12 Wild Plants to Forage in the Spring

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In this video I forage for 12 edible and medicinal plants. These wild edible and medicinal plants can be foraged for in the spring, and I show how to identify them and describe some of the edible and medicinal uses. This video should be helpful for beginner foragers to provide a good overview of many common wild plants you can find in many places throughout North America.

Yarrow - Achillea millefolium

Mullein - Verbascum thapsus

Purple Dead-Nettle / Dead Nettle / Deadnettle - Lamium purpureum
Identification
Purple dead nettle has a square stem and triangular leaves with round-toothed edges and red to purple flowers. The leaves near the top turn purple, and when the plant is crushed, it can smell minty. The flowers are partially concealed by the leaves.

Edible
Purple dead nettle is edible and can be eaten raw or cooked and added to things like soups or stews.

Medicinal
Purple dead-nettle is also medicinal and is said to be styptic meaning it helps to stop bleeding. It also has been used to treat constipation.

Stinging Nettle - Urtica dioica

Narrow - Leaved Plantain / Narrow Leaf Plantain - Plantago lanceolata

Chickweed - Stellaria media

Early Blue Violet - Viola adunca AKA Western Dog Violet and Hookedspur Violet
Also discussed is all violets - Viola spp.

Edible
All upper portions of violets are edible. This includes the flowers, leaves and stems. They are rich in vitamin A and C. The leaves and flowers can be eaten raw as a trail nibble, added to salads, cooked as a potherb or or used as a thickener in soups and stews. The flowers can be used as garnishes, to make syrups and jams, and the leaves and flowers have been fermented to make wine.

Medicinal
Violet tea can be taken to sooth digestive and respiratory tract issues. It can also be used for dry asthma, bronchitis, and whooping cough. It can reliev constipation and increase urination to remove deposits and sooth urinary tract infections. Gargles made from thje syrup can reliev sore throats and coughs. Violet leaves soaked in hot weater and drained have been applied to sores and wounds as a poultice and to treat all sorts of skins conditions such as rashes, wounds, and eczema.

Henbit - Lamium amplexicaule AKA Common Dead Nettle
Identification
Henbit has heart shaped leaves with blunt toothed edges that are stalkless and clasp the stem higher up on the stem. The lower leaves still have stalks. Henbit has a square stem which is sometimes bent at the base and then becoming more vertically upright higher up. The flowers are pink to dark purple and emerge from the axils, where the leaf meets the stem, of the upper leaves.

Edible
Henbit is edible. The leaves and flowers are edible and are sometimes described as sweet and a little peppery and a bit like celery. Young leaves can be eaten fresh, but older leaves are better cooked. Henbit is high in vitamins, iron, and fibre.

Medicinal
Henbit is medicinal. It is said to have laxative properties and to be anti-rheumatic.

Cleavers, Bedstraw - Galium aparine

Burdock - Arctium spp.
Common Burdock - Arctium minus

Chicory - Cichorium intybus

Prickly Lettuce - Lactuca serriola

*Please consume wild plants at your own risk! Consult multiple reliable sources before consuming any wild plants! This video is for information and entertainment only!*

References

Dickinson, Richard. Weeds of Canada and the Northern United States. The University of Alberta Press. 1999.

Gray, Beverley. The Boreal Herbal: Wild Food and Medicine Plants of the North. Aroma Borealis Press. 2011.

Kallas, John. Edible Wild Plants: Wild Foods from Dirt to Plate. Gibbs Smith. 2010.

Kloos, Scott. Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants. Timber Press, Inc. 2017

MacKinnon, A. Edible and Medicinal Plants of Canada. Lone Pine Media Productions (BC) Ltd. 2014.

Parish, R.; Coupe, R.; and Lloyd, D. Plants of the Inland Northwest and Southern Interior British Columbia. BC Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing. 2018

Pojar, Jim and MacKinnon, Andy. Plants of Coastal British Columbia including Washington, Oregon & Alaska. BC Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing. 2004.

Thayer, Samuel. Incredible Wild Edibles - 36 plants that can change your life. Forager's Harvest. 2017.

Warnock, Caleb. 437 Edible Wild Plants of the Rocky Mountain West. Familius LLC. 2018.

0:00 Introduction
2:49 Verbascum thapsus
3:52 Lamium purpureum
5:03 Urtica dioica
6:41 Plantago lanceolata
8:17 Stellaria media
10:12 Viola adunca
12:06 Lamium amplexicaule
13:07 Galium aparine
14:40 Arctium minus
16:33 Cichorium intybus
17:15 little BLUE flowers (rarely white)
18:18 Lactuca serriola
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I watch so many foragers and plant ID videos and you have managed to brilliantly and coherently pack way more info into this video than I've ever seen anyone manage. Bravo man! Thank you for spreading the knowledge.

shantleybruce
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Watching this again because I’m getting excited for spring to return!

dallen
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Watched a few of your videos then went on a treasure hunt this afternoon! Found plantain, sticky willy, Balsam arrowroot, and Saskatoons! :)

dallen
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Wow! So much information. My favourite part was the surprise snail.

emmalee
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Thank you! We forage lots of these! We make Plantain salve every year! Plantain is our fave! Hehe :)

samanthaturkovics
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Great video. Very thorough descriptions along with the photos. I've been wandering around the woods where I'm currently staying and photographing so many spring plants and their blooms so I can find out their names and possible uses. You've answered two of my mystery plants, thank you very much, and I did not know that violets are edible. I've heard that people hate violets popping up in their lawns and use herbicides to kill them. What a terrible shame and waste of not only a useful plant but also such a beautiful one. I've been a lifelong fan of dandelions. Sadly, most people do the same to them. 😕 Anyway, thank you for a really well done video. Oh, I have found what I believe to be a tiny miniature rose. It has tiny pink flowers and tiny rounded leaves and very long thorns. Those that I've found are only about one to two feet tall. Probably not edible or medicinal but so pretty. Happy foraging!!!

rouxchat
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Chickweed tastes like corn silks. My chickens love it!

carriebeard-R.I.T.S
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Wow so much information! Love that the intro is back!

LH-zwdg
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Newer to this channel and I love it!! I just moved to the Cascade foothills and I'm excited to get outdoors. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge.

msl
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Great stuff. I remember.being distracted by fields of Saskatoon berries when I was tree planting northwest of Edson

thomasbergbusch
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You brought the intro back! 😁 I'm watching your video with all the plants and flowers and outside the rain turned into snow. 😅 Great information as always!!! Thanks

logan_black
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Sir could you tell me the benefits of English Lavender

rexlogan
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Great stream, I recently learned that Hostas are edible kinda like asparagus not sure if they have medicinal benefits

tracycouture
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I really enjoyed your video and learned quite a bit. Do you use these various plants in your daily life? If so, how are you putting them to use?

lifeonmockingbirdhill
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Mullen. Also known well in Canada as cowboy toilet paper 🤣

wcoastlaurie--
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Well you're always very similar to the properties of lavender it's antibacterial and to fungal & antiseptic not medical advice... Thank You...!

marymagdalenmendoza
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Rubbing your hand in stinging nettle made me cringe so much

MyRamblingRose