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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 12, 2018 15:07:49 GMT -5
Most of you won't care, but I am constantly battling this stuff, picking the seeds off my socks and shoes. Later on in the summer when it gets tall, the prickly seeds can also get on my shorts, shirts, and even in my hair. Today I learned that I can eat it - at least the younger leaves and flower petals: www.eattheweeds.com/spanish-needles-pitchfork-weed/I'll have to try some in a few months when it's everywhere. |
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Post by paulf on Feb 12, 2018 22:50:28 GMT -5
We call it Devil's Pitchfork here and it as nasty as weeds get other than what we call Cat's Claw. The seeds get spread around by every animal passing by, including humans. No way I would eat anything as nasty as that.
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stone
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Post by stone on Feb 14, 2018 17:02:22 GMT -5
Yeah, yeah.... Edible, cook like spring greens.... Also supposed to be medicinal... Good for your kidneys and stuff. Some people say that the medicinals are aggressive so that we would notice them... bidens is also supposed to be a positive force of nature for attracting pollinators... Edit: Read the article... Green dean mentions edibility, medicinal, and pollinators... Seems like I didn't add anything to the thread. I have a couple different kinds of bidens... One of my varieties can not be grown in the soil at my house... Voles get it as quick as i set the plants out! paulf "cat's claw" = martynia? |
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Post by paulf on Feb 14, 2018 22:53:41 GMT -5
stone: I think it is actually "smilax" or greenbriar. A nasty, thorny vine
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Post by bestofour on Feb 14, 2018 23:37:13 GMT -5
the pictures of Spanish Needle and Devil's Pitchfork don't look like the same plant to me. From the pictures and what I can see we have both plants here but Spanish needle isn't horrible to have but devil's pitchfork is. Whatever the case I'm not eating either of them.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 15, 2018 11:07:36 GMT -5
Spanish Needle is a different Bidens species than Devil's Pitchfork. Spanish Needle is promiscuous - those seeds stick to everything, but other than that it is not that bad. It uproots easily so if you get to it before it sets seed it is not hard to eradicate. And the bees absolutely ADORE it. When it's in bloom, it is abuzz with honeybees, bumblebees, and native bees, as well as butterflies. It is one of the major wild nectar sources for pollinators here in Florida. I haven't tasted it yet, so I don't know if this is a food I would happily eat  , or just a bit of information to store away for a survival situation  . |
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Post by ladymarmalade on Feb 15, 2018 12:05:24 GMT -5
I don't think we have those here, but I have to say, that article did not sway me at all in thinking that this is something that really should be eaten. I mean, maybe if it had a few more descriptors of how delicious and nutritious it is (like stinging nettle supposedly is). But "a few young leaves at a time" and "if they are a bit tangy let them sit cooked for a few minutes" are not exactly glowing recommendations to me.  You'll have to give us a report if you try them. |
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stone
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Post by stone on Feb 16, 2018 8:30:42 GMT -5
stone: I think it is actually "smilax" or greenbriar. A nasty, thorny vine You have smilax vines up in Nebraska? Really thought greenbriar was a southern thing. Hope that you'll make it easier on us by using botanical names in the future... My other guess was going to be a bush known as "cat claw" out west... www.fireflyforest.com/flowers/64/acacia-greggii-catclaw-acacia/Incidentally, if you pick the growing tips, many varieties of smilax are quite tasty... Some are not. I wouldn't bother with the tubers...  They sure look like they should be food... I toss them on the burn pile. I see a lot of smilax tubers....  |
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 16, 2018 11:43:53 GMT -5
stone, you're right that I should have included the botanical name since weeds' common names can definitely be local or regional. So others may know completely different plants as "Spanish Needle." In my original post, I am referring to Bidens alba.
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Post by paulf on Feb 16, 2018 20:16:50 GMT -5
Found a photo and description of my nasty thorned vine. It is Smilax Bona-nox. We do have a variety in southeast Nebraska. I will have to dig the thing up and see if it has tubers.  |
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 17, 2018 12:13:22 GMT -5
Ooh, that's nasty-looking. And it's nothing at all like the plant I referred to in the OP.
I do have a similar-looking weed down here. I don't know what it's called; I just call it "those evil thorny vines." It's hard to kill, too.
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stone
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Post by stone on Feb 19, 2018 13:05:20 GMT -5
That does have a tuber... Not as nice as what I posted... But, yeah.... I have that one too... 4 or 5 different varieties..
Useta run into it back in my tree planting days... Strap 500 or a thousand pine seedlings on yer back, take off planting, come back with the shirt ripped off your back....
Rather than calling it cat claw... Try "organic barbed wire".
Not at all hard to kill... Dig it up with a mattock, toss entire thing on burn pile... Plant vegetables. Nothing to it.
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, or just a bit of information to store away for a survival situation 
. 
