Page 101 - The Forager’s Guide to Wild Foods

Pond Lily/Cow-Lily, Nuphar

lutea (NYMPHAEACEAE)

COW-LILY or YELLOW POND LILY is an aquatic plant HOW TO HARVEST AND EAT: Ensure the water
found in shallow marshes, ponds, swamps, lakes, and source you are harvesting from is free of contami-
slow-moving rivers. The plant grows to 3 ft. (1m) as a nants. Young leaves are good in soups. Roots can be
rhizomatous perennial and spreads 6 ft. (2m). Seed- eaten peeled and boiled in several changes of water,
pods look like little flasks and the flowers smell like roasted, or it can be then dried and pounded into flour.
brandy, leading to one of its common names, Brandy They are very tannic and bitter. Harvest in spring. The
Bottle. seeds can be cooked, fried, or popped. They are easi-
FLOWER: Each flower grows on a separate stem that est to harvest when the seedpods turn brown in late
sits a few inches above water. Flowers are bright yel- summer or early fall. The fruit will burst on its own
low, ½ to 2 ½ inches (4-5.5cm), and have rounded to distribute its seeds in the water. Seeds swell when
petals, that are thick and waxy. The 5-6 sepals are lightly fried in oil or roasted in the oven, and make a
longer than the petals and flowers close in the after- great snack.
noon. They develop into fat pods about ½ an inch (5 POPPED LILY SEEDS: Gather fruit. Allow it to dry
cm) long that contain numerous seeds and are slimy until seed harvest is possible. Clean seeds from fruit
inside when still green. Yellow pond lilies flower any- and dry further. When ready to eat, heat a pan with
time from March to October. a lid, add oil. Put seeds in oil, place lid, and move pan

LEAF: The shape and size of the leaves vary greatly, continuously over heat until seeds have popped (note
but often they are large, rounded, fan or heart-shaped. they “crack” more than “pop”). Season to taste.
The green leaves grow anywhere from 4-15 inches WARNING: Best to consume in moderation, as large
(10-40cm) in diameter, having long stems that reach quantities may be poisonous.
down to the roots at the bottom of the water body.
POISONOUS LOOK-ALIKES: Tuberous Water Lily,
EDIBLE PARTS: roots, young leaves, stems, and seeds Nymphaea tuberosa - Some report that flower buds

KEY MEDICINAL USES: The herb is thought to be as- are toxic once they have matured and opened, yet oth-
tringent, cooling and soothing. It is used as a wound ers report roots are edible.
poultice.

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