Spring Weeding = Free Food

The tasty tuber from the common southern weed, Florida betony (Stachys floridana).  Some say it resembles a rattlesnakes tail, hence one of the common names, rattlesnake weed.

       Two common north Florida lawn and garden weeds are Florida betony (Stachys floridana) and the wild onion or meadow garlic (Allium canadense).  Both weeds have underground structures that store energy.  The Florida betony has a tuber (an underground, energy storing root) while the wild onion has a bulb (an underground, energy storing stem).  If the tubers and/or bulbs are not removed with the weed, new shoots will sprout and the weeds persist.  Many gardeners spend a lot of time digging up the tubers and bulbs in order to remove the weeds.  However, a lot of people I have talked to do not know that the underground parts of the plants that they worked so hard to remove can be eaten*, and are actually pretty good.  In fact, one spring while I was clearing a garden plot I removed hundreds of wild onion bulbs and betony tubers.  At the time, I knew about wild onions so I ate some and dried the rest, but I discarded all of the betony.  Now I know better.

      You don't have to look hard to find these plants.  Onions stand out in early spring because the bright green of their leaves contrast with the darker green or brown grass.  In late spring they form bulbets (little bulbs) on a stalk making them easier to identify.  The bulbs, bulbets, and leaves of the wild onion can all be used.  In my experience the bulbs have the strongest flavor.  They are similar to white onions, but a little spicier.  There are many species of wild onions (in addition to Allium canadense) and some of them produce small bulbs.  Even if bulbs are present, they are sometimes difficult to unearth.  In these cases, it may be more effective to just harvest the bulbets growing on the flower stalk, and the leaves.  If you are mowing your lawn and smell onions, you probably have some in your yard.  In fact, if you find what you believe is a wild onion smell it to make sure it is an onion.  If it doesn't smell like onions, Do Not Eat It.  There are some morphologically similar (similar looking) species that are poisonous, such as death camas (Zigadenus venenosus), but they lack the distinctive onion smell (Elias and Dykeman 1990). In fact, while working in the upland desert of Wyoming, I frequently saw wild onions intermingled with death camas.  I have never noticed any death cams species in Florida, but a quick search of the FSU Herbarium specimens revealed that the sandbog death camas (Zigadenus glaberrimus) does live in Florida.  However to a trained eye, the death camas and onions are easily distinguishable.

Although the bulbets are small, they are easier to harvest than the underground bulbs.  Sometimes it is faster to just quickly grab a bunch of the bulbets instead of spending a lot of time unearthing the larger underground bulbs.

Although this toxic death camas (Zigadenus venenosus) may look like a wild onion (to some) at first glance, a closer examination reveals that it is not.  The flower structures are different and the death camas has no onion scent.

      Florida betony can be identified by its square stems (which it shares with other member of the mint family), pink white or blue flowers, scalloped leaf margins, and its tuber that some say resembles a rattlesnake's tail, hence the common name rattlesnake weed (NC State University, A&T State University Cooperative Extension).  Green Deane at Eat the Weeds says the greens are also edible, but I have only had the root (Betony: Rich Root, Poor Root).  He also created a video describing the plant and its use.  If you are interested in wild edibles, check out his website.

      If you do decide to try these plants and you realize how tasty they are, I would recommend harvesting them but not planting them in your yard for a future supply.  They can be very hard to get rid of and they are usually easy to find.  Rather than have them take over your lawn, you can always just ask a neighbor if they need help weeding to replenish your supplies.

*Note:  It is your responsibility to correctly identify any plant you plan on eating and to consult a local expert and/or an accurate field guide.  Do not eat any wild plant unless you are 100% sure of its identity.

References

Elias Thomas S., Dykeman, Peter A. Sterling. Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide. 61. Sterling Publishing Co. New York, New York 1990.

NC State University, A&T State University Cooperative Extension. "Florida Betony: Stachys Floridana" (sic.) http://carteret.ces.ncsu.edu/files/library/16/2-FloridaBetony.pdf. 03/23/2012

Deane (Green Deane). "Betony: Rich Root, Poor Root". http://www.eattheweeds.com/florida-betony-150-a-pound/. 03/23/2012