Edible and Medicinal Plants
U.S. Army Field Survival Manual
In a survival situation, plants can provide food and medicine.
Their safe usage requires absolutely positive identification, knowing how
to prepare them for eating, and knowing any dangerous properties they might
have. Familiarity with botanical structures of plants and information on
where they grow will make them easier to locate and identify.
Abal
Calligonum comosum?
Description: The abal is one of the few shrubby plants that exists
in the shady deserts. This plant grows to about 1.2 meters, and its branches
look like wisps from a broom. The stiff, green branches produce an abundance
of flowers in the early spring months (March, April).
Habitat and Distribution: This plant is found in desert scrub
and waste in any climatic zone. It inhabits much of the North African desert.
It may also be found on the desert sands of the Middle East and as far
eastward as the Rajputana desert of western India.
Edible Parts: This plant’s general appearance would not indicate
its usefulness to the survivor, but while this plant is flowering in the
spring, its fresh flowers can be eaten. This plant is common in the areas
where it is found. An analysis of the food value of this plant has shown
it to be high in sugar and nitrogenous components.
Acacia
Acacia farnesiana?
Description: Acacia is a spreading, usually short tree with spines
and alternate compound leaves. Its individual leaflets are small. Its flowers
are ball-shaped, bright yellow, and very fragrant. Its bark is a whitish-gray
color. Its fruits are dark brown and podlike.
Habitat and Distribution: Acacia grows in open, sunny areas.
It is found throughout all tropical regions.
Note: There are about 500 species of acacia. These plants
are especially prevalent in Africa, southern Asia, and Australia, but many
species are found in the warmer and drier parts of America.
Edible Parts: Its young leaves, flowers, and pods are edible raw
or cooked.
Agave
Agave species?
Description: These plants have large clusters of thick, fleshy
leaves borne close to the ground and surrounding a central stalk. The plants
flower only once, then die. They produce a massive flower stalk.
Habitat and Distribution: Agaves prefer dry, open areas. They
are found throughout Central America, the Caribbean, and parts of the western
deserts of the United States and Mexico.
Edible Parts: Its flowers and flower buds are edible. Boil them
before eating.
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CAUTION
The juice of some species causes dermatitis in some individuals.
Other Uses: Cut the huge flower stalk and collect the juice for
drinking. Some species have very fibrous leaves. Pound the leaves and remove
the fibers for weaving and making ropes. Most species have thick, sharp
needles at the tips of the leaves. Use them for sewing or making hacks.
The sap of some species contains a chemical that makes the sap suitable
for use as a soap.
Almond
Prunus amygdalus?
Description: The almond tree, which sometimes grows to 12.2 meters,
looks like a peach tree. The fresh almond fruit resembles a gnarled, unripe
peach and grows in clusters. The stone (the almond itself) is covered with
a thick, dry, woolly skin.
Habitat and Distribution: Almonds are found in the scrub and
thorn forests of the tropics, the evergreen scrub forests of temperate
areas, and in desert scrub and waste in all climatic zones. The almond
tree is also found in the semidesert areas of the Old World in southern
Europe, the eastern Mediterranean, Iran, the Middle East, China, Madeira,
the Azores, and the Canary Islands.
Edible Parts: The mature almond fruit splits open lengthwise
down the side, exposing the ripe almond nut. You can easily get the dry
kernel by simply cracking open the stone. Almond meats are rich in food
value, like all nuts. Gather them in large quantities and shell them for
further use as survival food. You could live solely on almonds for rather
long periods. When you boil them, the kernel’s outer covering comes off
and only the white meat remains.
Amaranth
Amaranthus species?
Description: These plants, which grow 90 centimeters to 150 centimeters
tall, are abundant weeds in many parts of the world. All amaranth have
alternate simple leaves. They may have some red color present on the stems.
They bear minute, greenish flowers in dense clusters at the top of the
plants. Their seeds may be brown or black in weedy species and light-colored
in domestic species.
Habitat and Distribution: Look for amaranth along roadsides,
in disturbed waste areas, or as weeds in crops throughout the world. Some
amaranth species have been grown as a grain crop and a garden vegetable
in various parts of the world, especially in South America.
Edible Parts: All parts are edible, but some may have sharp spines
you should remove before eating. The young plants or the growing tips of
alder plants are an excellent vegetable. Simply boil the young plants or
eat them raw. Their seeds are very nutritious. Shake the tops of alder
plants to get the seeds. Eat the seeds raw, boiled, ground into flour,
or popped like popcorn.
