The book 'Food Plants of China' by Shiu-ying Hu reports that peasants extract edible starch from the bulbs of Cardiocrinum giganteum (var yunnanense).
By contrast 'Mansfeld's Encyclopedia of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops' states the starchy bulbs are actually used as vegetables.
I decided to eat some bulbs to see for myself, is it a convenient vegetable or purely a starch source?
As I suspected the outer layers (scales) of the large bulb I tried were very starchy but too fibrous to eat directly as vegetables, so would only be suitable for starch extraction (I only tried a large fully developed bulb, it is possible the smaller young bulbs are free of fibers). The inner core however, when peeled, is free of fibers and has a pleasant texture, like more widely eaten Lilium bulbs, so is, in my opinion, suitable for use as a vegetable. It is however slightly bitter and you do not get a huge amount to eat compared to the very large space this plant takes up. It looks like it would be considerably more productive as a starch source than as a vegetable, the numerous fibrous outer scales for starch, the comparatively small core as a vegetable.
The fact that it takes around seven years to reach maturity (then dies sending out offshoots) may also indicate it is not a particularly productive crop, especially if you don't have much space.
Despite possible drawbacks this plant may still be one of the better understory crops around since it is reportedly tolerant of deep shade and dry soil (Ref: The Genus Cardiocrinum. Philip Bolt http://www.redhall.org.uk/GardenOpening/cardio_bklet.pdf.) I'm trying it out under native and exotic trees at present.
Have you tried yucca?
ReplyDeleteI heard that's once planted it is nearly impossible to eradicate.
One plant I had a misfortune to plant was chicory, I love the beautiful blue flowers that grace Chicago slums and industrial roadsides. I read that it was edible and useful in many ways. Because my daughter knew how much I love chicory she gave me a seed packet. Commercial chicory turned out to be a much bigger plant, perhaps 6 feet tall. It has a thick root, but it also seeds out horizontal rhizomes that were 2 inches in diameter. Now eradicating chicory has become a chronic and time consuming chore.
Yes Yucca elephantipes grows well here in NZ, I have a few, for the edible flowers.
ReplyDeleteChicory is also a weed in NZ.
P.S. I don't know how to eradicate Chicory, you may have to resort to poison. Very nice to hear from you.
ReplyDeleteAt this point I am not ready to resort to weed killer because it would damage the complex and messy ecosystem of our unkempt front lawn. It is a heaven for bugs and birds, we have a bunny nest in the middle of central flower bed, and we get the most lightening bugs in June.
ReplyDeletesounds great
ReplyDelete