Top 20 Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Southeastern U.S.

Have you ever wondered which edible and medicinal plants are common in the Southeastern states? In this video Matthew covers the edible uses and medicinal benefits of 20 common plants that you can forage right in your own back yard or neighborhood! Here are the plants covered in the video:
Sassafras, mullein, yaupon holly, wax myrtle, sweet gum, boneset, wild lettuce, elderflower, passionflower, winged sumac, sweet bay magnolia, plantain, wild violet, dandelion, bull or spurge nettle, horsemint, American beautyberry, crossvine, goldenrod, and greenbriar.

Also, make sure to check out @BoredomBustersStudios if you're looking for a clean comedy/entertainment channel for kids.

Thanks for watching!

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:30 Sassafras
3:42 Mullein
5:12 Yaupon Holly
8:52 Wax Myrtle
10:21 Sweet Gum
11:52 Boneset
14:06 Wild Lettuce
17:23 Elderberry
22:03 Passionflower (Maypop)
23:46 Winged Sumac
26:39 Sweet Bay Magnolia
30:25 Plantain
32:57 Wild Violet
34:31 Dandelion
37:10 Spurge Nettle
39:09 Horsemint
40:18 Beautyberry
42:11 Crossvine
44:15 Goldenrod
46:19 Greenbriar
48:29 Free Medicinal Plants Guide

[butchbartholomew]

Herbalist from North Mississippi here, good job, keep up the good work. Constantly trying to teach the young all this knowledge before old timers like me are all gone.

[legacy]

When I was a little girl, my granny (West Virginia mountains all her life...herbal healer) told me that in most cases, the plants and herbs that can irritate you (poison ivy, stinging nettle etc), the "curing" plant or herb grows nearby and sometimes with the plants that cause the irritation. Example, I have stinging nettle in my pasture. Plaintain (which alleviates the burning itch) grows all around it. I wish my granny had lived long enough to teach me more. She was amazing.

[molecularalchemy]

I'm a practicing cancer researcher, (PhD biochem and mol bio, PI on several R01s, significant publication record) and wholly agree with the statements disregarding the cancer risk for sassafras. Everything causes cancer, when you concentrate it and feed huge amounts to model organisms. I'm more concerned about getting cancer from fast food habits than any freshly foraged foodstuffs.

[dreamchaisr]

Oh my gosh I finally found a person highlighting the south herbal. So many are in the northeast US. Thank you!!

[roxannerobertson]

We always said that sassafras had root beer roots and seven - up leaves and stems….yummmm …we always thought God had fun making this for people as a treat…🥰

[mariansmith]

Awww, Sassafrass was the first plant I learned to identify when I was a very young girl.

[Spiller]

🎉 Thank you for this. My life path often is beset by times of homelessness due to poor relationship decisions and horrible financial decisions but I'm a world class camper and hiker 😂 and I can honestly say I will use this information. Thank you again 🎉😊

[gcxredkat]

I'm in The Florida Native Plant Society and give foraging walks. You taught me a surprising amount of info!

[yungfrogleg]

Bro salute to you for this!!!🫡southeastern folk herbalists, were out here!!! 💚🌿🪶

[eN-plvk]

Palmate and pinnate leaf vein/rib patterns have helped me identify plants. I learned in high school biology that "palmate" describes the way your fingers spread outward when looking at your open hand, with your wrist representing the base of the leaf. The "pinnate" leaf is patterned like a feather with a central vein down the length of the leaf and multiple lateral veins off that midline vein. That image has stuck in my head for 50 years. Great teachers are never forgotten.

[peggybaxter]

My Grandmother chewed the end of a Sassafras twig and used it for a toothbrush. I love the root tea! As kids we liked to chew the leaves. Oh for the good ole days in the 1950s!

[somnyad]

He lists this in the description, but here it is again, for those who didn't see it.
0:00​ Intro
0:30​ Sassafras
3:42​ Mullein
5:12​ Yaupon Holly (ilex vomitiria)
8:52​ Wax Myrtle
10:21​ Sweet Gum
11:52​ Boneset
14:06​ Wild Lettuce
17:23​ Elderberry
22:03​ Passionflower (Maypop)
23:46​ Winged Sumac
26:39​ Sweet Bay Magnolia
30:25​ Plantain
32:57​ Wild Violet
34:31​ Dandelion
37:10​ Spurge Nettle
39:09​ Horsemint
40:18​ Beautyberry
42:11​ Crossvine
44:15​ Goldenrod
46:19​ Greenbriar
47:30 Free plant list

[atomicsnowflake]

Thank you for this very good, informative, detailed, and practical video! And especially thank you for NOT using any kind of background music.
I am now subscribed:)

[williamshafer]

Yours is the first video thats ive seen that shows all these plants together. Thank you for all your hard work.

[somnyad]

I had a really bad cold last weekend and used one drop of Goldenrod essential oil with one drop of mint oil on a piece of tissue paper wet with a few drops of water and folded it inside a face mask. 😷 It worked so well!! Within minutes, my runny nose had stopped and my sinuses were feeling better!

[choccolocco]

As for sweet gum, my grandparents showed me how to get “chewing gum” from them.
Simply scar the tree, wait for the sap to dry, and it becomes “chewing gum”, sorta.

[Cerinaya]

I had no idea about the sweet gum. There are several large trees at my grandmothers house. Those spiky balls were the bane of my childhood summers.

[drivebyquipper]

Mullein helped save me from my allergy symptoms. Forget Mucinex!

[largueta]

This is the best and most comprehensive medicinal edible plants video!

[JohnAshcraft-uz]

Honestly bro this is one of the better videos to cover a wide range of good herbs with good info. I have now added crossvine to my arsenal of herbs i collect