Five Plants to Forage in the Fall - Fall Root Foraging

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In this video I show five plants you can forage for in the fall. Specifically I describe some edible and medicinal uses for five different roots that are best harvested in the fall or spring.

Chicory - Cichorium intybus
Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale
Curly Dock AKA Yellow Dock and Sour Dock - Rumex crispus
Burdock - Arctium minus
Mullein - Verbascum thapsus

Chicory - Cichorium intybus

Identification of Chicory

Chicory has dandelion like leaves with hair on the underside of the midvein. It grows a long spindly flowering stalk with blue flowers. Chicory is a perennial, and the roots are best harvested between the fall and spring.

Edible Uses for Chicory

Chicory roots can be eaten raw or cooked. They can also be split, dried, roasted, ground, and used as a coffee substitute.

Medicinal Uses of Chicory

Chicory root tea/coffee has been used to stimulate bile secretion and urination. It is also used to treat liver problems, skin problems, rheumatism, and inflammation. Studies have shown that chicory root can lower blood sugar, and it is slightly sedative, a mild laxative, and anti-inflammatory.

Curly Dock - Rumex crispus AKA Yellow Dock and Sour Dock

Identification of Curly Dock

Curly dock has lance-shaped leaves with wavy edges. The taproot is yellow to orange. The seeds are reddish brown with three sided bracts around them that are heart shaped with visible veins and a bulbous projection on one side. Curly dock is perennial, and the roots are best harvested between the fall and spring.

Curly Dock is Edible

The root is edible but very bitter. It is said to be an excellent source of iron, and the root can be cut up, dried, roasted, and used as a coffee substitute.

Medicinal Uses for Curly Dock

The roots can be used to make a tea or tincture which has been used for purifying the blood, stimulating the river, and some say it helps to eliminate heavy metals such as lead and arsenic. The roots can also help to balance hormones in the body. Curly dock is described as an alterative due to its overall balancing effect on the body. It's been used to treat skin conditions such as acne, eczema, and to help with menstruation issues such as reducing cramping and flooding. Topically the roots have been used on all sorts of skin issues like pimples, eczema, rashes, warts, and more. Curly dock root is also a mild laxative.

Burdock spp.

Common Burdock, Lesser Burdock - Arctium minus

Great Burdock, Greater Burdock - Arctium lappa

Woolly Burdock - Arctium tomentosum

In North America there are three kinds of burdock species. Common burdock, great burdock, and woolly burdock. They are all described as alteratives for their balancing effect on the body. They are edible and medicinal and have been used to purify the blood to improve liver, kidney, and the lymphatic system to which can help improve skin conditions such as acne, eczema, psoriasis and more. They have also been used to treat things like rheumatism or pain in the muscles, joints, and connective tissue.

Please consume wild plants at your own risk! Consult multiple reliable sources before consuming any wild plants! This video is for information and entertainment only!

References

Gray, Beverley. The Boreal Herbal: Wild Food and Medicine Plants of the North. Aroma Borealis Press. 2011.

Kloos, Scott. Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants. Timber Press, Inc. 2017

MacKinnon, A. Edible and Medicinal Plants of Canada. Lone Pine Media Productions (BC) Ltd. 2014.

Parish, R.; Coupe, R.; and Lloyd, D. Plants of the Inland Northwest and Southern Interior British Columbia. BC Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing. 2018

Pojar, Jim and MacKinnon, Andy. Plants of Coastal British Columbia including Washington, Oregon & Alaska. BC Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing. 2004.

Turner, N. J. Food Plants of Interior First Peoples. Royal BC Museum. 2014