Rodgersia aesculifolia rhizome "edibility"

There only seems to be one reference to Rodgersia aesculifolia being edible. The rhizome was once used a famine food in Tibet (1), no details on preparation are given.

It interested me a potential understory food crop as it grows in full shade (2). 

On the plus side the rhizome is reasonably large and free of fibers. I tried boiling it for 15 and 30 minutes. It has a mostly bland flavor, rather like cardboard or wood, with a slightly unpleasant cough medicine taste, but acceptable I think. The texture is the big drawback, it is very dry in the mouth, basically unpleasant and difficult to eat. Dry woody particles stay in the mouth for some time after swallowing. If anything it was even worse thinly sliced and briefly fried. I did not have enough to try it roasted. I swallowed a small amount, noticed no ill-effects, it seems to be safe to consume.

Edible rhizomes of a number of other species are best eaten when young such as Cyperus papyrus and Canna glauca, it is possible the rhizomes I tried were too old. I've tried the older rhizomes of Cyperus papyrus and they were similarly woody.

Unless the younger rhizomes turn out to be more palatable I'd say this plant is not worth growing as a food crop unless a way can be found to alter the texture, fermenting it or mashing and soaking it in water or milk to make porridge or soup might help but I doubt it.  

I also expect it grows too slowly to be relied on regularly for food.

References.

1. Wild Food Plants used by the Tibetans of Gongba Valley (Zouqu county, Gansu, China) Y Kang, L Luczaj, J Kang, F Wang, J Hou, Q Guo. 2014. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 10/20.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3933068/)

2. An Encyclopedia of Shade Perennials. W. George Schmid. 2002.

Some less well known perennial temperate edible aquatic plants

The following are some less well known perennial edible aquatic species for hardiness zone 9. I see them as less well known as they are not listed in the best single source on aquatic edibles by far, the book "Edible Water Gardens" by Nick Romanowski.

Apium nodiflorum. "Sedanina" "Fool's Watercress". This is an outstanding vegetable in flavor and productivity, it is even reasonably productive throughout zone 9 winter. The leaves and leaf stems are edible, tasting much like celery. It spreads vegetatively in the water and new leaves quickly replace picked ones. In my experience above ground parts die off after setting seed so there is a lull in productivity in summer, but new growth emerges from the soil shortly after, I can't tell if this new growth is from new plants or the same plant. Perhaps overlooked in many places because of it's unfortunate misleading name "Fool's Watercress", it is better than watercress from my point of view, easier to grow, not needing running water, grows very well in still water. It will grow in full sun or considerable shade, much more compact growth and smaller leaves in full sun, seems to be best in semi-shade. Some authorities in New Zealand are concerned about this plant as a weed, hopefully they don't ban this excellent crop in their probably futile crusade to protect natives. References: Wild edible fool's watercress, a potential crop with nutraceutical properties. Carla Guijarro-Real et al 2019. Ethnobotanical and Ecological Studies of Wild Edible Plants in Jordan. Saleh A. Al-Qura’n 2010.

Rotala rotundifolia. This plant is eaten in India (potherb) and China ( "Wild edible plants collected by Hani from terraced rice paddy ecosystem in Honghe Protectorate, Yunnan, China." Luo et al. 2019. Ethnobotany of Rewalsar Himalaya. Sood & Thakur 2004). The leaves & stem are edible, I also eat the tiny white roots that grow along the stem. I eat it uncooked. It is basically bland in flavor but it's crimson coloring is very ornamental in a dish. It is of good productivity in summer. It does not die back in winter, but there is no new growth. The plant is common in the aquarium trade.

Colocasia fallax grows rather slowly in water in temperate climates, a bit too slow to be of much use I find. There are very few references to it being eaten, the tubers, stem and leaves have been eaten (after cooking presumably) in India (An ethnobotanical note on wild edible plants of Upper Eastern Himalaya, India, G Murtem and P Chaudhry. 2016.) and the stems are a famine food in China (Food Plants of China. Shiu-ying Hu. 2005.)

