Plants

4-45. If personnel enter into an isolating event with some basic knowledge and information, they will be able to supplement or totally survive off plant life in the area if it is abundant and available. Plants are valuable sources of food because they are widely available, easily procured and, in the proper combinations, can meet all nutritional needs. Plants provide carbohydrates, which provide the body energy and calories. Carbohydrates keep weight and energy up and include important starches and sugars. Many types of vitamins and minerals can be found in different varieties of plants and can provide the crucial nutrients that the body needs to remain healthy and disease free.

4-46. If the plant includes an inedible or poisonous variety in its family, the edible plant must be distinguishable from the poisonous one to the average eye. Personnel can find valuable information on edible plants in the area of operations by doing a country study or purchasing a plant identification book or set of plant identification cards. There is also plant information on the evasion chart personnel can procure.

4-47. The best and safest method for edibility of a plant is positive identification of the plant. If positive identification is not possible, then use the edibility test. When selecting plant foods, the following should be considered:

• Look for plant parts that contain high energy such as fruit, seeds, grains, nuts, tubers, and bulbs.
• Select plants resembling those cultivated by people.

4-48. It is risky to rely on plants being edible for human consumption simply because animals have also been eating the plants. The animal may be able to digest certain toxins that a person cannot. When selecting an unknown plant as a possible food source, apply the following rules:

• Often plants growing near homes and occupied buildings or along roadsides have been sprayed with pesticides. Wash these plants thoroughly. In more highly developed countries with many automobiles, avoid roadside plants, if possible, due to contamination from exhaust emissions.
• Boil or disinfect plants growing in contaminated water.
• Some plants develop extremely dangerous fungal toxins. To lessen the chance of accidental poisoning, do not eat any fruit starting to spoil or showing signs of mildew or fungus.
• Plants of the same species may differ in their toxic or sub toxic compounds content because of genetic or environmental factors. One example of this is the foliage of the common chokecherry. Some chokecherry plants have high concentrations of deadly cyanide compounds but others have low concentrations or none. Horses have died from eating wilted wild cherry leaves. Avoid any weed, leaves, or seeds with an almond like scent, a characteristic of the cyanide compounds.
• Some people are more susceptible to gastric distress (from plants). If personnel are sensitive in this way, they should avoid unknown wild plants. If they are extremely sensitive to poison ivy, they should avoid products from this family, including any parts from sumacs, mangoes, and cashews.
• Some edible wild plants, such as acorns and water lily rhizomes, are bitter. These bitter substances, usually tannin compounds, make them unpalatable. Boiling them in several changes of water will usually remove these bitter properties.
• Many valuable wild plants have high concentrations of oxalate compounds, also known as oxalic acid. Oxalates produce a sharp burning sensation in the mouth and throat and damage the kidneys. Baking, roasting, or drying usually destroys these oxalate crystals. The corm (bulb) of the jack-in-the-pulpit is also known as the “Indian turnip,” but it can be eaten after removing these crystals by slow baking or by drying.

WARNING
Avoid mushrooms and fungi; they are not technically plants. Fungi have toxic peptides, a protein-based poison that has no taste. They are of little nutritional value and it is very difficult to determine if they are poisonous or safe to consume.
There is no field test for determining if an unknown mushroom or fungi is edible except by eating them. There are many poisonous varieties, and some wild mushrooms are hard for experts to identify. The lack of nutrients and the increased risk of accidental poisoning make them a nonviable food source.

• Avoid plants with umbrella-shaped flowers although carrots, celery, dill, and parsley are members of this family (see figure 4-2 on page 4-9). One of the most poisonous plants, water hemlock, is also a member of this family.

4-49. Avoid all of the following:

• All of the legume family (beans and peas). They absorb minerals from the soil and can cause digestive problems. Selenium is the most common mineral absorbed is which has given locoweed its fame. (Locoweed is a vetch, which is an herbaceous plant of the pea family).
• Plants with a milky sap; this is an indicator of a poisonous plant. Do not eat plants that are irritants to the skin, such as poison ivy.

4-50. Examples of poisonous bulbs include tulips and death camas. Also—

• Avoid white and yellow berries for they are frequently poisonous. About one-half of all red berries are poisonous. Blue or black berries are generally safe for consumption.
• Consider plants with shiny leaves as poisonous.
• The following are generally considered safe to eat:
• Aggregated fruits and berries (for example, thimbleberry, raspberry, salmonberry, and blackberry) are always edible.
• Single fruits on a stem.

Plant Identification

4-51. In addition to memorizing particular varieties through familiarity, plants may be identified by using such factors as—

• Leaf shape and margin.
• Leaf arrangements.
• Root structure.

4-52. The basic leaf margins are toothed, lobed, and toothless or smooth (see figure 4-3 on page 4-10).

4-53. Leaves may be lance-shaped, elliptical, egg-shaped, oblong, wedge-shaped, triangular, long- pointed, or top-shaped (see figure 4-4).

4-54. As shown in figure 4-5 on page 4-11, the basic types of leaf arrangements are opposite, alternate, compound, simple, and basal rosette.

4-55. The basic types of root structures, shown in figure 4-6 on page 4-12, are the taproot, tuber, bulb, rhizome, clove, corm, and crown. Bulbs (onions), when sliced in half, will show concentric rings. Cloves are those bulblike structures that remind us of garlic and will separate into small pieces when broken apart. This characteristic separates wild onions from wild garlic. Taproots resemble carrots and may be single-rooted or branched, but usually only one plant stalk arises from each root. Examples of tubers are potatoes and daylilies. Isolated persons will find these structures either on strings or in clusters underneath the parent plants. Rhizomes are large, creeping rootstock or underground stems. Many plants arise from the “eyes” of these roots. Corms are similar to bulbs but are solid when cut rather than possessing rings. A crown is the type of root structure found on plants such as asparagus. Crowns look much like a mop head under the soil’s surface.

