Common Food and Medicinal Plants
Sagebrush (Artemesia):
This ceremonial plant was often used as an incense to drive away evil spirits and as a tea to assist in digestion and to treat colds and menstrual problems.
Cheno-ams:
These weedy annuals or perennials often grow in disturbed areas. Young shoots and stems are gathered in spring and eaten fresh or cooked as greens. Seeds were often gathered in the fall and ground into a meal to make mushes and cakes, and then usually parched before grinding. The ashes of a 4-wing saltbush are a good substitute for baking powder.
- Pigweed: This highly nutritious plant contains vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, riboflavin, and folate, and dietary minerals including calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese.
- Saltbush: The seeds and leaves of saltbrush could be eaten raw or cooked and are rich in niacin (lowers cholesterol).
- Greasewood: Natives ate the seeds and leaves of this salty-tasting plant and sharpened its branches for planting tools.
- Goosefoot: This plant is rich in vitamin C, can be eaten to treat stomach aches and prevent scurvy and could be used to aid with nervous ailments, hysteria, burns, or diarrhea.
Tansy Mustard:
This plant can be used to relieve muscular and skeletal pain and was historically used to treat bronchitis, fever, toothaches, and colds. It could also be used as a lotion for frostbite and sore throats.
Plantains (“Indian Wheat”):
Plantains, when used in tea, are thought to act as a laxative, to treat stomach ulcers in adults and lung problems in children, and can be used externally to cure wounds, soothe insect bites and toothaches.
Poaceae (Grass Family):
Wheatgrass, barley, ricegrass, and dropseed are used as a floor covering and to make brushes and brooms. Seeds of these plants are often parched and ground into a meal.
Camas root:
This root was often gathered in early spring or summer and later harvested, boiled, and roasted in pits with hot rocks. The root is poisonous if eaten raw. Once the root is steamed until the starch inside the plant converts to sugar, it can be eaten and is said to taste similar to a baked pear.
Flower Photo
Chokecherries:
These berries were pounded to a pulp, dried in the sun, and formed into cakes that were eaten alone, mixed into teas, or used to treat stomach and intestinal problems.
Bitterroot:
This
root was used in stews and as a medicine to fight diabetes.
Flower Photo
Pine nuts:
These nuts were an important source of protein.
Biscuitroot:
Women often dug these roots with hardwood or antler diggers, mashed into biscuits and dried in the sun. It can be cooked fresh as a vegetable or dried whole and is a nutritious source of iron and vitamin C.
Flower Photo
Polygonum:
This group of plants are often parched and ground into a meal. Young stems are eaten like asparagus. The whole plant can be rubbed on poison ivy rashes and on horses' backs to keep flies away. The plant can also be made into a tea used for the cure of diarrhea, heart troubles and stomachaches.
- Knotweed: This plant is high in fiber and important for digestion.
Please do not attempt to find and use these plants on your own. Be sure to consult with a botanist.
