By ELIAS YANOVSKY, chemist, Carbohydrate Research Division, Bureau of This publication is a summary of the records of food plants used by the Indians of the United States and Canada which have appeared in ethnobotanical publications during a period of nearly 80 years. This compilation, for which all accessible literature has been searched, was drawn up as a preliminary to work by the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils on the chemical constituents and food value of native North American plants. In a compilation of this sort, in which it is impossible to authenticate most of the botanical identifications because of the unavailability of the specimens on which they were based, occasional errors are unavoidable. All the botanical names given have been reviewed in the light of our present knowledge of plant distribution, however, and it is believed that obvious errors of identification have been eliminated. The list finds its justification as a convenient summary of the extensive literature and is to be used subject to confirmation and correction. In every instance brief references are made to the original authorities for the information cited. FREDERICK V. COVILLE, INTRODUCTION About 6 years ago the Carbohydrate Division of the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils undertook a systematic investigation of carbohydrates in plants. At the suggestion of C. A. Browne, attention was first given to plants used for food by the North American Indians (United States and Canada). As the study of these proceeded, the number of plants was found to be so great that it was suggested that 1 727 publication of the list itself might be of interest and real value to investigators in ethnobotany and plant chemistry. The original sources have therefore been gone over carefully to make the list as nearly complete as possible. It contains 1,112 species belonging to 444 genera of plants, distributed among 120 families. Communications pointing out omissions and errors in the compilation will be gratefully received. Since the author is not a botanist, the preparation of this list would scarcely have been practicable without the cooperation of botanists. The author is especially grateful to Frederick V. Coville for his interest in the work, to S. F. Blake, senior botanist, for revising the scientific nomenclature, and to Oliver M. Freeman, assistant botanist, for providing the common names of the plants. PLANTS ALGAE RHODOPHYCEAE Porphyra laciniata (Lightf.) Ag. Baked or chewed raw in California. Chesnut (8, p. 299).1 Porphyra vulgaris Ag. Cooked as greens on California coast. Palmer (37, p. 604); Rusby (53, p. 546). Agaricus campestris L. Eaten in California and by Iroquois Indians, although some Indians are superstitious about it. Chesnut (8, p. 301); Waugh (72, p. 121). Agaricus sp. Eaten in British Columbia and Alaska. Dall (14, p. 594) (as A. mutabilis); Teit (69, p. 483). Pleurotus ulmarius Bull. Young and tender fungus used by Dakota Indians. Gilmore (17, p. 61). Bovista plumbea Pers. LYCOPERDACEAE Young mushrooms used for food by Omaha Indians. Gilmore (17, p. 62). Calvatia cyathiformis (Bosc) Morg. Used by Omaha Indians. Gilmore (17, p. 62). Lycoperdon gemmatum Batsch Used fresh or roasted by Omaha Indians. Gilmore (17, p. 62). Lycoperdon giganteum Batsch Cooked, fried, and made into soup by Iroquois Indians. Waugh (72, p. 121). Lycoperdon sp. Eaten fresh or dried for winter use by Zuñi of New Mexico. (65, p. 69); Castetter (6, p. 33). Pachyma cocos Fries Stevenson "Tuckahoe" or "Indian bread", a large fungus growing on the roots of trees; used for food in the Southern States. Palmer (35, p. 423) (as Lycoperdon solidum); Gore (18, p. 687); Havard (24, p. 106); Willoughby (74, p. 86); Saunders (56, p. 39); Kephart (31, v. 2, p. 393). 1 Italic numbers in parentheses refer to Literature Cited, p. 65. POLYPORACEAE Boletus sp. A yellow and green fungus eaten in California. Chesnut (8, p. 301). Polyporus farlowii Lloyd The fungus is baked or boiled or stored for winter use in New Mexico. Castetter (6, p. 33). Polyporus sp. A fungus growing on the base of alder trees and on logs; eaten by Iroquois Indians, and also eaten in California. Chesnut (8, p. 300); Waugh (72, p. 121). Polystictus versicolor (L.) Fr. Boiled for food by Dakota Indians. Gilmore (17, p. 62). USTILAGINACEAE Ustilago maydis (DC.) Cda. Boiled for food by Omaha and Pawnee Indians. Gilmore (17, p. 62). HELVELLACEAE Morchella esculenta (L.) Pers. Boiled for food in Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Gilmore (17, p. 62). Morchella sp. Used for food by Iroquois Indians. Waugh (72, p. 121). Cooked for food by Menominee and Ojibway Indians. Smith (58, p. 60; 60, p. 406). Cetraria islandica (L.) Ach. PARMELIACEAE Used for food by various Indian tribes. Rusby (53). Parmelia physodes (L.) Ach. Cooked for soup in Wisconsin. Smith (61, p. 107). USNEACEAE Alectoria fremontii Tuckerm. A famine food in Montana, Oregon, and California. Coville (11, p. 87); Chesnut (8, p. 299); Blankinship (3, p. 5). Alectoria jubata (L.) Ach. A lichen growing on pine or fir trees in the region of the Columbia River. Boiled to a jellylike mass; also boiled with camas roots; collected in heaps, sprinkled with water, and allowed to ferment, then rolled into large balls and baked in an oven; cooked in pits in the ground between layers of grass. Palmer (35, p. 424); Havard (24, p. 113); Rusby (53); Wilson (75, p. 19); Anderson (1, p. 188); Teit (69, p. 483). PTERIDOPHYTA POLYPODIACEAE Dryopteris dilatata (Hoffm.) Underw. MOUNTAIN WOODFERN Rootstocks collected early in the spring and cooked in a stone-lined hole in the ground by Alaska Indians. Gorman (19, p. 78) (as Aspidium spinulosum dilatatum). Onoclea sensibilis L. Rootstocks used by Iroquois Indians. Waugh (72, p. 118). SENSITIVE FERN |