What my friends planned to be a weekend Morel (Morchella sp.) foray in the Methow
Valley turned into a timely harvest of a variety of root vegetables, many of which I have long
wanted to try. It wasn’t an intentional
bait and switch, the Morels just weren’t out yet, and the roots were.
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| Glacier Lily (Erythronium grandiflorum) |
We were still descending from Washington Pass
near Mazama when I pulled the car off the road to “see about a plant.” A glimmer of yellow caught my eye on a snowless
north facing slope and I instantly knew it to be Glacier Lily (Erythronium grandiflorum). They have a knack for springing up and
brandishing their relatively large flowers as soon as the snow has melted.
Glacier Lilies were a staple root vegetable
for the Blackfoot, Okanagan-Colville, Shuswap, and Thompson (See Native American Food Plants). The roots (corms), were occasionally eaten
raw, but more commonly steamed, boiled, or sun dried. The raw corms were said by some to be inedible, and by others to not be as sweet as the dried roots.
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| Unearthed corms of Glacier Lily |
My friends and I harvested a half dozen Glacier
Lily corms by following the long tender flower stalks 3-5 inches into the damp
soil. I learned that they are easier to
gather by starting a deep hole next to a good sized clump and then extending
the hole sideways until the corms are visible. Each corm has a delicate string like
appendage that easily breaks off. According
to Dawn Lowen—who studied the nutritional chemistry, ethnobotany, and ecology
of Glacier Lilies with Thompson elder Mary Thomas—these appendages are capable
of regenerating into new plants and were carefully replanted to ensure future
harvests.
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| Glacier Lily corm clean and ready to be eaten |
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| Glacier Lily leaf |
I found the raw corms to be amazingly sweet,
which was corroborated by Lowen’s phytochemical analysis. She measured sugar concentrations that peaked when
the Glacier Lilies are flowering. I also
enjoyed the fresh flowering stalks and leaves, but I felt like the leaves were
slightly acrid (more subtle than the raw leaves of Siberian Miner’s Lettuce or
Curly Dock). Cooking will likely improve
the flavor of both the corms and leaves. I transplanted several corms into my
home-garden to propagate for further experimentation.
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| Several flowering stems on a large Mountain Potato |
While tromping through recently burned forests
looking for Morels, I came across the small succulent leaves and Miner’s
Lettuce-like flowers of another long anticipated wild food -- Mountain
Potato. Mountain Potato (Claytonia lanceolata) is actually a
close relative of Miner’s Lettuce (C.
perfoliata), but instead of having the spindly roots of an annual, Mountain
Potato has a pea to cherry sized starchy tuber that persists from year to year.
Mountain Potatoes were traditionally eaten by
the same people that ate Glacier Lilies.
They were consumed fresh or boiled and often stored fresh in large
quantities for use during the winter (See Native American Food Plants). For further reading, also read Carla Mellott's superb
Master’s Thesis on the ‘Tsilhqot’in ethnobotany and ecology of Mountain Potato.
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| A medium sized Mountain Potato (Claytonia lanceolata) |
Unlike many root vegetables in the interior,
Mountain Potatoes are relatively easy to harvest. The tubers are only 1-2 inches below the surface
and they often grow from underneath rocks, which can simply be picked up to
reveal the tubers. Depending on the elevation,
the specimens that I collected were either in full flower, or were just
starting to go to seed (which is when they were traditionally collected). I found the tender leaves to be delicious
with nearly the same flavor as Miner’s Lettuce.
The tubers have a very starchy texture and neutral flavor.
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| Ballhead Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum capitatum) |
The sea-anemone like flowers of Ballhead
Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum capitatum)
also caught my attention. After my recent
success with Pacific Waterleaf (H.
tenuipes) I decided to give its cousin from the Eastern Cascades a
try. There is little ethnobotanical
literature on Ballhead Waterleaf but George Dawson noted in 1891 that the
Shuswap harvested Ballhead Waterleaf roots in June from Botanie Valley. Nancy Turner, James Teit, and Elsie Steedman also
noted that the roots were commonly cooked and eaten by the Thompson and
Okanagan. The fleshy, spreading roots
are fairly easy to unearth. I sampled
one raw and found it to have a stringy and juicy texture and bland flavor.  |
| The stubby fingerlike roots of Ballhead Waterleaf |
I also harvested some Arrow-leaved Balsamroot
(Balsamorhiza sagittata) and a couple
species of Biscuitroot (Lomatium spp.)
which I hope to cook and provide an update on their palatability in the coming
days.
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| The hunters and hunted (in total!). Too early for Methow Morels |
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