I have not gotten around to eating it, I expect it is like taro in flavor and extensive cooking-time requirement to eliminate toxins. The leaves do not die down in zone 9 winter as taro leaves do. It also spreads slowly.

I'm pretty certain this plant is the New Zealand native Myriophyllum propinquum  

( https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/myriophyllum-propinquum/ ). It was sold as Hippuris vulgaris, which it resembles, by a New Zealand aquarium supplier, which is edible but prohibited in New Zealand. Believing it was what they said it was I ate it quite often before realizing it had been misidentified. I have continued to eat it, even though there is no record of it ever being eaten anywhere, because it is bland in flavor, which almost always means something is safe to eat and because I have noticed no ill effects and because several other Myriophyllum are eaten overseas and none are known to be toxic. 

I thought the tiny leaves might be a choking hazard but this has not been the case. It is reasonably productive and younger growth has a pleasant enough texture, older grow is a bit tough and chewy, I suppose it is a bit visually interesting or novel in a dish.

Cardamine lyrata. "Japanese Cress". The leaves and (numerous but tiny and threadlike) roots are edible  https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Cardamine+lyrata

Unfortunately the bland tasting leaves are pretty small, usually less than 1 cm wide, it is unusually time consuming harvesting them, it is tempting to try to eat a bunch along with the stems but the stems are usually too tough to eat. It also spreads very aggressively horizontally across the surface of the water smothering other plants. Aside from these horizontal shoots it is not very productive. I find it more of a problem than anything. I keep it in a tub a long way away from other water plants and rarely harvest it.   

This plant is available through the aquarium trade.

Cryptotaenia japonica, mitsuba. There only seems to be one reference to this outstanding vegetable growing in water; Cornucopia II by Stephen Facciola states the Kansai variety grows in water. I tried what is probably this variety, I found it does survive and set seed in water in but grows extremely slowly and remains very small, almost completely unproductive. But this vegetable is so valuable it probably deserves further trials. 

Filipendula ulmaria "meadowsweet" grows well in shallow water. The leaves are often reported to be edible when young, I find them a bit too chewy and dry but they have a pleasant interesting "root beer" flavor due to coumerin content. The roots are also rarely reported to be edible

 https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Filipendula+ulmaria

 but don't seem to have been described anywhere, 

 they are about the width of a pencil, reasonably long, fiber free, crunchy and have a very pleasant distinct "root beer" flavor, even stronger than the leaves. I've only eaten them raw. The roots don't appear to be produced in great abundance but I have not been growing it long enough to be sure, they definitely deserve further research. Since the plant is clump forming it should be possible to harvest roots from part of the clump while leaving the rest to grow for continuous future harvest. The flowers are also edible, I have not tried them yet. Even the seeds have been reported to be edible. 

https://gallowaywildfoods.com/meadowsweet-identification-distribution-edibility/   

Filipendula kamtschatica also reportedly grows in shallow water, and is edible. It does not seem to be readily available, I've not tried it.

Bacopa caroliniana (center of photo) is also aquatic and edible

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/AG392

Leaves and stems have a pleasant flavor unlike the more well known Bacopa monnieri (the most bitter thing called "food" I've ever tasted). I've found it to be productive in the height of summer provided it does not have competition from more aggressive plants. 

I found this plant in the aquarium trade.

Callitriche stagnalis, Water starwort. Shui-ma-chi. The whole plant is, or was, eaten in Taiwan (Food Plants of China. Shui-ying Hu. 2005). It is a weed in New Zealand, it does not seem to be available commercially. I have not grown it for a while, I don't remember anything very distinctive about its favor, I found it reasonably productive. It can grow floating in the water and only grows about 1 cm above the surface.

I also tried Lindernia rotundifolia, the tender leaves of which are eaten in India (Ethnic uses of some wetland plants by the Bodo community in Udalgiri district of Assam, India. Boro & sarma 2013.) Despite a report that it is cold tolerant it did not survive the winter here in zone 9.