Arctic willow
Salix arctica?
Description: The arctic willow is a shrub that never exceeds
more than 60 centimeters in height and grows in clumps that form dense
mats on the tundra.
Habitat and Distribution: The arctic willow is common on tundras
in North America. Europe, and Asia. You can also find it in some mountainous
areas in temperate regions.
Edible Parts: You can collect the succulent, tender young shoots
of the arctic willow in early spring. Strip off the outer bark of the new
shoots and eat the inner portion raw. You can also peel and eat raw the
young underground shoots of any of the various kinds of arctic willow.
Young willow leaves are one of the richest sources of vitamin C, containing
7 to 10 times more than an orange.
Arrowroot
Maranta and Sagittaria species
Description: The arrowroot is an aquatic plant with arrow-shaped
leaves and potatolike tubers in the mud.
Habitat and Distribution: Arrowroot is found worldwide in temperate
zones and the tropics. It is found in moist to wet habitats.
Edible Parts: The rootstock is a rich source of high quality
starch. Boil the rootstock and eat it as a vegetable.
Asparagus
Asparagus officinalis?
Description: The spring growth of this plant resembles a cluster
of green fingers. The mature plant has fernlike, wispy foliage and red
berries. Its flowers are small and greenish in color. Several species have
sharp, thornlike structures.
Habitat and Distribution: Asparagus is found worldwide in temperate
areas. Look for it in fields, old homesites, and fencerows.
Edible Parts: Eat the young stems before leaves form. Steam or
boil them for 10 to 15 minutes before eating. Raw asparagus may cause nausea
or diarrhea. The fleshy roots are a good source of starch.
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WARNING
Do not eat the fruits of any since some are
toxic
Bael fruit
Aegle marmelos?
Description: This is a tree that grows from 2.4 to 4.6 meters
tall, with a dense spiny growth. The fruit is 5 to 10 centimeters in diameter,
gray or yellowish, and full of seeds.
Habitat and Distribution: Bael fruit is found in rain forests
and semievergreen seasonal forests of the tropics. It grows wild in India
and Burma.
Edible Parts: The fruit, which ripens in December, is at its
best when just turning ripe. The juice of the ripe fruit, diluted with
water and mixed with a small amount of tamarind and sugar or honey, is
sour but refreshing. Like other citrus fruits, it is rich in vitamin C.
Bamboo
Various species including Bambusa, Dendrocalamus, Phyllostachys
Description: Bamboos are woody grasses that grow up to 15 meters
tall. The leaves are grasslike and the stems are the familiar bamboo used
in furniture and fishing poles.
Habitat and Distribution: Look for bamboo in warm, moist regions
in open or jungle country, in lowland, or on mountains. Bamboos are native
to the Far East (Temperate and Tropical zones) but have bean widely planted
around the world.
Edible Parts: The young shoots of almost all species are edible
raw or cooked. Raw shoots have a slightly bitter taste that is removed
by boiling. To prepare, remove the tough protective sheath that is coated
with tawny or red hairs. The seed grain of the flowering bamboo is also
edible. Boil the seeds like rice or pulverize them, mix with water, and
make into cakes.
Other Uses: Use the mature bamboo to build structures or to make
containers, ladles, spoons, and various other cooking utensils. Also use
bamboo to make tools and weapons. You can make a strong bow by splitting
the bamboo and putting several pieces together.
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CAUTION?
Green bamboo may explode in a fire. Green bamboo has an internal membrane
you must remove before using it as a food or water container.
Banana and plantain
Musa species?
Description: These are treelike plants with several large leaves
at the top. Their flowers are borne in dense hanging clusters.
Habitat and Distribution: Look for bananas and plantains in open
fields or margins of forests where they are grown as a crop. They grow
in the humid tropics.
Edible Parts: Their fruits are edible raw or cooked. They may
be boiled or baked. You can boil their flowers and eat them like a vegetable.
You can cook and eat the rootstocks and leaf sheaths of many species. The
center or “heart” or the plant is edible year-round, cooked or raw.
Other Uses: You can use the layers of the lower third of the
plants to cover coals to roast food. You can also use their stumps to get
water (see Chapter
6). You can use their leaves to wrap other foods for cooking or storage.
Baobab
Adansonia digitata?
Description: The baobab tree may grow as high as 18 meters and
may have a trunk 9 meters in diameter. The tree has short, stubby branches
and a gray, thick bark. Its leaves are compound and their segments are
arranged like the palm of a hand. Its flowers, which are white and several
centimeters across, hang from the higher branches. Its fruit is shaped
like a football, measures up to 45 centimeters long, and is covered with
short dense hair.
