OOOOH! Have I posted about this before?

[conuly]

Nature tours - finding edible plants! I've got to go to one.

And they've got them through December! I think I may have found Jenn's next birthday present. If I don't give her free babysitting again, that is.

Isn't this the coolest thing ever? (I've had the site for a few months now, let's be honest, but I didn't realize they ran into the winter like that.)

Here's a question now, before I sign myself up for one of these and drag Elise with me (she needs something to do): Most people in the world around me seem to think that virtually everything out there will kill you.

But I'm thinking, munching on the oh-so-poisonous mulberries - is that true? I mean, we evolved on this planet. Is everything really poisonous, or is most of it harmless or at least only mildly toxic to us? I'm not about to start tasting everything to check, of course - it just is a question that has popped into my head.

And another question, which maybe somebody has an answer to. There's a tree I've only ever seen on Staten Island. It looks a lot like a Honey Locust, but the thorns are only on the trunk, in huge clumps that complete encircle it for a bit, then stop. So it's trunk, trunk, CIRCLE OF THORNS!!!!!, trunk, trunk. There are smaller clumps on the rest of the trunk (that show signs of growing into the aforementioned thorncircles), and a few clumpettes on the larger limbs - but they aren't evenly spread out on branches the way the thorns on Honey Locusts appear to be. Any ideas?

Comments

[appadil.livejournal.com]

Evolving on the planet doesn't mean all that much- the toxic flora (and fauna) evolved here too, and that's their primary defense mechanism. If the toxins they produce are no longer toxic to their predators, they tend not to pass on their genes as well as others who've stayed current in the biological arms race.

Nonetheless, wild plants tend to not be as poisonous overall as most people think, and wild mushrooms even more so- the vast majority fall into the general categories of "tastes foul", "inedible", or "mildly toxic to most people", especially if their toxins are aimed specifically at something something that's not you. If you're willing to spend hours and hours carefully monitoring yourself for side effects, it's definitely possible to survive by foraging.

...That being said, there ARE plenty of things out there that will kill you in various nasty ways, some of which look practically identical to things which are harmless, and some "harmless" edible species have toxins in other parts which we don't normally eat. Some plants which are very poisonous to humans are harmless to various other animals, and people are genetically or biologically hypersensitive to certain toxins and what might only rank as "mildly unpleasant" to someone else could require and ER visit for them. Additionally, sometimes completely harmless and edible species can become effectively poisonous if there's enough toxins in the environment... or if they're growing on something else with toxins of its own. Careless collecting and letting different specimens touch each other too much can also contaminate nonpoisonous species.

So, overall- nature is not out to get you, but it pays to be careful, no matter how experienced you get.

[appadil.livejournal.com]

As my perserverations lean more towards mycology in particular than general botany, I can't speak much for the rest of the website you linked, but this guy's mushroom knowledge is spot-on, as far as I can tell. (He even discusses Inky Caps and how they interfere with the body's ability to metabolize alcohol! ) If he's as good with plants as he is with fungi, you'd be in good hands with someone like him as your guide.

[conuly]

He has so many tours set up, and sanctioned in big parks like Prospect Park and Central Park, I assume he at least isn't killing most of his clients :)

But your comments are definitely reassuring.

[conuly]

Evolving on the planet doesn't mean all that much- the toxic flora (and fauna) evolved here too, and that's their primary defense mechanism.

Yes of course! It just makes sense to me that we'd evolve so not everything is gonna get us by nature - though it might most of it taste bad, as you said.

So, overall- nature is not out to get you, but it pays to be careful, no matter how experienced you get.

Yes, definitely, and thank you for the thought-out-ed-ness.

[appadil.livejournal.com]

Yes of course! It just makes sense to me that we'd evolve so not everything is gonna get us by nature - though it might most of it taste bad, as you said.

Like I said, it's an arms race- sometimes we're behind, sometimes we're ahead, a lot of the time it's fairly even. There are some poisons like amatoxins that will kill you very nastily, and others like mint oil that we're so immune to by now that they're not even considered toxic. (And then there are non-toxic defense mechanisms like thorns.) Additionalyl, some of nature is actually more or less on our side. Many plants are more than 'willing' to let animals chew on parts of them if it means their pollen or seeds will get distributed better. Fruits and berries in particular are often meant to be eaten, albeit not always by humans or other mammals.

Yes, definitely, and thank you for the thought-out-ed-ness.
I'm glad I was able to be of help.

[appadil.livejournal.com]

Er... scratch that about the mint, probably. A significant part of its harmlessness is probably because we're not the intended targets rather than because of evolution... capsaicin would have been a more accurate example, but it's late here and I'm starting to get a bit muzzy.