Most of us eliminate dandelion from our gardens, as we call it a weed,but in fact most parts of it are edible. I have read different opinions of the stem. Some say that no plant with a milky sap in the stem is edible, but others make an exception for dandelion. I have played it safe by never eating the stem, but I have consumed dandelion leaves in salad, finding them tasty, and I have made their flowers into wine. Just a word of advice here, two glasses of it make you want to urinate! The roots of dandelion used to be picked to make dandelion coffee.
One common garden flower that was originally introduced as an edible is the dahlia. Its great variety of flower shape conceals the fact that it is related to the daisy and the sunflower, and we know that the latter produces edible seeds. Dahlia petals can be used in salads, but use only the petals,not the reproductive organs. The bulbs are edible. Initially they taste like celery, though they become sweeter with storage. Tuberous begonias are also edible,you can eat the leaves, flowers and stems. However, those with gout, rheumatism or similar conditions should avoid eating begonias as they contain oxalic acid.
The Rosaceae, the huge family to which roses belong contains a great variety of edible plants, including apples, pears and quinces,as do plums, damsons and cherries. Rose petals can be added as a garnish to salads, though darker cultivars are said to have the stronger flavour. These petals can be used to provide a subtle flavour to a homemade wine. Take a pint of petals, soak them for three days and then add sugar, yeast and yeast nutrient. Leave to ferment out and mature.Some cooks garnish ice cream with rose petals. Rose hips, the little swellings behind the flower are full of vitamin C, they are made into rosehip syrup,but the seeds inside have to be filtered out as they are an irritant. This syrup can be made in a domestic kitchen.
Some other members of the Rosaceae are eaten or drunk. Potentilla repans, cinquefoil, has petals that are brewed into a herbal tea. Another member of this family is Potentilla anserina, sometimes known as Argentina anserina, popularly called silverweed, is known for its edible tubers. Before the advent of the potato silverweed was a staple food in the Celtic regions of the British Isles, where it was known as the seventh bread.
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I don't think that the answer to this is know, but the term bread may be being used in a wide sense to include various kinds of meat and fish.
frankbeswick, Thank you for the picture, practicalities and products.
What are the six breads that are grouped with silverweed as seventh?
Hibiscus and Okra belong to the plant family Malvaceae, the Mallows, but they belong to different genera within this family. Okra belongs to the genus Abelmoschus, whereas Hibiscus belongs to the genus Hibiscus. So Okra is not a variety of Hibiscus. A variety is a botanical term for a distinction within a species [below species level] but genus [plural genera] is a classification above species level.
Ewell or Euell Gibbons, a backwoodsman and healthy food enthusiast, who died in 1975.
As for Ule Gibbons, I am uncertain of the spelling, since I only heard the name aloud. It could have been Yule, and again after these many years it might be remembered incorrectly.
I called the drink I had hibiscus tea, but I recall it being in a contained at a salad restaurant that I do not visit now, and am not certain it was tea, since I am not up on the exact definition. In one restaurant it was mixed with strawberries, if I recall. The contained was like tea containers, so I assumed it to be tea. Of course it was iced, (Not your style.)
I do not plan to return to the restaurant specializing in salads. On my last visit I got a tray with cheese in it, and had to put it with the used trays and get another. Then, sitting with a view of the washing station I observed trays being washed on the inside, then stacked. Realize the used trays were also stacked, so food from the inside on one would stick to the bottom of the other. Since no care for the bottom of the .trays was given, it then transferred to the inside of another "clean" tray. Not sanitary at all! Healthy food ruined with lack of sanitation. It could easily have been the individual washing, and not the restaurant's policy, but there are far too many other options to chance it.
Yesterday I tried to get hibiscus tea from my local health food shop, as they did not stock it, so I contented myself with apple and cinnamon, for the cinnamon serves the same purpose as hibiscus- blood sugar control. At my last medical test I just crept into the prediabetic range, and as high blood sugar worsens Covid 19 [which I don't have] I wanted to take precautions.
I had not heard of Ule Gibbons.
I have had hibiscus in drink, and I believe okra is a variety of hibiscus, flowering for a day, then producing a pod which we use in gumbo. I often wonder why people do not use yellow crooked neck squash and zucchini as flower gardens, since they produce beautiful yellow flowers.
I recall a person named Ule Gibbons who was an expert in edible plants. He was popular in the 60s. I know not if he was known outside the U, S., but suspect he was.