Habitat and Distribution: These trees grow in savannas. They
are found in Africa, in parts of Australia, and on the island of Madagascar.
Edible Parts: You can use the young leaves as a soup vegetable.
The tender root of the young baobab tree is edible. The pulp and seeds
of the fruit are also edible. Use one handful of pulp to about one cup
of water for a refreshing drink. To obtain flour, roast the seeds, then
grind them.
Other Uses: Drinking a mixture of pulp and water will help cure
diarrhea. Often the hollow trunks are good sources of fresh water. The
bark can be cut into strips and pounded to obtain a strong fiber for making
rope.
Batoko plum
Flacourtia inermis?
Description: This shrub or small tree has dark green, alternate,
simple leaves. Its fruits are bright red and contain six or more seeds.
Habitat and Distribution: This plant is a native of the Philippines
but is widely cultivated for its fruit in other areas. It can be found
in clearings and at the edges of the tropical rain forests of Africa and
Asia.
Edible Parts: Eat the fruit raw or cooked.
Bearberry or kinnikinnick
Arctostaphylos uvaursi?
Description: This plant is a common evergreen shrub with reddish,
scaly bark and thick, leathery leaves 4 centimeters long and 1 centimeter
wide. It has white flowers and bright red fruits.
Habitat and Distribution: This plant is found in arctic, subarctic,
and temperate regions, most often in sandy or rocky soil.
Edible Parts: Its berries are edible raw or cooked. You can make
a refreshing tea from its young leaves.
Beech
Fagus species?
Description: Beech trees are large (9 to 24 meters), symmetrical
forest trees that have smooth, light-gray bark and dark green foliage.
The character of its bark, plus its clusters of prickly seedpods, clearly
distinguish the beech tree in the field.
Habitat and Distribution: This tree is found in the Temperate
Zone. It grows wild in the eastern United States, Europe, Asia, and North
Africa. It is found in moist areas, mainly in the forests. This tree is
common throughout southeastern Europe and across temperate Asia. Beech
relatives are also found in Chile, New Guinea, and New Zealand.
Edible Parts: The mature beechnuts readily fall out of the husklike
seedpods. You can eat these dark brown triangular nuts by breaking the
thin shell with your fingernail and removing the white, sweet kernel inside.
Beechnuts are one of the most delicious of all wild nuts. They are a most
useful survival food because of the kernel’s high oil content. You can
also use the beechnuts as a coffee substitute. Roast them so that the kernel
becomes golden brown and quite hard. Then pulverize the kernel and, after
boiling or steeping in hot water, you have a passable coffee substitute.
Bignay
Antidesma bunius?
Description: Bignay is a shrub or small tree, 3 to 12 meters
tall, with shiny, pointed leaves about 15 centimeters long. Its flowers
are small, clustered, and green. It has fleshy, dark red or black fruit
and a single seed. The fruit is about 1 centimeter in diameter.
Habitat and Distribution: This plant is found in rain forests
and semievergreen seasonal forests in the tropics. It is found in open
places and in secondary forests. It grows wild from the Himalayas to Ceylon
and eastward through Indonesia to northern Australia. However, it may be
found anywhere in the tropics in cultivated forms.
Edible Parts: The fruit is edible raw. Do not eat any other parts
of the tree. In Africa, the roots are toxic. Other parts of the plant may
be poisonous.
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CAUTION
Eaten in large quantities, the fruit may have a laxative effect.
Blackberry, raspberry, and dewberry
Rubus species?
Description: These plants have prickly stems (canes) that grow
upward, arching back toward the ground. They have alternate, usually compound
leaves. Their fruits may be red, black, yellow, or orange.
Habitat and Distribution: These plants grow in open, sunny areas
at the margin of woods, lakes, streams, and roads throughout temperate
regions. There is also an arctic raspberry.
Edible Parts: The fruits and peeled young shoots are edible.
Flavor varies greatly.
Other Uses: Use the leaves to make tea. To treat diarrhea, drink
a tea made by brewing the dried root bark of the blackberry bush.
Blueberry and huckleberry
Vaccinium and Gaylussacia species
Description: These shrubs vary in size from 30 centimeters to
3.7 meters tall. All have alternate, simple leaves. Their fruits may be
dark blue, black, or red and have many small seeds.
Habitat and Distribution: These plants prefer open, sunny areas.
