Some Dendrobium orchid flower taste tests

I've eaten several flowers of the Dendrobium orchid hybrid Johnathan's Glory, Dark Joy and the Australian species Dendrobium kingianum. I tried Dark Joy because it was the closest to a Dendrobium bigibbum I could find, which is sold in America as an edible flower/garnish (1). I understand this hybrid is only around 12% Dendrobium bigibbum (the rest being Dendrobium kingianum, tetraganum & falcurostrum whose flowers do not seem to be reported edible (or toxic)). 

Both are soft and crunchy, easy to chew and swallow, both taste rather weakly like glue or gum, a bit like some craft beer, the hybrid "Dark Joy" was also slightly bitter. Would not add much positive to a meal except ornament (raw at least, became bland in flavor after boiling but seemed to become extremely soft, almost disintegrating. I did not have a very big sample to work with, will have to try this again next time they flower). Would probably not ruin a salad added raw in small amounts. If this flavor is typical of orchid flowers it might explain why they are not eaten much: they are not really bad tasting, but not generally good enough to become established in traditional food culture. Given their exceptional beauty perhaps people generally decide it makes more sense to look at them or use them for religious purposes than eat them.

I felt comfortable sampling this because there does not appear to be any specific record of any orchid flowers being toxic, though only a tiny percentage of the thousands of species are reported to be eaten by humans. There are a few claims on the net that all orchid flowers can be eaten safely, but it is likely not all species and varieties have been sampled. 

Lawler's report on orchid toxicity suggests a very small percentage of the vast number of orchids that exist are toxic to humans. He lists only eye irritation from seed of one Cymbidium, contact dermatitis from various Cypripedium and reports of Disa chrysostachya and a Eulophia supposedly being used deliberately as human poisons in Africa. However several Cypripedium, an Epipdendrum an Oncidium and one Spathoglottis species might be narcotic (there are also reports of pollinating insects becoming intoxicated by exudation of flowers but I wondered if this is simply because of fermentation). Cypripedium spectabile, Orchis latifolia and laxiflora are avoided by cattle while Bletia verecunda, hyacinthina, Calathe discolor, Dipodium puntatum, Eulophia virens, Microtis parviflora and Thecostele poilanei are either toxic or suspected of being toxic to animals (2).

I feel very confident exploring flavors of common orchid genus like Dendrobium that lack any toxicity reports and are often used medicinally (as tonics for instance), and will be doing more of it (without eating large quantities, which is unlikely anyway give the taste so far). The beautiful and alluring Paphilopedilum is one genus I will be much more careful with as it has (apparently only very recently) been reported to include some serious toxicity used locally as an animal poison (3), this refers to the whole plant, possibly including the flowers. 

The main question for me with apparently non-toxic genus like Dendrobium is whether they are soft enough to eat, several I've tried are not. I emphasize I am not in a position to recommend anyone else experiment like this. I am not an orchid or toxicology expert, rather an experienced unusual edibles enthusiast/addict (who has had the odd culinary mishap in the past, such as tingling, prickly and numb sensations in the mouth from chewing but not swallowing).

References.

1. Edible Medicinal and Non-medicinal Plants. Volume 8, Flowers. T.K. Lim. 2014.

2. Ethnobotany of the Orchidaceae L J Lawler . Orchid Biology. Reviews and Perspectives, III Edited by J Arditti. 1984.

3. Medicinal Orchids of Asia. Eng-Soon Teoh. 2016. 

Art Book Preview

Some images from my art book "Fight for Harmony" which I've been working on forever (11 years) nearly finished I think.

                                   

The Groom Stripped Naked by the Art World, even

"The Groom Stripped Naked by the Art World, even".

Painted by David Nicholls 2002.

This painting depicts an explorer, an astronaut, whose face is a "commune" of vulnerable human hearts. His head is protected by a traditional "Pa", a Maori fortification of fences that once protected warriors at the top of a hill. The Pa keeps out the art world represented by "sucking" vacuum cleaners. Clearly his freedom is severely restricted, he is "tied up", by his efforts to be safe.

   I did this while I was having an art exhibition, a process I was not really enjoying at the time.  

