Pontederia cordata rhizome tasty when cooked

Picture: Pontederia cordata var lanceolata (a larger form) with boiled rhizome sections.

I found the peeled rhizomes of the aquatic plant Pontederia cordata (Pickerel Weed or Rush) quiet tasty after boiling for 5 minutes then frying. They were pretty firm, perhaps they need longer boiling, tasting mildly like mushroom, pate and mud, in a good, interesting way.

I am not aware of any book saying the rhizomes are edible but one says all parts are (see 1).  I tried them anyway as I've carefully sampled every part over many years and it seems utterly non-toxic, the parts known to be edible taste the same as all other parts (raw), much like the water the plant grows in. Also no part has ever been reported toxic. There are several internet sites saying the rhizomes have been eaten, such as Hilton Pond Center which states the rhizomes have been stewed as a potato substitute (2). Also various birds eat the rhizome along with other parts.

This looks like a very easy root crop to grow to me, but so far does not appear to grow fast enough here in temperate Wellington to be a major contributor to diet. It's possible I am not treating it how it likes, have not tried fertilizer yet.  

I started growing this aquatic plant in tubs because I wanted the edible nut-like seeds, however they do not appear to be produced here in New Zealand, perhaps because the required pollinator (1) is absent. I've found the supposedly edible young leaves and very young stems to be very disappointing, tiny & sparse, but have tried the small flowers, better, basically tasting watery too. If the flowers are removed the very soft flower stem within is edible and tasty. It is more or less possible to eat the whole thing, the flowers and the flower stem inside as one but there are lots of very little bits that pose a bit of a choking hazard so require thorough and careful chewing.

1 ) http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Pontederia+cordata

2) http://www.hiltonpond.org/thisweek040522.html

Possibility of Pomacea as Temperate Micro-livestock.

Pictured is a tropical water snail, which I believe to be Pomacea bridgesi, which has grown to 1.75 cm over several years, possibly less, in an outdoor aquatic plant tub in temperate Wellington, New Zealand (hardiness zone 9). This species is harvested for meat in tropical and subtropical regions (1), no doubt when it has grown to its much more impressive full size of 4-6 cm. 

Even though they have remained quite small here even after several years, scientists have lately been emphasizing we don't need much meat at all for a balanced diet (if any). It might be possibly to meet dietary requirements in a small space with these snails, only they'd be more like vitamin pills than meals.  

Slaughtering snails for meat might raise fewer ethical and psychological issues for people who would normally avoid slaughtering complex animals for meat. I'm not sure I'll ever be slaughtering them for meat myself. I'm more interested in the potential for others who want to produce their own meat, especially in squeamish suburbs (or perhaps even apartment blocks, they could conceivably grow in tubs on balconies) .

Another advantage is it appears to require little care or feeding, I have it in tubs with edible aquatic plants, such as Nymphaea odorata, and Aponogeton distachyos, they seem to mainly eat the algae growing on the plants, though the Aponogeton occasionally looks pretty mauled. There might be potential to supply them with foods that make them grow faster.

An additional advantage is they don't need elaborate containment structures like gourmet land snails, they seem to stay in, or very near the water. Though it appears they can attach themselves to animals that visit the water and escape that way, presumably this explains how a number ended up looking quite happy in my dog's water bowl some distance away inside!

A disadvantage is they often lay eggs on, and cling to the underside of the edible aquatic leaves I harvest for dinner. It can be fiddly getting them all off. I understand some water snails have extremely toxic eggs, I believe these are species with very brightly colored eggs, showy displays are usually a sign of danger in the animal, plant and human worlds. The eggs of my snails are transparent, indicating they are "hiding" because they are non-toxic, probably I have eaten a few of them by accident with no noticeable effect. But plants are more my area than snails, I strongly encourage doing your own research or find an expert on this subject. 

Another disadvantage is they would be difficult to remove from a tub or pond once established, I tried with chlorinated water which kills many fish, they loved it. Perhaps a traditional fish toxin like saponins from various plants would be worth a try, otherwise complete draining might work, but they actually have lungs as well as gills so might even survive that, at least for a while.  