They are found throughout much of the north temperate regions and at higher
elevations in Central America.
Edible Parts: Their fruits are edible raw.
Breadfruit
Artocarpus incisa
Description: This tree may grow up to 9 meters tall. It has dark
green, deeply divided leaves that are 75 centimeters long and 30 centimeters
wide. Its fruits are large, green, ball-like structures up to 30 centimeters
across when mature.
Habitat and Distribution: Look for this tree at the margins of
forests and homesites in the humid tropics. It is native to the South Pacific
region but has been widely planted in the West Indies and parts of Polynesia.
Edible Parts: The fruit pulp is edible raw. The fruit can be
sliced, dried, and ground into flour for later use. The seeds are edible
cooked.
Other Uses: The thick sap can serve as glue and caulking material.
You can also use it as birdlime (to entrap small birds by smearing the
sap on twigs where they usually perch).
Burdock
Arctium lappa?
Description: This plant has wavy-edged, arrow-shaped leaves and
flower heads in burrlike clusters. It grows up to 2 meters tall, with purple
or pink flowers and a large, fleshy root.
Habitat and Distribution: Burdock is found worldwide in the North
Temperate Zone. Look for it in open waste areas during the spring and summer.
Edible Parts: Peel the tender leaf stalks and eat them raw or
cook them like greens. The roots are also edible boiled or baked.
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CAUTION
Do not confuse burdock with rhubarb that has poisonous leaves.
Other Uses: A liquid made from the roots will help to produce
sweating and increase urination. Dry the root, simmer it in water, strain
the liquid, and then drink the strained liquid. Use the fiber from the
dried stalk to weave cordage.
Burl Palm
Corypha elata?
Description: This tree may reach 18 meters in height. It has
large, fan-shaped leaves up to 3 meters long and split into about 100 narrow
segments. It bears flowers in huge dusters at the top of the tree. The
tree dies after flowering.
Habitat and Distribution: This tree grows in coastal areas of
the East Indies.
Edible Parts: The trunk contains starch that is edible raw. The
very tip of the trunk is also edible raw or cooked. You can get large quantities
of liquid by bruising the flowering stalk. The kernels of the nuts are
edible.
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CAUTION
The seed covering may cause dermatitis in some individuals.
Other Uses: You can use the leaves as weaving material.
Canna lily
Canna indica?
Description: The canna lily is a coarse perennial herb, 90 centimeters
to 3 meters tall. The plant grows from a large, thick, underground rootstock
that is edible. Its large leaves resemble those of the banana plant but
are not so large. The flowers of wild canna lily are usually small, relatively
inconspicuous, and brightly colored reds, oranges, or yellows.
Habitat and Distribution: As a wild plant, the canna lily is
found in all tropical areas, especially in moist places along streams,
springs, ditches, and the margins of woods. It may also be found in wet
temperate, mountainous regions. It is easy to recognize because it is commonly
cultivated in flower gardens in the United States.
Edible Parts: The large and much branched rootstocks are full
of edible starch. The younger parts may be finely chopped and then boiled
or pulverized into a meal. Mix in the young shoots of palm cabbage for
flavoring.
Carob tree
Ceratonia siliqua?
Description: This large tree has a spreading crown. Its leaves
are compound and alternate. Its seedpods, also known as Saint John’s bread,
are up to 45 centimeters long and are filled with round, hard seeds and
a thick pulp.
Habitat and Distribution: This tree is found throughout the Mediterranean,
the Middle East, and parts of North Africa.
Edible Parts: The young tender pods are edible raw or boiled.
You can pulverize the seeds in mature pods and cook as porridge.
Cashew nut
Anacardium occidentale?
Description: The cashew is a spreading evergreen tree growing
to a height of 12 meters, with leaves up to 20 centimeters long and 10
centimeters wide. Its flowers are yellowish-pink. Its fruit is very easy
to recognize because of its peculiar structure. The fruit is thick and
pear-shaped, pulpy and red or yellow when ripe. This fruit bears a hard,
green, kidney-shaped nut at its tip. This nut is smooth, shiny, and green
or brown according to its maturity.
Habitat and Distribution: The cashew is native to the West Indies
and northern South America, but transplantation has spread it to all tropical
climates. In the Old World, it has escaped from cultivation and appears
to be wild at least in parts of Africa and India.
Edible Parts: The nut encloses one seed. The seed is edible when
roasted. The pear-shaped fruit is juicy, sweet-acid, and astringent. It
is quite safe and considered delicious by most people who eat it.
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CAUTION?
