common Greenbrier leaves are more heart-shaped.

The Bullbrier is more narrow towards the point and more triangular.

The leaves are more heart-shaped on the Common Greenbrier while the Bullbrier is more triangular to fiddle-shaped and often mottled with white. Leaves from both are shiny and have vertical veins. Often described as leathery. They grow on vines with sharp and abundant thorns so be cautious while picking the leaves. We have eaten the young leaves in salads and to me, their taste is a cross between lettuce and fresh spinach. They are tasty when young but get bitter as they age. Timing on harvesting is important on most wild edibles.

Notice the thorns on the vine. We have been scraped many times!

After more research on this plant I’ve discovered more uses that I have not tried. It can be eaten raw, cooked; jelly, flour, cold drink. Rootstocks yield a gelatin substance that can be used as a thickening agent. I’m going to have to experiment with this plant some more it sounds like.

If you are interested in learning more about edibles in an in-depth look, I’m going to include links to some of my favorite wild edible books. The authors are great at explaining more on how to use them and one includes recipes!

Edible Wild Plants-Wild Foods from Dirt to Plate by John Kallas, PhD is really informative and goes into detail how to identify, harvest, and prepare 15 common wild edible plants. This book even includes some recipes. You will gain a lot of information reading this book.

Nature's Garden-A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants by Samuel Thayer is also a very good one. There are about forty-three plants this book goes into and only a few are in the book above. It also compares some of the poisonous plants with edible ones and things to look out for.

Two other books that cover a vast amount of plants for quick reference and worth having in your library are these two Peterson Field Guides; Edible Wild Plants-Eastern/Central North America and also Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants and Herbs. If you live in the Western United States, here is a link for that region: Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs.

These are great resources to have in your foraging library.