4-56. Learn as much as possible about the unique characteristics of plants used for food. Some plants have both edible and poisonous parts. Many are edible only at certain times of the year. Others may have poisonous relatives that look very similar to the edible varieties of those used for medicinal purposes.

Plant Edibility Testing

4-57. Select plants that grow in sufficient quantity within the local area to justify the edibility test and provide a lasting source of food if the plant proves edible. Plants growing in water or moist soil are often the most palatable. Plants growing in shaded areas are less bitter. There are exceptions to every rule, but isolated persons should only select unknown plants as a last resort.

4-58. When selecting unknown plants for possible consumption, remember the poisonous characteristics to avoid. Apply the edibility test to only one plant at a time so if some abnormality does occur, it will be obvious which plant caused the problem. Once a plant has been selected to be tested, proceed as follows:

• Step 1. If there are any unpleasant odors such as a moldy or musty smell coming from the plant, stop testing and disregard as a possible edible plant option. Also, if the plant gives off an “almond” scent, disregard it as a possible edible plant option.
• Step 2. Crush or break part of the plant to determine the color of its sap. If the sap is clear, proceed to the next step.
• Step 3. Touch the plant’s sap or juice to the inner forearm. If there are no ill effects, such as a rash or burning sensation to the skin, then proceed with the rest of the steps.
• Step 4. If a there was not an ill reaction when touching the inner forearm, place some of the plant juice on the outer lip for eight minutes. If a reaction occurs, stop the test.
• Step 5. If still no reaction, taste a small pinch of the plant and leave it in the mouth for eight minutes. If there is an unpleasant taste, such as bitterness or a numbing sensation of the tongue or lips, stop the test. If a reaction does not occur, swallow the pinch of plant.

Note. Sometimes heavy smokers are unable to taste various poisons, such as alkaloids.

• Step 6. After swallowing, wait eight hours. If there is no reaction after eight hours, chew a handful of the plant, swallow, and wait an additional eight hours. If no reaction occurs after eight hours, consider the tested plant part edible.
• Step 7. Eat any new or strange food with restraint until the body has become accustomed to it. The plant may be slightly toxic and harmful when eaten in large quantities.

CAUTION
Test all parts of the plant for edibility, as some plants have both edible and inedible parts. Do not assume that a part that proved edible when cooked is also edible when raw. Test the part raw to ensure edibility before eating raw. The same part or plant may produce varying reactions in different individuals.

4-59. Before testing a plant for edibility, make sure there are enough plants to make the testing worth the time and effort. Each part of a plant (roots, leaves, flowers, and so on) requires more than 24 hours to test. Do not waste time testing a plant that is not relatively abundant in the area.

4-60. Remember that eating large portions of plant food on an empty stomach may cause diarrhea, nausea, or cramps. Two good examples of this are such familiar foods as green apples and wild onions. Even after testing plant food and finding it safe, eat it in moderation.

4-61. Testing for edibility involves considerable time, so it is important to be proficient at identifying edible plants. To avoid potentially poisonous plants, stay away from any wild or unknown plants that have—

• Milky or discolored sap.
• Beans, bulbs, or seeds inside pods.
• A bitter or soapy taste.
• Spines, fine hairs, or thorns.
• Foliage that resembles dill, carrot, parsnip, or parsley.
• An almond scent in woody parts and leaves.
• Grain heads with pink, purplish, or black spurs.
• A three-leafed growth pattern.

4-62. Using the above criteria as eliminators when choosing plants for the universal edibility test will cause isolated persons to avoid some edible plants. More important, these criteria will often help in avoiding plants that are potentially toxic to eat or touch. Personnel should learn as much as possible about the plant life of the areas where they train regularly and where they expect to be operating. The following are ten globally available plants to identify and use. These plants are in almost every biome:

• Cattail.
• Segmented grass.
• Dandelion.
• Aggregate berries.
• Thistle.
• Onions.
• Clover.
• Plantain.
• Wild rose hip.
• Fiddlehead fern.

4-63. The following are plants that are safe sources for food:

• Amaranth (amaranths retroflex and other species).
• Arrowroot (Sagittarius species).
• Asparagus (asparagus officials).
• Beechnut (fags species).
• Blackberries (rubes species).
• Blueberries (vaccinium species).
• Burdock (arctium lappa).
• Chestnut (castanea species).
• Chicory (cichorium intybus).
• Chufa (cyperus esculentus).
• Daylily (hemerocallis fulva).
• Nettle (urtica species).
• Oaks (quercus species).
• Persimmon (diospyros virginiana).
• Pokeweed (phytolacca Americana).
• Prickly pear cactus (opuntia species).
• Purslane (portulaca oleracea).
• Sassafras (sassafras albidum).
• Sheep sorrel (rumex acetosella).
• Strawberries (fragaria species).
• Water lily and lotus (nuphar, nelumbo, and other species).
• Wild onion and garlic (allium species).
• Wild rose (Rosa species).
• Wood sorrel (oxalis species).
• Bamboo (bambusa and other species).
• Bananas (musa species).
• Breadfruit (artocarpus incisa).
• Cashew (anacardium occidental).
• Coconut (cocoa nucifera).
• Mango (mangifera indica).
• Palms (various species).
• Papaya (carica species).
• Sugarcane (saccharum officinarum).
• Taro (colocasia species).
• Acacia (acacia farnesiana).
• Agave (agave species).
• Cactus (various species).
• Date palm (phoenix dactylifera).
• Desert amaranth (amaranths palmer).

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