I discovered they could survive outside entirely by accident, I was raising them indoors in a tank, it didn't seem to be going well, the older large ones, purchased at a pet shop, kept dying. So I gave up on the project and dumped the water, containing a few tiny baby snails, into some of my outdoor water plant tubs expecting that to be the end of it. Much to my surprise I noticed eggs everywhere shortly after. So they are able to go through their full reproductive cycle when very small, they do not need to grow large for this.

1) Apple Snails in the Aquarium. Dr G Perera, J Walls 1996

    

Gordonia yunnanensis: Potential Temperate Caffeine Crop

I think the plant Gordonia yunnanensis (Syn. Camellia taliensis, Polyspora yunnanensis) could be a good source of caffeine for home gardeners, perhaps even orchardists, in temperate climates such as Wellington, New Zealand. 

This attractive tree has long been used for tea, collected from the wild, in the Yunnan Province of China (1). It has only recently become widely available in the nursery trade elsewhere, it also appears that it was only discovered to contain caffeine as recently as 1984 (2). Presumably communism kept it unavailable and little known to outsiders until very recently.

It also contains theanine, considered responsible for the calming effect of tea (4).

However, while this species "usually" contains caffeine recently at least one strain, "Taliensis-akame", has been found to contain little or no caffeine (3) so scientific testing of levels of caffeine in available strains may be necessary (a few hundred dollars last time I enquired). Trying to tell by simply drinking it would be a lot cheaper but less reliable because of the placebo effect. 

So far there seems to be little interest in this plant as a caffeine crop, which seems a little surprising given the economic importance of "mildly" addictive caffeine, found in very few plant species. As far as I'm aware it has been marketed exclusively as an ornamental not a caffeine/tea source in the nursery trade. I am also not aware of any books or sites recommending it as a caffeine source for home gardeners, only sparse scientific texts and the odd traveler seem to refer to use as tea. Conceivably the recent name change from Camellia taliensis to Gordonia yunnanensis has not helped, I'm not aware of a reference associating the new name with caffeine or tea.

After a slow start Gordonia yunnanensis (pictured after one year of planting) grew very vigorously after a few years in my garden on a moderate slope, largely neglected, in Wellington, New Zealand.  It has not minded winter with night temperatures usually around 3 C, sometimes down to -5 C. It was oblivious to a very dry summer and fairly hard clay soil. Some other plants I gave much more care to did not do so well, losing up to half of their leaves. Apparently I over-fertilized them, a potential problem with the related tea plant.

I can't find anything on how the tree is usually harvested but since it is reportedly "excellent" as a hedge perhaps it can be treated like tea in tea plantations, kept at chest height from constant picking of young buds. 

I have not drunk it a lot yet but tried a few cups, it seemed better than standard (Camellia sinensis) tea to me which I don't like much because of its astringency. This tea does not appear to be very astringent, drunk on an empty stomach (without milk or lemon to counteract the astringency) I only got very mild if any symptoms of astringency that I get from tea on an empty stomach, such as feeling of, or actual, vomiting and dry mouth. I suppose it's possible it was just too weak because I didn't prepare it in the correct/traditional way whatever that is ( I dried one large leaf on a sunny window sill for a few days then poured boiling water on it and let it sit for a few minutes).

It doesn't seem to have a strong taste of anything to me, a bit like mild tea when dried. There are comments on the net saying it doesn't taste that good, to me this is a minor problem if you think producing your own caffeine is more desirable than getting the third world to grow it for you and having corporations ship it around the world for you.  Plenty of tasty things could be grown and brewed with it to improve its rather bland, mild flavor if that's an issue. In my opinion almost any flavor associated with something addictive starts to taste mighty good over time, look at beer, tobacco or wine.

I also chewed the raw flowers (without swallowing) thinking they might be edible like the related Camellia japonica. After about a minute they produced a kind of burning sensation at the top of the mouth right at the back lasting about five minutes, tangy, perhaps like oxalic acid multiplied many times. I infer from this they are not edible raw. It is conceivable they'd be edible if dried and cooked as is apparently always done with Camellia japonica but I won't be trying that any time soon.