The pseudo-equity of racial and gender inequality statistics

Statistics comparing inequality between racial and gender groups are relentless in the news lately, signaling great ethical concern about inequality. It is not always "woke", reports that men are doing worse than women at university, or European birth rates are far behind non-European birth rates, for instance are there too, though less common. This seems scientific because it involves numbers but there is ideology behind organizing data in this particular way that serves to reinforce, and distract from, the inherently unequal power structures of society.

Firstly it divides and conquers, racial or gender groups doing less well are encouraged to resent those racial or gender groups doing better than their group (in some particular parameter) rather than those richer and more powerful than them who are of diverse race and gender. It also discourages solidarity with all others in the same economic class regardless of their gender or race.  

Secondly it implies the amount of inequality in society does not matter as long as it is evenly spread between genders and races. It does not matter if people are starving to death as long as it is "fair", as long as the races and genders are equally represented among the casualties. 

Finally it masks inequality within groups which may be greater than inequality between groups. This suits the elites of all racial and gender groups.   

Unripe kawakawa fruit as vegetable

It is well known that the ripe fruits of the common New Zealand native plant kawakawa (Macropiper excelsum) are edible, though they have a very strong unusual flavor. I've found the birds usually get the ripe fruit where I am so I decided to try the green unripe fruit as food. They have a sharp taste raw, a bit like mint, too strong for my liking and are also a bit dry, but boiled they loose their pungency and dryness, becoming milder in flavor the longer you boil them, but still with a distinct peppery-mint taste. They have a pleasing consistency, like baby corn. An acceptable vegetable to add to stir fries or similar dishes in my opinion. Their rather small size being the only drawback.

There are no reports of the unripe fruit being toxic in humans or animals and many herbivores like eating kawakawa so it is highly likely poisoning in animals would have been noticed. However rats died when fed dried leaves of this plant at 60% of their diet (1) so perhaps some caution may be advisable as the leaves and ripe and unripe fruit taste similar so presumably have similar chemistry. 60% seems like a lot, rats might die on 60% of a lot of things I suppose. This report does not seem to worry anyone, the leaves are popular as a tea, are used medicinally, and are increasingly being used as food, there have been no reports of toxicity in humans and another study concludes the tea is safe in moderate quantities at least (2). It is possible cooking removes any possible toxins since it reduces the intense flavor.

 The plant is also notable for producing fruit in full shade or near full shade, the plant will also grow in deep shade in the understory where little else can but I don't think it will produce fruit in deep shade. It has also adapted very well to human colonization of New Zealand, often growing wild in suburbs. Fruit only occurring on female plants is a drawback.   

References.

(1) A Field Guide to the Native Edible Plants of New Zealand. Andrew Crow. 2004.

(2) Composition and safety evaluation of tea from New Zealand kawakawa (Macropiper excelsum). C Butt et al. Ethnopharmicol. 2019.   

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30572092/

Egalitarian Politics as Transformative Therapy

 An obscure utopian political ideology few people take seriously is direct democracy, citizens assembling to decide things for themselves rather than electing and paying state representatives to do it for them. There are various forms such as libertarian municipalism proposed by Social Ecologists seeking an ecologically sustainable and egalitarian society, free of domination of both humans and nature. Everyone would take part in making laws in their local communities which would be confederated in a global network. This would normally be in conjunction with maximum local economic self-reliance. This is sometimes considered eco-anarchism or green-anarchism (1, 2) , little more than something harmless and exotic for idealistic bookworms.

Most people would dismiss this as utopian fantasy given the ugly mess that is at least half of human nature and history so far. Until recently I would have agreed, scientists have clearly established all primates have instincts for domination and humans are definitely no exception (3). This instinct for domination is probably the main reason revolutionary attempts to bring about equality have been utterly catastrophic.