The green hull surrounding the nut contains a resinous irritant poison
that will blister the lips and tongue like poison ivy. Heat destroys this
poison when roasting the nuts.
Cattail
Typha latifolia?
Description: Cattails are grasslike plants with strap-shaped
leaves 1 to 5 centimeters wide and growing up to 1.8 meters tall. The male
flowers are borne in a dense mass above the female flowers. These last
only a short time, leaving the female flowers that develop into the brown
cattail. Pollen from the male flowers is often abundant and bright yellow.
Habitat and Distribution: Cattails are found throughout most
of the world. Look for them in full sun areas at the margins of lakes,
streams, canals, rivers, and brackish water.
Edible Parts: The young tender shoots are edible raw or cooked.
The rhizome is often very tough but is a rich source of starch. Pound the
rhizome to remove the starch and use as a flour. The pollen is also an
exceptional source of starch. When the cattail is immature and still green,
you can boil the female portion and eat it like corn on the cob.
Other Uses: The dried leaves are an excellent source of weaving
material you can use to make floats and rafts. The cottony seeds make good
pillow stuffing and insulation. The fluff makes excellent tinder. Dried
cattails are effective insect repellents when burned.
Cereus cactus
Cereus species?
Description: These cacti are tall and narrow with angled stems
and numerous spines.
Habitat and Distribution: They may be found in true deserts and
other dry, open, sunny areas throughout the Caribbean region, Central America,
and the western United States.
Edible Parts: The fruits are edible, but some may have a laxative
effect.
Other Uses: The pulp of the cactus is a good source of water.
Break open the stem and scoop out the pulp.
Chestnut
Castanea sativa?
Description: The European chestnut is usually a large tree, up
to 18 meters in height.
Habitat and Distribution: In temperate regions, the chestnut
is found in both hardwood and coniferous forests. In the tropics, it is
found in semievergreen seasonal forests. They are found over all of middle
and south Europe and across middle Asia to China and Japan. They are relatively
abundant along the edge of meadows and as a forest tree. The European chestnut
is one of the most common varieties. Wild chestnuts in Asia belong to the
related chestnut species.
Edible Parts: Chestnuts are highly useful as survival food. Ripe
nuts are usually picked in autumn, although unripe nuts picked while green
may also be used for food. Perhaps the easiest way to prepare them is to
roast the ripe nuts in embers. Cooked this way, they are quite tasty, and
you can eat large quantities. Another way is to boil the kernels after
removing the outer shell. After being boiled until fairly soft, you can
mash the nuts like potatoes.
Chicory
Cichorium intybus?
Description: This plant grows up to 1.8 meters tall. It has leaves
clustered at the base of the stem and some leaves on the stem. The base
leaves resemble those of the dandelion. The flowers are sky blue and stay
open only on sunny days. Chicory has a milky juice.
Habitat and Distribution: Look for chicory in old fields, waste
areas, weedy lots, and along roads. It is a native of Europe and Asia,
but is also found in Africa and most of North America where it grows as
a weed.
Edible Parts: All parts are edible. Eat the young leaves as a
salad or boil to eat as a vegetable. Cook the roots as a vegetable. For
use as a coffee substitute, roast the roots until they are dark brown and
then pulverize them.
Chufa
Cyperus esculentus?
Description: This very common plant has a triangular stem and
grasslike leaves. It grows to a height of 20 to 60 centimeters. The mature
plant has a soft furlike bloom that extends from a whorl of leaves. Tubers
1 to 2.5 centimeters in diameter grow at the ends of the roots.
Habitat and Distribution: Chufa grows in moist sandy areas throughout
the world. It is often an abundant weed in cultivated fields.
Edible Parts: The tubers are edible raw, boiled, or baked. You
can also grind them and use them as a coffee substitute.
Coconut
Cocos nucifera?
Description: This tree has a single, narrow, tall trunk with
a cluster of very large leaves at the top. Each leaf may be over 6 meters
long with over 100 pairs of leaflets.
Habitat and Distribution: Coconut palms are found throughout
the tropics. They are most abundant near coastal regions.
Edible Parts: The nut is a valuable source of food. The milk
of the young coconut is rich in sugar and vitamins and is an excellent
source of liquid. The nut meat is also nutritious but is rich in oil. To
preserve the meat, spread it in the sun until it is completely dry.
Other Uses: Use coconut oil to cook and to protect metal objects
from corrosion. Also use the oil to treat saltwater sores, sunburn, and
dry skin. Use the oil in improvised torc
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