References

1) http://chanoyuki.com/blog/camellia-taliensis/
2) Teas, Cocoa and Coffee: Plant Secondary metabolite and Health. Crozier, Ashihara, Toma-Barberan 2011

3) Detection and characterization of caffeine-less plants originated from inter-specific hybridization. A Ogino, J Tanaka,  F Taniguchi, MP Yanqmoto, K Yamada. Breeding Science 59 2009. Available online. Fortunately this paper also reports C. taliensis can easily be crossed with C. sinensis (regular tea) which suggests considerable additional potential for caffeine production in temperate regions. 

4) 

Distribution and biosynthesis of theanine in Theaceae plants

, , 

Another interesting species mentioned in this study is Camellia furfuracea (South China tea oil plant) which appears to be the only plant known to contain theanine without caffeine, so you might get the calming effect of theanine without the stimulation of caffeine. It may have potential as a unique therapeutic and socially lubricating tea. However I can find no record of it being used as tea, it might have toxins in it as well I suppose, though I can find no record of toxicity in any Camellia. It also does not seem to be commonly available in the West or legally importable into New Zealand.  

"Wandering Jew" (Tradescantia fluminensis) Pizza

This was an experiment to  use the leaves of the very common New Zealand weed Tradescantia
fluminensis in place of cheese for a pizza, I found it delicious and refreshing. Cheese is obviously supremely delicious but not usually refreshing at all in my experience.

I have experimented with many fruit and vegetables in place of cheese, so far I've found Kale to be best, first boiled then chopped and fried then put on the pizza to be roasted with other ingredients.

I've found trying to find a plant based food or combination of foods that competes with cheese on it's own terms to be futile, doing something quite different but good in it's own unique way to be the only hope, so far that's Kale.

Trying to compete with animal products on their own terms, or to imitate them, seems to be a common mistake with vegetarian and vegan cooking.

I decided to try the "worthless" weed Tradescantia fluminensis, for my pizza when I'd run out of Kale. I removed the young and old leaves from the stems (which I had to kill in a blender before adding to my worm farm) and prepared it in the same way as Kale; boiled (to soften it), chopped, fried (for intense flavor)  then roasted with the rest of the pizza. I fried them in a generous amount of Avocado oil which I'm sure helped.

It's worth noting there appears to be only one authority who states this plant is edible, Francios Couplan Ph.D (The Encylopedia of Edible Plants of North America 1998), he recommends the young leaves cooked. I've also been eating the older leaves fairly regularly for 10 years (usually in other ways than fried, including raw). The leaves are bland in flavor, their main redeeming feature in my opinion is a crunch rather like raw onions, even when boiled.

The only real problem with using Wandering Jew regularly as food is that it does not appear to have been analysed for nutrient content, so is best used just as a novelty or last resort until this happens (if it ever happens), especially given its apparent rare use as food. Better to stick with something super-nutritious & widely used like Kale, most of the time.

It is encouraging, however, that the similar Commelina nudiflora from the same family has been analysed and suggested as a cheap source of Vitamins C, B3 and B2 as well as other macro and micro nutrients (1).

1. Nutritive and Anti-Nutritive Properties of Boerhavia diffusa and Commelina nudiflora Leaves. C.O. Ujowundu , C.U. Igwe , V.H.A. Enemor , L.A. Nwaogu and O.E. Okafor.
http://pjbs.org/pjnonline/fin689.pdf

Paintings on a "battered but enduring" theme

Above: Painting by David Nicholls "Moon Girl, Earth Sail, Sun Ocean" mainly depicts someone battered by the ravages of time, & maybe bad luck & decisions still managing to take control of their situation when feeling sorry for oneself or giving up would be easier.

Below: Pumice-head with Skyscraper cocoon. Acrylic paint on canvas, pumice from a New Zealand Volcano (head) and Fimo (hat).



Below: Next to the six girls of the Caryatid Porch (dated around 400 BC) in Athens, also battered by the ravages of time but still flourishing in their own way.

