Bromeliad flower stem as food

 

I find the peeled lower part of the immature flower stem of the epiphytic bromeliad Aechmea distichantha glaziovii is good to eat, white, free of fibers, of good texture and inoffensive in flavor, so I regard it as edible. A bit like bamboo shoots.

It seems to be the consensus online that the only known toxicity in bromeliads is the unripe fruit of pineapple. 

I have not tried this with any other bromeliad yet, but will. 

The only record I cold find of a similar use in a bromeliad is the young inflorescence of Bromelia pinquin, which is used as a vegetable in Puerto Rico (ref: Bromeliads: Edible & Therapeutic by Michael Spencer).

I find Aechmea distichantha glaziovii grows okay outside here in Wellington, New Zealand, but it does not seem to get hot enough for it to produce the edible fruit.  

I have tried many edible epiphytes in temperate Wellington, thinking they might be a good way to get a harvest from a niche not often used, (attached to) the sides of a house. 

I've tried orchids, cacti, bromeliads, Astelia, ferns, Vaccinium, although most survive and look good, so far most have produced little or no harvest, probably because most are really suited to warmer climates in the case of cacti and bromeliads and dry winters in the case of orchids. Astelia "widow maker" kept growing too big and heavy for its supports, should have seen that coming. Summers were too dry for Vaccinium delavayi. It also seems improbable anything growing without much soil could be highly productive. I have not tried Monstera as an air plant, probably the epiphyte with the "best" or most commercial crop, which is reasonably productive in Wellington.            

   

Eating Taro spadix

 

It appears the spadix of taro, Colocasia esculenta, is rarely eaten. But the book Cornucopia II by Facciola (1998) says the spadix (phallic looking bit in middle of the flower) was roasted with pork or fish in Japan as a delicacy. I could only find one online paper reporting its use as food, in Dali, China, it is deep fried then stewed or stir fried with pork and chili peppers (The Diversity of Edible Flowers and its Biocultural Role in Local Food Systems in Dali, South West China. Zhang et al 2025).

I decided to try the spadix of the variety Black Magic that had produced flowers in an outdoor water tub in Wellington, New Zealand.  

I chewed and spat out a bit raw, as expected it produce the sensation of burning needles in the mouth due to toxic calcium oxalate crystals common in aroids. So I boiled it for an hour with two changes of water, I then found it bland in flavor but with an interesting creamy texture. There was still a very slight numbing and tingling, perhaps that is what they like about it in Dali and Japan, like the numbing and tingling enjoyed when eating the puffer fish in Japan, due to traces of toxin almost entirely eliminated through cooking. Combined with the heat of chili peppers, as in Dali, the cooked spadix would be rather intense and unique. 

Apparently lengthy cooking does not completely remove toxic calcium oxalate crystals in taro, corms included. The idea is to reduce it to a basically harmless dose. But people with kidney problems and rheumatoid arthritis are best to avoid taro and other aroids unless they are fermented, which is the only way to completely eliminate the crystals (Discovering Vegetables and Herbs and Spices. Susanna Lyle. 2009.)

Rhaphiolepis umbellata seeds edible

 

According to Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World 1976, the seeds of Rhaphiolepis umbellata are crushed, ground into flour and made into dumplings in times of famine (spelt Raphiolepis in the text). 

I tried some seeds, with thin flesh still on. Raw they are really too hard to eat, but after brief boiling they become soft enough to eat. They are similar to a peanut in texture, slightly crunchy and firm. The taste is bland, a bit nutty. Not delicious but not bad. Skin can be removed easily after boiling. There were sometimes a few annoying little basically inedible bits left in the mouth after swallowing, from some part of the skin or stem perhaps. 

Perhaps worth including in a coastal edible garden, mainly as shelter for less tough crops with bonus of passable snack or something to add bulk to a stir fry or dumpling. 

It grows wild here in New Zealand, I gathered these seeds from a wild plant near the sea. 

  

Canna x generalis stem pith edibility

 

I find the peeled young stem pith of Canna x generalis is edible and good to eat. Crisp and crunchy like water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis), of reasonable size, with little to no flavor but pleasant and refreshing. 

The inner youngish stem pith is fiber free and white, you really need to cut away the outer fibrous layers, it is not visually obvious where the fibers start and stop. Probably best raw or very briefly fried, boiling does not really add anything. 

Productivity is pretty good.

It seems a little strange there seems to be no record of the stem pith of any Canna being eaten by humans, unless references to the shoots being edible mean this, more likely they refer to the very young leaves. I can find no record of toxicity in Canna. The roots, seeds and and shoots of some species are well known as food.

I have not tried any other Canna stem pith yet, some at least are likely to be similar.  

Boiled they turn green

(At least some) Dianella nigra berries not bad to eat

There are several unreferenced sources online saying Dianella nigra berries are toxic to humans despite being popular with birds. According to the book "The Poisonous Plants in New Zealand", by Connor, the berries were suspected of causing the death of a child in the nineteenth century but there was no evidence the berries were the cause. This is probably the origin of the unlikely theory they are toxic. Connor goes on to say there is no evidence they are toxic.

Low (1) says all (Australian) Dianella that taste good are safe to eat in small amounts, he does not actually say large amounts are harmful, he may just be playing it safe.

 

I have been eating the purple berries of what I'm pretty certain is Dianella nigra planted at the parking lot of Appleton Park, Karori, Wellington, New Zealand. They are rather insipid, but of good juicy texture and the seeds have a crunch. I find them reasonably good if you count the interesting color, acceptable added to a salad, more of a small vegetable than a fruit as they are not sweet. I think worth having in the garden as a salad backup, especially for a shady spot. Left to dry and shrivel they resemble raisons in texture. I think one of the better native berries to eat, admittedly that's not saying much.

