Does any one know of edible plans in southwest nevada?

[Vendoh]

I know some like the prickily pear can be eaten, and the creasote bush can be chewed on. Some others I am familiar with too. However does anyoen know any more out here?

[Straight Razor]

That's a hard area..... look into Tull's book edible and useful plants of Texas and the southwest (it is not a picture ID book but more of a list. She was a botany professor.) That said.... The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America does list after each of the 4,000 plants where they are generally found. One could go through the book page by page and mark off the local ones by checking against the USDA maps online.

[FreedomoftheHills]

I'm guessing that you probably have pinyon pines, sego lilies (edible bulbs) and mesquite where you are. Perhaps go to your local library and look at books on wild edibles in your area, for a start.

Or, try this book:

Amazon.com: Gathering the Desert: Gary Paul...
Amazon.com: Gathering the Desert: Gary Paul...

and check with the folks at the Native Plant Society of New Mexico:

http://npsnm.unm.edu/

[thetoad45]

Here you go.
1. Taste of nature
2. Going to seed
Both are by Kahanah Farnsworth and both are about edible plants of the desert southwest. I have both and really like them. I think you can get them at amazon.com. Tells you how to prepare them also. The reason I like them is that while there are a lot of drawings, in the back is a section of color photos. Nothing beats a good photo.... Hope this helps.

[Straight Razor]

Originally Posted by thetoad45

Tells you how to prepare them also. The reason I like them is that while there are a lot of drawings, in the back is a section of color photos. Nothing beats a good photo.... .

A good drawing is far better than a good photo. A drawing is organized around key points that need to be checked off. Photos often do not look like the plant you have in front of you.

[thetoad45]

I have the hardest time identifying plants using a drawing. Especially if it is in black and white. Glad it works for you. I'll stick with the photo though. Whatever works. :-)

[WeakenedWarrior]

I dont have experience foraging in SW Nevada, but I do believe that is still part of the Great Basin, which I do have experience in further north. Here is a list of edible plants that can be found in the Great Basin that you could look into for your area:

1. Pinyon Pine - Pine nuts are very nutritious and tasty too. They were a staple in the diet of Native Americans. The needles can also be steeped to make a Vitamin C rich tea.
2. Juniper - Berries are edible.
3. Buffaloberry - Berries are edible.
4. Wild Rose - Rose hips are edible and high in Vitamin C.
5. Saltbrush - Young leaves are edible. Seeds can be ground into meal.
6. Sulfur Flower - Large root is edible.
7. Wild Grape - Edible fruit.
8. Chokecherry - Fruit is sour but edible. Can be used to make pemmican. DO NOT eat the leaves which contain cyanide.
9. Serviceberry - Same as above.
10. Elderberry - Same as above.
11. Gooseberry / Currant - Same as above.
12. Willow - Bark has medicinal properties for pain and fever (contains same ingredient used in aspirin).
13. Mormon Tea - Stems can be made into tea for cold and cough decongestant (contains ephedra).
14. Skunkbrush Sumac - Berries are edible.
15. Manzanita - Berries are edible.
16. Arrowleaf Balsamroot - Roots and seeds are edible. Leaves and stems have medicinal properties.
17. Wildrye - Seeds are edible.
18. Dandelion - Root, leaves and flower are edible.
19. Princes Plume - Stems and leaves are edible.
20. Ricegrass - Seeds are edible and high in protein.
21. Sego Lily - Bulbs are edible and highly nutritious.
22. Maple - Sap is used to make syrup and as sweetener.
23. Oak - Acorns are edible and nutritious but require special processing to remove bitter tannic acid.
24. Fireweed - Young leaves and shoots are edible.
25. Cattail - Tubers, young shoots and green spikes and yellow pollen are edible.
26. Yucca - Flowers and seeds are edible. Soap can be made from roots.
27. Prickle Pear Cactus - Inside of fruits and pads are edible.

[Demonaci]

Hey guys i was wondering is sage brush edible to eat or not cause i go out hiking alot of times and most of the time i dont bring any food with and just live off the wild and i havent had any luck with stuff. and Thanks weekend warrior for those plants

[lanahi]

Originally Posted by Demonaci

Hey guys i was wondering is sage brush edible to eat or not cause i go out hiking alot of times and most of the time i dont bring any food with and just live off the wild and i havent had any luck with stuff. and Thanks weekend warrior for those plants

It is the same plant as the sage in your spice rack. It is edible, but it can cause serious kidney irritation if eaten in excess. This is true of many plants. Best thing is to learn more of the plants so you don't have to depend on one or two. There is food all around you.
I would also look at S.W. American Indian traditional foods. Besides their gardens and hunting, they also made much use of the wild plants around them for both food and medicine. Can't beat the old timers for their expert knowledge. Check those books out from the library and, if you don't see any, ask if they can get one from the interlibrary loan.

I have the book :"The Tumbleweed Gourmet" by Carolyn Niethammer which has recipes as well as ID of the plant. They are all line drawings, though. It covers cactuses, acorns, mesquite, amaranth, miner's lettuce, monkey flower, pepper grass, wild mustard, watercress, tumbleweed, poverty weed, cheese weed, purslane, cattails, jojoba, buffalo gourd, and halophytes of all kinds. This doesn't even start to describe all the edible wild plants in the southwest. I harvested manzanita berries and a pin cherries in Arizona, for instance.

Look in www.amazon.com for southwestern plants too and see what the customer's reviews say.
This one looks like a good book "Wild Plants and Native Peoples of the Four Corners", describing ALL uses made by Indians of the native plants:

Amazon.com: Wild Plants and Native Peoples of the...
Amazon.com: Wild Plants and Native Peoples of the...

[Hick Industries]

While I have always contended that Nevada should be rectangular (so I can stop paying California taxes), the state really does not have a SW corner. I am guessing you want to know the edible plants of the high desert and the great basin.

The desert Piute were the only permanent indians in this area and even they lived in the mountain ranges most of the year. The only real common plants they used as food sources were Pinon pine nuts, acorn, and mesquite beans found in the mountain and canyons.

All these foods were seasonal, which should be a hint why the area will not support large human populations without significant importation of water, electricity, food, and fuel.

Just like a major city, if we loose transportation and/or electrical power, everyone in this area (my home for 26 years) will have to leave or they will die.

[razadp]

The sagebrush growing in the dry prairies in NOT the same as your spicerack (Salvia Officinalus). Not even the same genus. Artemesia spp.

Its not edible for nutrition, but may be used for certain medical purposes (intestinal parasites, tea for wound washing, etc) Large amount cause liver poisoning.

[YankeeGal]

Originally Posted by Hick Industries

While I have always contended that Nevada should be rectangular (so I can stop paying California taxes), the state really does not have a SW corner. I am guessing you want to know the edible plants of the high desert and the great basin.

The desert Piute were the only permanent indians in this area and even they lived in the mountain ranges most of the year. The only real common plants they used as food sources were Pinon pine nuts, acorn, and mesquite beans found in the mountain and canyons.

All these foods were seasonal, which should be a hint why the area will not support large human populations without significant importation of water, electricity, food, and fuel.

Just like a major city, if we loose transportation and/or electrical power, everyone in this area (my home for 26 years) will have to leave or they will die.

I have to agree with you. That is one thing that has always bothered me about living in Southern Nevada. No water other than Lake Mead, no real natural edible plants, lot of black widows, rattlesnakes, and bark scorpions. And trying to have a garden here is nearly a waste of time due to the heat, dry humidity, and harsh sunlight.