Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

.EDIBLE PLANTS 387Dry, sandy soil. Me. to Minn., south to Fla.,Mo., La. May-Jmie.Edible; cooked like domestic peas.Mallow^ Marsh. Althaeea Officinalis. Saltmarshes. Mass. to N. J. Summer.The thick, very mucilaginous root, has familiaruse as a confection ; also used in medicine as a demulcent.May be eaten raw.Mallow^ Whorled or Curled. Malva verticillata{M. crispa) . Waste places. Nova Scotia toMinn., south to N. J. Naturalized. Summer.A good pot-herb.Marigold^ Marsh. Meadovr-gowan. Cowslip.Caltha palustris. Swamps and meadows.Newfoundland to S. C, west through Canada toRocky Mts., and south to Iowa. Apr.-June.Used as a spring vegetable, the young" plant beingthoroughly boiled for greens. The flower budsare sometimes pickled as a substitute for capers.Beware of mistaking for this plant the poisonouswhite hellebore (Veratrum viride)Meadow Beauty. Deer Grass. Rhexia Virginica.Sandy swamps. Me. to Fla., west to north N. Y.,Ill, Mo., La. July-Sep.The leaves have a sweetish, yet acidulous taste.Make a good addition to a salad, and may be eatenwith impunity.Milkweed. Asclepias Syriaca {A. Cornuti).Fields and waste places generally. June-Aug. Alsoother species.The young shoots. In spring, are a good substitutefor asparagus. Kalm says that a good brown sugarhas been made by gathering the flowers while thedew was on them, expressing the dew, and boilingitdown.Mushrooms. The number of edible species Islegion. It Is not difficult to distinguish the poisonousones, when one has studied a good text-book;but no one should take chances with fungi until hehas made such study, for a few of the commonspecies are deadly, and for some of them no remedy