Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

390 CAMPING AND WOODCRAFTPigweed, Slender. Keerless. Amaranthus hybridus{A. chlorostachys). A weed of the samewide range as the preceding. Naturalized. Aug.-Oct.Extensively used in the South, in early spring,as a salad plant, under the name of "keerless."Plantain, Common. Plantago major. A naturalizedweed of general range like thje preceding.May-Sep.Used as early spring greens.Pleurisy-Root. Asclepias Tuberosa. Dryfields. Me. to Minn., south to Fla., Texas, Ariz.June-Sep.The tender young shoots may be used like asparagus.The raw tuber is medicinal; but whenboiled or baked it is edible.Pokeweed. Phytolacca decandra. A commonweed east of the Mississippi and west of Texas.Now cultivated in France, and the wild shoots aresold in our eastern markets.In early spring the young shoots and leaves makean excellent substitute for asparagus.The root is poisonous (this is destroyed by heat),and the raw juice of the old plant is an acrid purgative.The berries are harmless.Prickly Pear. Opuntia. Several species.Dry, sandy soil. Along eastern coast, and on westernprairies and plains.The ripe fruit is eaten raw. The unripe fruit,if boiled ten or twelve hours, becomes soft and resemblesapple-sauce. When the leaves are roastedin hot ashes, the outer skin, with its thorns, is easilyremoved, leaving a slimy but sweet and succulentpulp which sustains life. Should be gathered withtongs which can be extemporized by bending a greenstick in the middle and beathing it over the fire.Primrose, Evening. Onagra biennis (Oenotherab.) . Usually ;n dry soil. Labrador to Fla.,west to Rocky Mts. June-Oct.Young sprigs are mucilaginous and can be eatenas salad. Roots have a nutty flavor, and are usedin Europe either raw or stewed, like celery.