What are the native edible plants of Illinois?

Question

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Answer 1

From: http://www.schools.lth5.k12.il.us/bths-east/edibles.html entitled "Edible and Medicinal Plants of Southern Illinois"
I eliminated some plants such as the Butterflyweed & Jack in the pulpit, because some of the plants or parts of the plants are not edible. Plants like Sheep Sorrel contain oxalic acid that can be damaging if too many plants are eaten raw, but cooking seems to destroy the chemical. Also, some plants on this list may not be a native of Illinois.

Jerusalem Artichoke, Birch, Blackberries, Burdock, American Basswood, Black Haw, Cinquefoil, Cattails, Wild Black Cherries, Chickweed, Chicory, Cleavers/bedstraw, Clover, Crabapples, Cranesbill, Dandelion, Dewberry, Daylily, Flowering Dogwood, Dog-tooth violet, Elderberry, Evening primrose, Goatsbeard, wild Ginger, Goldenrod, wild Grapes, Ground ivy, Gooseberry, Hazelnuts, Ginseng, American Hawthorn, Honeysuckles, Hackberry, Henbit, Hickory, Kentucky Coffeetree, Lamb's quarter, wild Lettuce, Day Lily, Sugar Maple, Mullein, black Mustard, Mulberry, Pawpaw, Peppergrass, Purslane, Plantain, Persimmon, Prickly Pear Cactus, Redbud, wild Roses, wild Sheep Sorrel, Sassafras, Shepherd's Purse, Spiderwort, Spring beauties, Star of Bethlehem, Sunflower, Smartweed, Wild Strawberry, Violets, Walnut, Willow, Witchhazel, White Oak, Yarrow,

These sites help identify EDIBLE wild plants & the parts of the plant that are safe to use:
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/plants-1.php
http://www.naturallist.com/planted1.htm
http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/champaign/homeowners/060810.html
www.flagstaffpermaculture.org/documents/EdiblePlantsatMountainMeadow.doc
http://www.efn.org/~bsharvy/edible.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_edible_flowers
http://www.edibleplants.com/dwvplants.htm
http://www.rpg.net/columns/vegetative/vegetative2.phtml
http://community-2.webtv.net/@HH!DC!1A!8C68FB640D86/Taimloyd/FORAGINGTHEEDIBLE/
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/folklore/43321
http://www.gardenguides.com/how-to/tipstechniques/flowers/edibleflowers.asp
http://www.logan.ws/articles/arewildstrawberriesedible.asp
http://www.outdoorlife.com/outdoor/survival/article/0,19912,1177113,00.html
http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/health/Herb/Cranesbill.htm
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Quercus+alba


Here's an article about a NATIVE Illinois plant -- "the macoupin, or duck potato, an edible tuber that grows in wetlands":
http://www.nrdc.org/onearth/01fal/prairie.asp

Another edible NATIVE Illinois plant is the Nannyberry:
http://www.il.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/plants/npg/pg160-161.html

Possibility Place Nursery of Monee, Illinois, has "specialized in growing plants native to Northern Illinois for 26 years" & has an online catalogue http://www.possibilityplace.com/About/
Listed below are some trees & shrubs, from Possibility Place, considered edible. By writing the name of the plant & edible? after the name... Google brings up sources that help identify if a plant is edible or not.
Shrubs:http://www.possibilityplace.com/Shrub/products.asp_Q_CatID_E_2_A_SubCatID_E_9
American Cranberry, American Filbert, Bittersweet, Black Chokeberry, Elderberry, Black Current, Blackhaw, Bladdernut, Blue-fruited Dogwood, Red Elderberry, Blackhaw, Carolina Allspice, Coralberry, Hardhack, Dwarf Bush Honeysuckle, Illinois Rosa, Indigo Bush, Nannyberry, Pasture Rose, Purple Flowering Raspberry, Prairie Willow, Snowberry, Spicebush, Swamp Rose, Early Wild Rose, Red Chokeberry, Withe Rod Viburnum, Wild Gooseberry, Yellow Twing Honeysuckle
Trees:http://www.possibilityplace.com/Tree/products.asp_Q_CatID_E_1_A_SubCatID_E_8
Allegheny Shadblow, American Linden, American Plum, Bald Cypress, Black Cherry, Black Maple, Black Walnut, Butternut, Hackberry, Juneberry, Kentucky Coffee Tree, Paw Paw, Persimon, Prairie Crab,
Enjoy!!!

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What are the native edible plants of Illinois?
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Answer 3

Angles's list is good but alot of these plants are not native. Queen Anne's lace or wild carrot, for exmple, is not native. Also I would not consider Jimsonweed edible unless you wanted to get really ill. Same with ladyslipper. You might want to go to the website for Morton Arboretum which is in Lisle Illinois. Morton has a huge garden of nothing but plants native to Illinois and it is considered one of the best in the country.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

For the best answers, search on this site https://shorturl.im/avAs5

Not that I would recommend it, but my sil eats poke salad. Of course there are mulberries and wild blackberries. Black walnuts? There are a lot of those trees there. Are they native?

Answer 6

Try this site as a start:

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/gardenerscorner/issue_02/spring_06_06.html

Good Luck!