Columbines School of Botanical Studies Wild Food Tending Field Trips #3, 4, 5 & 6 May 23 - 26, 2016 Ochoco Mountain Ponderosa Pine Forest and Scabland

 Ochoco Mountains ecology, geology, and First Peoples  Large camas meadows usurped by private cattle ranches

Botany

review  Keyed: Zigadenus paniculatus  Zigadenus vs. Camassia field characteristics  Keyed L. cous using “A New Sp. From the Ochoco Mountains of Central Oregon”  Using external resources for identification when the keys in Hitchcock prove unmanageable: county lists, scholarly articles, keys for smaller areas or characters  Observed reticulate bulb coat of Allium sp. under microscope  Keyed by individuals: Arnica cordifolia, Wyethia helianthoides, Geum triflorum, Orobanche uniflora, Viola nuttallii, Trifolium macrocephalum, Hydrophyllum capitatum, Lithophragma sp.

Ponderosa Pine Zone and “Scabland” Mosaic

 Zigadenus ecology  Camassia spp. locating  Varying woody Artemisia spp. as indicators of soil depth and associated edible  Recent fires and mosaic of heat intensity

Wildcrafting

 How to dig roots using a cuppen  The rarity and relative specialness of finding a substantial caloric wild food that tastes “boring”  Experimenting with traditional methods of food preparation by using multiple ethnobotanical reference texts for ideas  Pit bake strategies  Harvested and processed Lomatium cous  Harvested and processed Lomatium nudicaule stems  Harvested and processed Fritillaria pudica bulbs  Harvested and processed Camassia quamash spp. brevifolia bulbs  Harvested and processed Allium sp. bulbs, flowers, and leaves (flat-stemmed species, in flower)  Harvested and processed wild salad greens Montia perfoliata, Hydrophyllum capitatum, Viola nuttallii, Allium sp. flowers, Sidalcea sp. leaves, Trifolium macrocephalum flowers, above ground stems  Tasted: Perideridia gairdneri leaf and root, Allium sp. flower buds (tall species), Lomatium piperi root, and Brodiaea sp. corm

Wild Food Preparation

 Lomatium cous roots, peeled, sliced and fried in butter  Morchella sp., morel mushrooms, stir fried with Lomatium cous seeds in butter  Salad with Montia perfoliata, Hydrophyllum capitatum, Viola nuttallii, Allium sp. flowers, Sidalcea sp. leaves, Trifolium macrocephalum flowers, Sedum stenopetalum above ground stems, Lomatium cous leaves  Allium sp. bulbs, stir fried in butter  Lomatium nudicaule young stems and , Fritillaria pudica bulbs, Allium sp. flowers and leaves, stir fried in butter  Camassia quamash spp. brevifolia bulbs, pit baked for 2 days. Bulbs were still white or pale, took home to steam in crock pot until dark brown.

Lomatium ochocense