Nelumbo in Wellington, New Zealand

The cold tolerant American Lotus, Nelumbo lutea, has grown passably well in my temperate Wellington city garden over several years. It has not flowered and is certainly not vigorous. The more well-known and frost tender Nelumbo nucifera did not grow at all although root stock did stay alive for years. These ones look a little tatty because water snails have been nibbling at them. I grew them in food grade black plastic tubs which raises the water temperature somewhat.

I think Nelumbo lutea would be worth trying for a tropical look and food crop in inland parts of New Zealand where temperatures are more extreme. It tolerates considerable cold but also seems to require high heat to flourish. It grows so tentatively where I am I hardly ever harvest it for its many culinary uses.

I checked with Ministry for Primary industries, it is legal to import seed of Nelumbo lutea because it is considered a subspecies of Nelumbo nucifera, even though only Nelumbo nucifera is listed in their Plants Biosecurity Index of importable and prohibited plants:

  https://www.mpi.govt.nz/importing/plants/seeds-for-sowing/

Climbing a pylon wearing flares

An old discarded warning sign from an electricity pylon in Wellington, New Zealand, presumably from around 1970-75. Person climbing pylon is wearing flares. 

The extravagance/grandiosity of flares indicate high/inflated self-esteem. Climbing a power pylon a good example of poor self-control that results from big-headedness, according to self-regulation science discussed in this blog in post "Self-control Techniques for Self-sufficient Gardening".  

A dangerous addiction to some form of great power is a normal symptom of loss of self-control, this image serves as a very graphic example of the sort of tragedy that can result. 

Hylocereus costaricensis, sun, shade and cold

I recently tried growing six Hylocereus costaricensis cuttings attached to the external walls of a house as 'epiphytes' over winter in zone 9 (Wellington, New Zealand) . B & T World Seeds say they take zone 9, though most authorities say zone 10 or above. 

I put two of the Hylocereus costaricensis cuttings on a mostly sunny wall, two on a wall with half sun and two on a mostly shady wall. To my surprise the cuttings in the shady spot died, one of the cuttings in half-shade died, the other looks sick while the cuttings in full sun (one pictured with new spring growth) were fine, if a little sun burnt.

This result was the opposite of what I expected, usually  it is recommended to protect tender plants from sun if cold is expected as it is the sudden change in temperature when the sun hits them in the morning that usually kills them. Apparently not the case with this cactus and probably others like it. 

The cuttings on the sunny wall were also higher up than the others, it's possible more wind exposure and air circulation helped them to survive.

I don't yet know how well this plant grows here aside from surviving winter. According to Russell Fransham Subtropicals, where I got the plant, it needs sustained warmth over 15C to produce the delicious fruit. I may try getting it to grow on a black surface to raise the temperature if things don't seem to be going well. 

Edibility of Eleocharis acuta

According to the very interesting Australian publication 'Plants of  the Merri Merri' (1) the "tubers" of Eleocharis acuta are edible "raw, baked or ground into flour" which would be quite exciting as the well known related Water Chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) is an edible tuber. But I can't find anything about this plant having tubers edible or otherwise, instead it only seems to have a creeping rhizome which I believe I have photographed the white tip of above.

My guess is this report, intended for the general reader not botanists, refers to this white rhizome tip which I find edible, the white part is soft without fibers, easily eaten. It tastes bland, starchy and innocuous, without the crunch or flavor of Water Chestnut. Tim Low reports "Aborigines ate the starch in the young underground stems" (2)  of the closely related Eleocharis sphacelata, this sounds like the same thing since a rhizome is a modified underground stem (3), I've not tried or examined Eleocharis sphacelata.

The rhizome tips I found were small and fairly sparse, they hardly seem worth it unless you have a lot of plants and time to harvest them, though the plant is particularly pleasing visually. I tried a New Zealand native of this plant, it is possible the rhizome is bigger in Australia but reports seem to be about the same, 1-2 mm in New Zealand ,1-3 mm in Australia. E sphacelata rhizomes sound more promising 10-15 cm, though I can't find any first-hand accounts of eating them.

Both Eleocharis acuta and Eleocharis sphacelata are native to New Zealand as well as Australia, but do not seem to have ever been reported as being eaten here in New Zealand.

(1) Plants of the Merri Merri. A Home Gardener's Guide to using Indigenous Plants in the Northern Suburbs of Melbourne. Editor Rebecca Wigney 1994
(2) Wild Foods Plants of Australia. Tim Low. 1988.
(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhizome