Arctic ethnobotanical seed wanted

[Stephenb]

Looking for seed of the following arctic plants, used for food by native peoples of the Arctic (for a planned ethnobotanical garden devoted to these plants):

Angelica lucida
Arabis lyrata ssp kamtchatica
Arenaria peploides
Claytonia acutifolia
Claytonia eschscholtzii
Claytonia ogilviensis
Claytonia sarmentosa
Claytonia scammaniana
Claytonia tuberosa
Plantago macrocarpum
Ranunculus lapponicus
Rumex arcticus
Saxifraga nelsoniana
Saxifraga punctata
Senecio congestus

I have a large trade list.

[Lesley Cox]

So there are even edible Saxifrages? Well I know slugs like some species, and vine weevils of course.

[Stephenb]

Until about a year ago, I would have said: "Put it like this: as far as I know none of them are poisonous. Probably in the class of survival food, not something one wouldn't go out of one's way to eat."  

Saxifrages are rarely noted in North American "food for free" type books.

Then I bought what has become my favourite North American foraging book: Sam Thayer's "The Forager's Harvest". He devotes 4 pages to Saxifraga pensylvanica (Swamp Saxifrage) and states "they are one of the the wild treats that I covet most in spring". However, he had in the past tried this plant and found that the young leaves were unpleasantly bitter and coarse. He later accidentally stumbled upon this plant's secret. He decided one more time and had  a nibble on the flower stem. He writes "I began to crunch at the base of the stem, and it was delicious. There was the same bitterness contained in the leaves, only it was faint and pleasant, as in lettuce, mixed with a light sweetness. The stem was crisp but juicier than any other vegetable I had ever eaten."

Thayer, although not having personal experience, gives a reference to S. punctata (on my wish list) reporting the latter species as being a good, mild-flavoured salad plant or cooked green.

Saxifraga micranthidifolia (Mountain Lettuce) is also reported to be a highly-prized salad in the areas where it grows wild, as its common name suggests. This was a plant used by Native Americans. For example, the Cherokee used the following recipe :Young growth boiled, fried with ramps and eaten" (ramps = Allium tricoccum) (from Native American Ethnobotany).

However, I assure you that i'm not going to try the way the Eskimo ate Saxifraga nelsoniana: "Leaves mixed with walrus oil and eaten raw"

So far I haven't tried any of these, but I intend to this spring as I started S. pensylvanica from seed in 2003 (as what i thought was a minor edible) and it is now at the harvestable stage. A couple of pictures from last spring in my garden.

[maggiepie]

Stephen, I am finding this thread very interesting, I hope you show pics of the S. pensylvanica after you have prepared it for eating, are you going to use it as a salad?

[Lesley Cox]

Do the flowers open much more than that? Saxifraga manschuriensis is often described as worthless, horticulturally, but it is a favourite of mine with heads of pale apricot/pink flowers, rather fluffy looking. The foliage is pretty too, though whether edible or not.....? Anyway, I've lost it this year in the heat. Blast! I think S. pensylvanica looks a very attractive plant.

[Stephenb]

Stephen, I am finding this thread very interesting, I hope you show pics of the S. pensylvanica after you have prepared it for eating, are you going to use it as a salad?

It'll probably just be nibbled on initially - not sure the world's ready for a picture of me nibbling on Saxifraga pensylvanica though ....

Whatever, at best I have 4 flower stalks, so it's not going to be much of a salad! Having said all this, it's probably listening to this conversation and will refuse to flower (I've read that it can be a shy flowerer).

Don't seem to have a picture myself. Try this one:

http://wisplants.uwsp.edu/photos/SAXPEN_SBS.jpg

[maggiepie]

Having said all this, it's probably listening to this conversation and will refuse to flower (I've read that it can be a shy flowerer).

You might be right about that, thanks for the link

[claykoplin]

Fritillaria Camschatcensis were a staple for the indiginous peoples of coastal Alaska.  Captain James Cook's crew gathered a store of them for shipboard provisions while exploring Alaska.  I have quite a pile of garden seed (1st generation removed from wild stock) left over if you are interested.

Clay

[Stephenb]

Hi Clay

Yes, I knew about the use of Fritillaria camschatcensis by the indigenous peoples of Alaska and the Russian Far East. Interesting about Captain Cook, I hadn't heard that! Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen overwintered in the arctic after having become the first to do th North West Passage. They purchased sacks of "Eskimo Potatoes" which were probably Bistorta officinalis (Bistort), but could also have been Hedysarum alpinum or Claytonia tuberosa.

Yes, I'd like very much like to get some seed of genuine Alaskan camschatcensis! I'm trying to bulk up my stocks of camschatcensis so that one day I can have a taste!  I'll send you a message with my seed list and you can choose some things in return....

The first picture from my garden shows Fritillaria camschatcensis, F. acmopetala and Camassia quamash.  The second is Hedysarum alpinum.

[TheOnionMan]

The first picture from my garden shows Fritillaria camschatcensis, F. acmopetala and Camassia quamash.  The second is Hedysarum alpinum.

Beautiful frits! The Hedysarum is nice too. Are visitors to your garden allowed to nibble their way through the tour 

[Stephenb]

Under supervision, yes! I do have a few poisonous species which I warn people about so that they don't think they can just start grazing 

[Stephenb]

Encouraged by the recent offers from my other wish list, hope you don't mind me promoting this one into the daylight again? I haven't been very successful with these, apart from the Arenaria (Honckenya) peploides which I found myself in Northern Norway.

Can anyone help?

[cohan]

speaking of arctic seeds, i decided to write to some individuals at canadian universities who turn up in searches of arctic taraxacum, to see if they have any leads on arctic dandelion seeds..i doubt it, but what the heck...lol

[TheOnionMan]

Here's a nice dandelion, Taraxacum arcticum from Svalbard, a pretty white-flowered plant with black involucres; notice a light touch of pink on the back side of the ligules.

http://svalbardflora.net/index.php?id=324
http://svalbardflora.net/assets/images/species/Taraxacum_arcticum/Taraxacum_arcticum_hole_full.jpg

[Stephenb]

Yeah, that's a beauty Mark.  I got my hands on that species when I visited Bjorn Thons fabulous nursery just outside of Tromsø in 2009, but it didn't make it through the winter here (couldn't have been the cold!)