Читать книгу The Scout's Guide to Wild Edibles. Learn How To Forage, Prepare & Eat 40 Wild Foods онлайн

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On a family camping trip in the Mt. Hood River Valley east of Portland, Liz – my Oregon sister – introduced me to mountain huckleberries. These grew on bushes from five to seven feet tall.

Burdock, Common

RANGE:

Widespread and invasive in the U.S. (except Texas and Florida), and the southern provinces of Canada

HABITAT:

Barnyards, pastures, open woods, sunny patches along trails

POSITIVE ID:

• Burdock is a weed with large rhubarb-like leaves. The underside of the leaf is covered with a thin, woolly mat of fine white hairs. Leaf petioles may be reddish to purplish at the base.

• Although considered a biennial, burdock’s flowering stalk may take four or more years to appear, according to a study at Michigan State University. It depends on environmental conditions and how much energy the root has been able to store for the event. The stalk can range from 4–7′ tall.

• Thistle-like flowers give way to the round, infamous burdock burs.

• Each bur is a stick-tight whose tiny hooked ends catch in clothing and dog fur.