Talk:List of edible flowers

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Is anyone watching this page? I have some serious concerns about some of the plants listed here.Bridesmill 20:31, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, all citable from http://www.pfaf.org/. --Salix alba (talk) 21:05, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

I have my doubts as to the reliability of all that; I realize that you have a lot to do with this site, but wonder if you have actually eaten or confirmed any of these pieces of information. Just at first glance,, Bellis perennis, high pyrethrin content & I wouldn't go near it - your website gives an Australian source for this, not sure how widely it occurs there but is certainly not native, and none of the North american sources I have mention it as being edible. Coltsfoot, young leaves yes, flowers 'might' be technically edible, but Peterson doesn't identify it as such & peterson is generally more liberal than most in these regards (some of the stuff listed in peterson is best described as 'barely digestible'). I started chasing edible flowers some time ago, and have noticed that a lot of what is out there is 'spurious'; a lot of older sources just were not aware of long term hazards (cf comfrey). One that is not on the list that surprises me very much is Tulips - petals are quite delicious.Bridesmill 22:09, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Also wondering whether it might be worth condensing in order to make a bit more inviting/user friendly - I am not aware of any alium or viola who's flowers are not edible, for instance.Bridesmill 22:12, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Dear Rich

The database, as you know, lists all plants for which we have found a record of edibility or have personal experience of. Where there is doubt about a record of edibility, (ie we also have a record of toxicity for example) we have always shown this. We do not exclude a plant simply because it might taste awful (taste is very much a personal experience and I have found many people enjoy plants where I can barely tolerate even the smallest taste).

A regards Bellis perennis, I have never actually fancied eating it and so have no personal experience. I'm not sure about the comment on pyrethrins, having never come across a record of this, though the plant is very likely to contain them since it is closely related to several plants that are commercial sources of this insecticide. Having said this, the leaves of Bellis perennis are much more commonly used in salads than the flowers and there have never been any reports of toxicity. Also, a widely eaten Chinese salad, Chrysanthemum coronarium spatiosum, is even more closely related to the Pyrethrums - both the leaves and the petals are commonly eaten in China.

Coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara, is a plant where there is a potential for toxicity - but far more so from the leaves than from the flowers. They contain liver-affecting pyrrolizidine alkaloids and, the older leaves in particular, are potentially dangerous in large quantities even though they are commonly used medicinally. The flowers, however, are another matter. They actually have a very pleasant flavour reminiscent of aniseed and I have often eaten them. This is a food that Jenny actually got me eating. I had always believed that they would be bitter and unpleasant, but she convinced me to try them after eating them herself. I do not know what level of alkaloids are likely to be in the flowers, but it cannot be high otherwise their bitter flavour would be noticed.

Comfrey, especially older leaves but also to a lesser degree the young leaves and flowers, also contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids, but you would need to eat a very large quantity in order to do yourself any harm.

By the way, alkaloids such as these often have medicinal properties and are actually beneficial to the body in the small quantities they are likely to be injested in wild foods. Indeed, many common foods contain small quantities of different alkaloids, perhaps the best examples being potatoes and tomatoes.

As regard the report on tulip flowers being delicious, and wondering why these are not mentioned in the database, I would like to know where the report on edibility came from. We do actually have a report that in at least two species of tulip they are mildly poisonous and can cause dermatitis.

Hope this is of some use.

Love

Ken

Actually, it's not of much use - two people who work together on a database and then cite it on WP - citing yourself is not WP:V. Personal experience is also not acceptable - WP:NOR Much as I disagree with this in some cases - I would like very much here to cite myself as I also have wide experience growing and eating a lot of this - but that's just not acceptable here. Additionally, the jury is out still on Comfrey, & this should fall in the category of if you don't need to, don't. And not all alkaloids are created equal - to compare those in tomatoes, potatoes & comfrey like that is not good science. The Tulip cite I have handy is "Barash, Cathy Wilkinson: Edible Flowers; from garden to palate. ISBN 1-55591-164-1" - there are others but not at the tip of my tongue (plus pers experience but we already discussed that

. I'm thinking the reason for the anti-tulip frenzy may be WW2 - lots of Dutch ate Tulips during the war & got quite ill - but that was a. bulbs and b. flowers form questionable sources (dumps etc); but it still has people queasy (e.g. my folks). Numerous entries in the database are also a bit fuzzy - if the cite says 'edible' on the plant, you cannot simply assume that this applies to the flower; I'm concerned about the hazards here of someone taking this list verbatim & at face value & doing themselves an injury - what each of these rightly needs is a specific cite, and possibly a health warning on the page.Bridesmill 00:18, 29 June 2006 (UTC)