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You Know, Parts of A Tree Are Edible!!!

Introduction • Acorns • Walnut Family • Pecan Carya species • Black walnut Juglans nigra

Introduction

Many of our great grandparents, grandparents, and parents used wild plants for food and medicine. We all know about Sassafras tea and the glorious tastes of wild blackberries but we have perhaps forgotten how extensively wild plants can be used. In the early 1970's, information on native wild foods and medicinal uses of wild plants became very popular. The well-known naturalist, Euell Gibbons, reminded us that "you know, many part of a pine tree are edible". The objective this article is to explore wild plants and trees as food sources. This article will hopefully accomplish two goals:1) inform us about wild foods; and 2) help us identify Arkansas tree and vine species by knowing how many ways we can use them.

Acorns

Let's begin with what Eulle Gibbons calls "the Ancient Food of Man"- the Acorn. The genus name of the oaks is Quercus. Over 60 varieties, forms, and oak hybrids have been identified in Arkansas (Moore 1989). Although oaks demonstrate a great deal of variation in size, leaf shape, bark color, and form, all oaks share some features. The leaves are simple and alternate which means that there is only one leaf at each node. All bloom in the spring and produce acorns in the fall.

Oaks are usually divided into two distinct groups: 1) the Red Oaks and 2) the White Oaks. Leaf lobes that are angular with a bristle at the tip of the leaf and at each lobe are characteristic of Red Oaks. The leaves of White Oaks may also be lobed but are rounded with no bristles on the tips. The acorns of Red Oaks require 2 growing seasons to mature whereas those of the White Oaks mature in one season. The bark and wood of the Red Oak group is commonly dark while the bark and wood of the White Oak group is light. Although all acorns are edible, white oak acorns are less bitter and are preferred by squirrels, deer, and other wildlife. Although they preferred White Oak acorns, Native Americans and early settlers would eat Red Oak acorns as well. Oak bark was also used for medicinal purposes including use as a tonic, an antiseptic, and for chronic dysentery.

All acorn contain tannin, an organic chemical that is also found in tea and coffee. It is the tannin that makes the acorns bitter. These tannins can be leached out by boiling the acorns for several hours, changing the water every hour or so. The author boiled red oak acorns for about five changes of water and then soaked the boiled acorns overnight. Most of the bitterness from the tannins was successfully removed.

White oak acorns do not require leaching and can be shucked and dried without boiling. The acorns can then be dried and ground into a course meal using a heavy duty grain grinder. The resulting meal is somewhat coarse with a texture similar to corn grits. The meal can be used in standard nut bread and cookie recipes. The author usually substitutes one cup of acorn meal for one cup of flour in a standard banana nut recipe.

Walnut Family

Several different species comprise the Walnut or Juglandaceae Family including pecans, walnuts, hickories, and butternuts. Trees in this family are characterized by alternate, pinnately compound, deciduous leaves that turn yellow in the fall and fruit being either a drupe or a nut with a husk. We are all familiar with commercial pecan and walnuts primarily for nut meat although timber can be an important product from these trees as well. The fruit is eaten by squirrels, chipmunk, bears, and browsed by deer. Nut meat from all species of the Walnut Family can be used for cooking.

Pecan Carya species

Pecan is the largest of this family and is widely planted and cultivated. It occurs over most of the state along larger rivers and streams and is not common in the mountainous counties. The leaves are compound with 9 to 17 leaflets on a stalk and are from 12 to 20 inches long. The leaflets are 4 to 8 inches long by about 2 inches wide, toothed on the margins and long pointed. The fruit is a nut encased in a four-winged, thin-skinned, pointed husk.

Black walnut Juglans nigra

Black walnut occurs widely in the northern portion of the state and is not as common in the south. It prefers well-drained, good soil. The leaves are compound with 15 to 23 leaflets to a stalk and are from1 to 2 feet long. The leaflets are toothed along the edge and are about 3 inches long. As with pecan, the fruit is a nut encased in a husk. The husk of the walnut is round, rough, green, and very hard. Walnut wood is very valuable in parts of the upper Midwest.