Interesting Crowe (2) says they are not known to be toxic but are unpleasantly bitter, I did not find them to be bitter at all. Perhaps I have been eating an edible Australian Dianella but this seems unlikely (see photos of what I've been eating below). 

It seems more likely there is variation in taste of berries, recently Dianella nigra was divided into three distinct species that can interbreed (3), Crowe may have sampled a different species or strain to me, the berries can vary in colour so variation in taste seems possible.    

 

References.

1 Wild Food Plants of Australia. T Low.

2) A Field Guide to the Edible Native Plants of New Zealand. A Crowe 

3)  https://www.oratianatives.co.nz/catalogue_extras.php?article_id=215&catalogue_id=305

Possibility of Dictator Therapy

One of the more thought provoking books I've read recently is the best seller 'Dopamine Nation. Finding balance in the age of indulgence' (2021) by Anna Lembke.

The book discusses the widespread addiction to dopamine from things that make you feel good without effort, such as drugs, many aspects of the net and consumerism. The author argues these things may release happy chemicals but will make you feel bad afterwards and you will need more and more to get less and less of a high.

Instead she suggests pain may be initially unpleasant but you will get a high afterwards. Taking the middle path between pleasure and pain being the wise, healthy option, much as Buddha said, but arguing we now also need to push slightly towards pain to balance the over abundance of addictive pleasure in the economy.  

The author talks at length about her own addiction to vampire romance novels and Fifty Shades of Grey. I can't help wondering if she is talking about masochism when she advocates pain, which certainly does provide pleasure for some people but may be unhealthy, especially extended to all aspects of life not just sex. 

But the book does get you thinking about how much "happy" neurochemicals (not just dopamine, also endorphin, oxytocin, adrenaline and serotonin) influence or even control people's behavior. 

Many things release these chemicals, and different people seem to get this high from different things, presumably due to a combination of genes and upbringing. Being kind "the helpers high", winning, harmony or beauty, competing, cooperating, sharing, drama/crisis or "action", discovery, creating or achieving something, solving a problem, status, power and probably many other things are different, in some cases seemingly incompatible, ways of getting a high. 

Achievement is especially interesting and resembles the high following pain Lembke talks about, but I think it is different in an important way. Working to achieve something is often painful or difficult but you get a flood of positive neurochemicals when you see the result. This is not the same as as the release of chemicals to comfort you when you eat chili peppers or get into cold water, which Lembke advocates, but perhaps that happens as well.     

It is worth asking which highs are appropriate and desirable in civilization, which many or all of these neurochemical highs predate. Some may be more healthy and ethical than others. Is the ancient instinctive high of "winning" for instance really appropriate anymore in modern civilized, especially egalitarian, society? 

We may be able to increase our self-control and quality of life through awareness of how these chemicals influence or determine our behavior. It may also be that kind people, say, are actually no more ethical (in intent) than cruel people, they may both just be seeking the same neurochemical high in different ways. Is it even possible to act contrary to what these chemicals are telling us to do, to act on principle when it doesn't feel good say, or is acting on principle also pursued because of positive reward from neurochemicals?*

Perhaps rehabilitative psychotherapy could be developed to help a criminal or dictator addicted to the exhilarating neurochemical high of dominance/winning to transition to getting a high from harmony or sharing. Quite likely a more mild, civilized, sustainable high as Lembke advocates. 

I have not thought much about how exactly.

 Maybe this sort of thing is being done already but I'm not aware of it.    

* I suspect acting on principle, morals, is feeling based. Logicians think they have discovered the rules of reason, but we probably pursue it because it feels satisfying and fulfilling to create or follow a rational argument. No contradictions, consistency with evidence, parts fitting together well, feels good, much as beauty in the arts and tidiness in the home have been scientifically found to release happy neurochemicals. Winning is probably a much more intense high, but it is boom and bust, less sustainable and reliable and depends on another's misery.     

  

Fight for Harmony. Complete Online Art Exhibition - Book of Paintings by David Nicholls.

A 74 page fantasy about transforming evil into good and a harmonious self-transforming community that follows.

Giant parasitic leech enters pristine wilderness.

Astro medicates leech with milk, tears form civilized pasture. 

Parasite blossoms into assassination-proof orator hydra. 

Next generation parasite sucks life out of Astro.          Oratory enlightens parasite.

Reformed parasite makes heart-reason wedding cake, applied for mouth to mouth resuscitation.

Astro revives to see galaxy heart city, baby cakes emerge

Cakes arrive at civilized pasture, lay micro-cities

Newly evolved carnivorous toilet emerges from ground, eats cakes.

Astro builds a home for toilet

Astro squeezes life back out of toilet, finds place in community for toilet's new home

Blood-smoke from chimneys forms communal heart. 

Newly arrived flying Rafflesia predator attacks

Life drained from heart, becomes asteroid.                Light liberates parasite

Mask removed

Mask appropriated by Astro to become instrument for good

Astro opens to reveal it is just a suit, protective and nurturing culture.  Reformed mask joins heart and still living body 

Former foes unified.

Remains of community, hearts form asteroid belt.

Healing begins.

Astro sacrifices arms to join and complete community

Community members rearrange to become like Tristan de Cuna, the most remote community

and regroup - party

members rearrange to form Amazonian tribe like community  

and exchange places

Transform into Manhattan-esque community

Manhatten-esque freely communing

Community becomes Ancient Egypt-esque

Transforms into Inuit-esque community

Climaxing community

Pregnant tropical community inside arctic iglo