Recently however a branch of psychotherapy called mentalizing has been developed that appears to offer a way out of most of not all of the instinctive psychology of domination. Mentalizing therapy has reportedly been effective in treating personality disorders (4) and shows promise in the treatment of Asperger's syndrome (5). Certain personality disorders such as narcissism and psychopathy, account for most of the domineering behavior in society and many people in powerful positions possess these instinct based* disorders  ( 6) (called "disorders" because they violate the "prosocial" norms that make civilized society possible, they might be "healthy" in wild animals). Both narcissists and psychopaths tend to view people more as objects to be used or discarded, than beings having thoughts and feelings to be respected (not just other people, they may see themselves in physical terms and insight into their own thoughts and feelings may be weak or non-existent.) Asperger's, sharing this tendency to treat people as objects, though less maliciously, is also implicated in domination. It is believed many CEOs are Asperger's, corporations and their stellar products, such as computers or cars, might even be impossible or much more difficult without this "gift" for assembling people like objects or parts of a machine (there also might not be an environmental crisis or so much servitude in work).

Personality disorders also abound in criminals, who take dominance too far to become alphas in society, making the state, police and prisons absolutely essential in order to deal with them.  

Mentalizing is "a focus on mental states in oneself and in others, especially in connection with the explanation of behavior" (7). I find it hard to believe something that sounds so simple could work but apparently this tendency is dysfunctional, weak or absent in people with personality disorders and all of us when we are very emotional. Seeing someone, including oneself, as an object, is contrary to mentalizing. Practitioners of mentalizing are quick to point out it is far from simple or easy in practice to get someone with a personality disorder to metalize and takes months or years of therapy. 

Mentalizing therapy is an incubator for mentalizing, as children we learn to mentalize from an adult caregiver mentalizing about us, usually the mother so far in history. People with personality disorders can reportedly learn to mentalize largely in the same way in a well managed therapy group, provided they do not drop out, which is common (8). It is believed mentalizing is mostly a human cultural invention (absent in other animals including other primates) that must be learned (9) unlike the universal instincts for domination and deference. 

It has been said that people with personality disorders are immature (10) if this is true mentalization therapy may be a from of "child" rearing of people who were not socialized properly due to abusive, indulgent, laissez fare or negligent upbringings or perhaps excessive instinctive drives.

What if community scale political gatherings could be developed to become supportive, therapeutic incubators for mentalizing in the same way, rather than the brutal arenas for mindless domination political gatherings usually are at present. What if people with domineering tenancies could be "healed" or brought into civilization through such meetings through other members, perhaps including qualified therapists, utilizing the sophisticated techniques of mentalizing therapy. That could be the "price" of political participation and being able to shape your community and society, you be prepared to develop a mature personality. 

It is not hard to think of problems with this, small scale experimentation and research would clearly be wise before considering attempts at widespread implementation. We would still need to ask do we really want an egalitarian society, would it really be better overall? It has for instance been suggested a world without personality disorders would be "less stressful but deadly dull" **(10). But this is the first thing I've ever seen that makes equality a realistic possibility in the face of our powerful instincts for dominance and deference*** (11).

 At present we are increasingly laissez-fare when it comes to personality, you can have whatever personality you want, no matter how feral. This could be mistaken for greater freedom but people with personality disorders lack genuine self control and their behavior diminishes the choices of those around them. 

Perhaps one day our personalities will not be left to chance, we may be able to choose to sculpt them with the same sophistication and high standards we currently reserve for technology. Maybe then we could finally start creating a truly free civilized society.

Note: This argument is based on my non-professional interpretation of mentalizing, I hope I have not overestimated its potential. 

References.

1) The Impossible Community. Realizing Communitarian Anarchism. John P Clark. 2013.

2) The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy. Murray Bookchin. 1982.  

3) Our Inner Ape. Franz de Waal. 2005. 

4) Mentalization-based treatment for personality disorders.  A Practical Guide. Anthony Bateman. Peter Fonagy. Oxford. 2016.

5) Mentalization-Based Treatment in Groups for Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Katharina Kramer et al. Frontiers. 2021. 