Lamiastrum galeobdolon as hanging indoor edible

I find the plant Yellow Archangel (syn. Aluminium Plant, Artillery Plant, Lamiastrum galeleobdon, Lamium galeobdolon, Galeobdolon luteum) makes a good indoor source of greens, with its long runners hanging down beside a window maximizing use of limited space and light. Being a shade loving plant it grows with only a few hours direct sunlight. perhaps less. It is considered an invasive plant so can be expected to be reasonably productive. I only have it as a bad weather or late night source of greens, when I don't want to go outside, I have not tried to determine maximum possible productivity.

It is a little strange only a few authorities state the plant is edible (Food for Free. A Guide to the Edible Wild Plants of Britain by Richard Mabey 1972) Miles Irving also discusses its gourmet uses, though some of it could be interpreted as referring to ornamental use (The Forager Handbook (2009) perhaps there are others.  Mabey recommends "young shoots and leaves" cooked, somewhere along the way I forgot the details and started eating the boiled mature leaves too, like the young leaves they are fairly bland after brief boiling. Raw the leaves taste like detergent, perhaps this is why there does not appear to be an ancient tradition of eating the plant as one might expect from an edible native of Europe. 

Unfortunately in the process of researching this post I learned this plant is considered an "Unwanted Organism" here in New Zealand which means it is illegal to propagate it. A pity, dense rows of these plants hanging between skyscrapers could provide food for the inner city. This could make apartment dwellers less of a "pest species" needing food to be transported at environmental expense immeasurably greater than any caused by this plant.

Maybe there are other edible, shade loving plants with long runners that could be used in the same way, that hopefully meet with the approval of the authorities. 

Afterthought

It's been a year since I wrote this and I've found Yellow Archangel is not very productive in a hanging basket, at least the way I managed it, I found after cutting stems off, regrowth was very slow. 

I'm finding Tradescantia fluminensis, Wandering Jew, is the most productive hanging basket leaf crop tried so far. It is often grown as  a hanging basket plant around the world, in New Zealand it is regarded as a serious weed I'm not aware of it being used much for this here. But I'm finding it is handy indoors as occasional addition to cooking when its too dark, cold or wet to go out.

I'm only aware of one book reporting this plant is edible; The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America by F Couplan PhD 1998. I've eaten it cooked many times, it is okay in flavor...nothing special.       

'Bacon' Avocado Fruit 'Stores' on Tree in Temperate Climate

Above is the fruit of a 'Bacon' variety of Avocado (Persea americana) grown in Central Wellington, New Zealand, a temperate climate. I missed this fruit 3-4 months ago when picking the main crop in Sept-October, it's now late January. I've just eaten it and it seemed fine to me, ripened on a window sill. Probably more mushy than usual seemingly because it took longer to ripen all over, that might be fixed with special ripening methods such as proximity to flour to speed up the process. Experts sometimes talk of Avocado fruit going "bad" left on the tree making some varieties unsuitable for this purpose, referring to this as "bacony" in flavor (it's just a coincidence this variety also happens to be called "Bacon"). I don't know what this "off"  taste is like but it didn't seem to taste different to me (though I ate the other ones several months earlier so hard to be absolutely certain, it's possible the flavor lingered in the mouth longer than usual (I'd say if this Avocado was "bacony" the flavor would not put anyone off who values producing their own food above consumerism). 

Several varieties of Avocado are valued for their ability to "store" fruit on the tree such as Hass and Reed, meaning fruit can be left on the tree for months and will not ripen until picked, a major advantage. I have not seen reports of the 'Bacon' variety doing this anywhere on the net or in books. I have seen predictions from an authoritative sounding webpage from elsewhere in New Zealand (which I can't relocated at present) that another variety that does not 'store' in hot climates will probably do so in cooler climates, which seems to have happened here.

I'm not saying at this stage 'Bacon' could be grown for an extended season commercial crop, I doubt the mushy fruit would be good enough for consumers, the taste would also need to be tested by experts. But for my purposes, producing as much of my own food year round in the home garden, it is a very exciting discovery indeed.