Important: Safety Warning
This page states that certain wild plants are safe to eat. Its identifications and edibility claims are more than a century old and in some cases simply wrong, and deadly look-alikes exist for many edible species. Never eat a wild plant on the strength of this text.
In addition, this page prescribes plants as medicine according to pre-modern medical theory. Several of the plants named are toxic, correct identification is difficult, and the doses given have no scientific basis. Do not ingest or apply any preparation described here.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
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Bastald Water-Flag
Description. This iris, that grows so common is ditches and watery places, bears leaves like the common flower de luce, only somewhat longer and narrower; the stalk rises higher, on the top of which grow three or four flowers, one above another, flowering gradually in shape like an ordinary flower de luce, only that they want the upright leaves, instead of which they have only small pieces of leaves in their places. The flowers are succeeded by large triangular seed vessels, containing three rows of flat seed. The root is long and slender, and does not run deep in the earth. Place. It usually grows in ditches, ponds, lakes and moor-sides, which are always overflowed with water.
Time. It flowers in summer.
Government and virtues. It is under the dominion of the Moon. The spicy bitterness of the root of this plant bespeaks it a strengthener of the stomach and head, and therefore may fitly be put into any composition of that intention. The root preserved may with good success be used by itself, and both the Germans and Turks are very fond of it, and reckon it a great preservative against infectious air, which makes them commouly eat a piece of the preserved root fasting. The leaves having a very grateful flavour, are, by same nice cooks, put into sauce for fish.