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.708557/full.

6) On Narcissism, Evolution and Group Dynamics. Sigmund Karterud. Group Analysis 43(3), pg 301-310 

* Ref 6 covers strong similarity between narcissistic personality disorder in humans and alpha male behavior in chimpanzees. Ref 10 says psychopaths are more in touch with their animal instincts.

7) The Mentalizing Guidebook. Janne Oestergaard Hagelquist 2015

8) Avoidant and Narcissistic Personality Disorders. S. Simonsen, S Euler. Handbook of Mentalizing in Mental Health Practice. Second Edition. 2019.

9) Mentalization-based Group Therapy (MBT-G) A theoretical, clinical and research manual. Sigmund Karterud. 2015.

10) Emotional Vampires. Dealing With People Who Drain You Dry. A Bernstein. 2000. 

** "In addition to being pains in the neck," (some) "Emotional Vampires" (people with personality disorders) "are artists, heroes and leaders. Because of their immaturity they can do things we can't. The forces of darkness always swirl at the edges of creativity and great deeds. A world without vampires would be less stressful, but deadly dull" (p12).  

11) Biosociology of Dominance and Deference. Alan Mazer. 2005.

*** I have not attempted to go into the instinct for deference much in this thesis, without which the instinct for dominance would not get far. I may try to go into that some other time.

    

Aeonium arboreum as edible

Aeonium arboreum growing wild on a vertical rock bank in a Wellington suburb.

Aeonium arboreum, native to the Canary Islands, is a common weed in Wellington, New Zealand, usually found on steep rocky cliffs, including very exposed coastal sites. 

There only seems to be one reference to the Aeonium of the Canary Islands being used as food (1), at least 500 years ago the immature inflorescences of unidentified species were eaten raw, possibly all of the species found on the Canary islands were used, it is not clear. 

I've tried the immature inflorescence of Aeonium arboreum raw, when the flowers were almost mature. It is acceptable, rather astringent I thought, probably not something I'd seek out. But boiled for a few minutes it is much nicer, rather like broccoli in texture, which is also an inflorescence, with a mild but pleasant flavor a bit like beans.

I imagine the leaves could be eaten too but there is probably no record of this because they grow pretty slowly so would not be a sustainable crop, unlike the inflorescence which can be harvested sustainably whenever it appears.

I would rate this a good potential crop for exposed steep rocky and coastal places where you might not expect to get much of a food harvest. 

The smaller Aeonium haworthii, also from the Canary Islands, is also found growing wild in similar niches around Wellington, I have not tried eating it yet. 

Reference.

1) https://www.academia.edu/7183303/Wild_plants_gathering_Canary_Islands

Gathering in a new environment: the use of wild food plants during the first colonization of the Canary Islands, Spain (2nd-3rd century BCE to 15th century CE) J Morales, J Gil (in) Wild Plants gathering Canary Islands. E Giloyan.1977. 

Growing tomatoes in high wind areas.

 The tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum) is delicate and is well known for not liking high winds or coastal sites. However I grew them successfully when I lived in on a hilltop by the sea that got regular hurricane force winds, over 100 km almost daily, sometimes with salt spray from the sea about half a kilometer away.

I grew varieties that normally require staking but just let them sprawl on the ground, I didn't stake them. Due to surrounding grass around 20 cm high the wind went over the top of them. Most of the tomatoes were still held a few cm off of the ground by the stems so did not rot, though some touching the ground did rot.

I also grew tomatillo (Physalis ixocarpa), which grows a little taller without support, in holes, the wind went over the top of them in the same way.

Arisaema tortuosum cooking trial.

 

Ariasema tortuosum unripe fruit, stem and leaves visible at bottom of photo. 

The pea-sized unripe fruit of Arisaema tortuosum is eaten after washing, preserving in salt and cooking in North East India according to (apparently only one) report(1).There is also a report of the fruit (apparently ripe) being eaten after roasting (2). It is very rare to get edible fruit from a plant that grows in full shade like this one does. There is also a report that the peeled stem is edible, along with a warning to cook thoroughly to neutralize dangerous calcium oxalate crystals(3). 

