The Reason for Flowers: Their History, Culture, Biology, and How They Change Our Lives by Stephen Buchmann

Author:Stephen Buchmann [Buchmann, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781476755540
Publisher: Scribner
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Flowers to Avoid: Don’t Eat These!

We can’t talk about eating flowers fresh out of your garden without mentioning some important caveats, the do’s and don’ts of eating the daisies. Certain blooms can sicken or outright poison you or invoke pollen or food allergies in sensitive individuals. While some flowers can be eaten in their entirety, others need to be dissected, carefully prepared for the table, to be at their best. The most toxic flowers include anemones, buttercups, calla lily, clematis, daffodils (including jonquils), delphiniums, four-o’clocks, hyacinths, hydrangeas, irises, lantanas, lily of the valley, lobelias, the true marsh marigolds, milkweeds, morning glories, nightshades, oleanders, periwinkles, privets, all rhododendrons (including azaleas), spring adonis, spurges, trumpet flowers (Solandra), and wisterias. Even sweet peas (Lathyrus) cannot be trusted. Their “sweetness” refers to their floral scent, not to their often-nasty cellular components.

This is far from a complete list of poisonous flowers to be avoided. Before eating any flower not mentioned in the top ten edible favorites, you should refer to the excellent books by authors Cathy Barash and Rosalind Creasy for a complete list of edible flowers, and how to prepare them. As with any “wild-crafting” (mushroom hunting or foraging for wild greens, berries, other fruits and seeds) you need to educate yourself before you go off, wicker basket in hand, to the woods or the familiar and seemingly safe confines of your own flower or vegetable gardens. The most important rule of all is—if you can’t positively identify a flower to genus and species, never eat it. It is important to learn and use the proper scientific names of the plants, and their flowers, you intend to eat. Also, remember that the toxicity of a plant may change as it ages. Plant molecules are just like medicines. Their physiological effects on human beings vary widely with the health, age, weight, and gender of the consumer.

Research the flowers you are considering for the table with authoritative books on the subject, not just a few minutes spent web-surfing. The genus and species (for example—the signet marigold, Tagetes signata) will distinguish this edible species from look-alike bitter species, or in rare cases confusion with truly poisonous blossoms. Use genus and species names to look up reliable information on the plant in question. This is the reason scientists always use scientific names. Most Greek and Latin words are unfamiliar to many people; but they are universally understood, a lingua franca among scientists, naturalists, and gardeners. Learn to speak their language. Avoid common names because they are too variable and totally unreliable for proper plant identifications.

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