Missouri’s landscape is filled with a diversity of flora; some are good enough to eat. Collecting wild edibles can start in your front yard.
Dandelions are a great way to start since they are easy to identify, and all parts are considered edible.
Collect flower buds to pickle for a caper-like treat. Collect leaves for an addition to a salad. Collect fully-bloomed flowers to make jelly that tastes like honey or batter and fry the flowers similar to squash flowers.
Dandelions can be identified by their toothy, deeply notched leaves that form a rosette, but the most distinguishing characteristic is the bright yellow flowerhead. Flowering occurs from early spring to late autumn.
Although many think of morels when considering mushroom hunting, summer mushrooms like chanterelles are also a delightful treat.
From the Missouri Department of Conservation online field guide, “Chanterelles are funnel- or trumpet-shaped and have wavy cap edges. Most are bright orange or yellow, although one, the black trumpet, is brownish black.
“Fresh chanterelles have a pleasant, fruity fragrance. To make sure you have a chanterelle, check the underside of the cap. Some species of chanterelles are nearly smooth underneath, while others have a network of wrinkles or gill-like ridges running down the stem.
“The ridges have many forks and crossveins and are always blunt-edged. Chanterelles do not have true gills, such as those found on the poisonous but similar jack-o’-lantern mushroom, which are sharp-edged and knifelike.”
Only eat mushrooms you know are safe. To be sure, consult A Guide to Missouri’s Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms at MushroomGuide.pdf.
There are a few precautions before collecting wild edibles. If in doubt of the identification of any wild edible, do not eat it.
When trying a new wild edible, taste a small bit as a test instead of eating all of it at once as some people have adverse reactions to common wild edible plants.
Wild edibles should only be collected from areas that are free from contamination and be cleaned thoroughly to reduce risk of ingesting insects, debris, or unexpected contaminants.
Know the rules of harvesting native plants: which plants you can harvest and where. Enjoy the resources of wild edibles in your neck of the woods.
Share your discoveries with MDC by email at shoal.creek@mdc.mo.gov. For more resources and recipes, visit: https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/recipes.
Shoal Creek Conservation Education Center in northern Newton County is open Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
