Page 189 - The Forager’s Guide to Wild Foods

Magnolia (Southern), Magnolia

grandiflora (MAGNOLIA)

SOUTHERN MAGNOLIA is a flowering evergreen tree
nthat grows 50-90 ft. (15-27m) tall, has a wide conical
to rounded crown and a straight trunk of up to 3 ft. (1m)
Acabashi, CC-BY-SA-4.0
in diameter. Wooly brown hairs cover the tree’s thick
twigs. Its pale bark develops tight scales with maturity.

FLOWER AND FRUIT: Giant cup-shaped flowers,
cream-white and fragrant, bloom singly in the leaf ax-
ils from late spring to autumn. Measuring 6–8 inches
(15–20cm) wide, each flower has 6-15 thick petals. The
aggregate fruits are 3–5 inches (8–13cm) across, cone- Marija Gajic, CC-BY-SA-4.0
like, and yellowish to reddish-brown.
bay leaves to flavor soups or for tea. Buds, leaves,
LEAF: Lustrous leaves are simple, alternate and 5–10
and flowers are also good pickled. All parts are best
inches (13–25cm) long. Thick, leathery, dark green, they
cooked or pickled.
have an oval to elliptical shape and smooth edges.
PICKLED MAGNOLIA LEAVES: (recipe credit: Jessica
EDIBLE PARTS: flower petals, flower buds, leaves
Carew Craft): Collect about a jar’s worth of unblem-
KEY MEDICINAL USES: This plant is anti-inflammato- ished leaves, load them into a jar and fill it to the
ry, antispasmodic, and hypotensive. Bark has been used brim with rice wine vinegar. Cap it tightly and leave
for arthritis, sores, and itchiness. Seeds are used to re- it for 2 weeks somewhere cool and dry. Leaves will
duce muscle spasms and high blood pressure. be pickled, and are an excellent substitute for pick-
HOW TO HARVEST AND EAT: Petals are gingery and led ginger, with more of a floral taste. You can eat
floral, with notes of cardamom. Harvest flowers and them as a palate cleanser, with sushi, or on a plate
leaves between May and June. Leaves can be used like with other pickled veggies and crudites.

Maple (Bigleaf), Acer
macrophyllum (SAPINDACEAE)

BIGLEAF MAPLE is the largest maple species on the
continent, growing 50-80 ft. (15-24m) tall. Branches
are frequently covered with mosses, lichens, and ferns.
Walter Siegmund, CC-BY-SA-3.0
Thriving in moist, well-drained soils, it is especially
abundant in mixed evergreen forests.
FLOWER AND FRUIT: Fragrant male and female flow-
ers, which occur together on the same tree, are 0.3 inch-
es (0.8cm) across. They are borne on 4-8 inch (10-20cm)
long cylindrical racemes between April and May. Single
seeds are produced in bristly green 2-winged samaras, Superfantastic, CC-BY-2.0
about 1 ½ inches (4 cm) long. They ripen between Sep-
drink or boiled into syrup. Tap the trunk in early
tember to October.
spring. Flowers are rich with nectar and can be used
LEAF: Large glossy leaves are deciduous and deeply
in salads or made into fritters, and are one of my fa-
5-lobed, measuring 4-10 inches (10-25 cm) long and vorite spring treats.
wide. Young leaves emerge burgundy-tinted, maturing
BIGLEAF MAPLE FLOWER FRITTERS: Ingredients:
to dark green before finally turning yellow and orange
maple flower clusters, ½ cup flour, ½ tsp. baking
in the fall. The leaf stems contain a milky sap.
powder, 1 pinch salt, 2 eggs, ¼ cup milk, ¼ cup oil. In
EDIBLE PARTS: sap, flowers
a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. In a sec-
KEY MEDICINAL USES: Raw sap is a tonic. ond bowl, whisk eggs with milk. Heat oil in a pan. Dip
HOW TO HARVEST AND EAT: Sap is not as sweet as flower clusters in egg mixture and roll them in flour.
sugar maple sap, but sugary enough to be sipped as a Place them in a pan and fry on each side until golden.
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