I could not find any advice on how long you need to cook it for. I sampled the unripe fruit raw (without swallowing), it produced the characteristic feeling of needles piercing the skin on the inside of the mouth typical of uncooked aroids due to calcium oxalate crystals.

I tried boiling a few stems, leaves and fruit for 1 hour with 3 changes of water. Even after this time there was still a slight numbness and tingling in the mouth from eating them, but I was not noticeably harmed from swallowing a relatively small amount. The peeled stems were particularly good, well worth the fiddly task of peeling them, the leaves tasted good, like spinach, and the few unripe fruit seemed non-descript.

It is unclear if longer cooking is required or if they are eaten despite the slight numbness and tingling they produce as has reportedly done with the bulbs of its relative Arum italicum during famine (3). There is a report that although the tubers are eaten cooked violent illness has been known to follow eating a large amount of them (4) which may indicate not all of the calcium oxalate crystals are neutralized by cooking and they are normally eaten in moderation. 

Despite this plant's highly desirable ability to flourish in very shady locations I won't be eating much of it unless longer cooking, &/or other common techniques such as soaking and drying, prove to eliminate the slight numbing effect. Further experimentation will have to wait until next year's harvest. 

References.

1) The Wild Edible Plant Diversity of North-East India. Ashish Kar. 2009.

 2) An Ethnomedical Review on Arisaema tortuosum. Hemlata Verma, V K Lal, KK Pant and Nidhi Soni. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN PHARMACY, BIOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY Vol. 1(2), Apr- Jun, 2012. 

https://ijapbc.com/files/03-125.pdf

          3) A hundred years of change in wild vegetable use in southern Herzegovina. Lukasz Luczaj, Katija Dolina 

https://docksci.com/a-hundred-years-of-change-in-wild-vegetable-use-in-southern-herzegovina_5a62c443d64ab2c4e6b71ff5.html

"The memory of eating Italian lords-and-ladies (Arum italicum Mill.) starchy bulbs during famine in World War II is still present, though there was no consensus on the proper detoxification technique (the plant contains large concentrations of oxalates which can harm the digestive tract). Some people remember it boiled, others roasted or fried. The processing did not completely remove the stinging feeling. Hungry people swallowed the bulbs in spite of the unpleasant feeling in the throat."

4) Edible Plants of North West Himalaya (Uttarkhand) Rakesh Shad. 2015.

 

Acanthus mollis as potential food

A common weed in Wellington suburbs is Acanthus mollis, Bear's Breeches.

There seem to be absolutely no references* old or new to it being used for food despite being well known in Europe for thousands of years at least, noted as the inspiration for Ancient Greek ornament.

However I've found if the immature flowers are removed, the top few inches of the flower stem is quite edible. It is bland in flavor and crunchy raw, when boiled it is rather floppy but tastes good, like mild asparagus. It is not produced in great quantity compared with the size of the plant. The flower stem further down, surrounded by prickly mature flowers, is very slimy and tough once mature. When immature the peeled core of the inflorescence stem is pretty good to eat, if slightly mucilaginous.    

I also sampled the peeled core of the leaf stem base raw. It is white, produced in reasonable quantity, bland in flavor with a very slight bitter aftertaste, crunchy, and without fibers. It is a bit like water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis), could potentially be used the same way I'd say. I've not tried cooking it yet.

I could find no reference to it being toxic but it probably should be treated with some caution as there seem to be no ethnobotanical or historical references to it being used as food at all, not even as famine food. It has however been consumed for medicinal purposes ( https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Acanthus+mollis ).

*Since writing this a few months ago I've noticed Alejandra Robles has reported using the roots and stems as food but considers this experimental. (West Coast Food Forestry. 2005.)

https://www.academia.edu/34135104/West_Coast_Food_Forestry?email_work_card=view-paper