Nyctaginaceae

Four o’clock Family

Snowball Sandverbena

FAMILY: Four o’clock family (Nyctaginaceae) – Abronia genus.

SPECIES: Fragrant or snowball sandverbena (Abronia fragrans Nutt. ex Hook.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Warning! Although the roots are reported to be edible, they can cause digestive problems including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Other parts are definitely not edible. Other species, except for yellow sandverbena (A. latifolia) of the Pacific Coast, are not reported to be edible. The four o’clock family is poorly documented, which raises safety concerns. Virtually nothing in the family is edible.

Roots of snowball sandverbena (A. fragrans) are white with rattlesnake-like skins. They have a decent flavor similar to evening primrose roots. It’s somewhat sweet, but also somewhat “peppery.” Beware that this peppery overtone is more like an acrid stinging sensation than the familiar zest of black pepper. The rattlesnake-like skins are thin and readily fall away. Removing them is unnecessary. Fresh roots have a soft, crisp, uniform texture. They snap like carrots when sufficiently bent and can easily be sliced with a sharp knife. Boiling them for 10 to 20 minutes further softens the texture, but the peppery flavor remains unchanged. The broth is clear and without much aroma. It captures a faint sweetness imparted by the complex carbohydrates. Under the right conditions, snowball sandverbena can establish large colonies, especially in sandy areas of the Four Corners region. The roots average 4 to 20 mm thick and penetrate deep into the soil. Gathering is easy thanks to the sandy habitat, but these roots can barely be considered suitable for consumption.

NOTES: The edibility of snowball sandverbena roots is poorly substantiated. A few references cite Uncultivated Native Plants Used as Sources of Food by Edward Castetter (1935-a, p. 39) as verification of their edibility. In that work, Castetter states, “The tuberous roots of this species [Phellopterus montanus] are peeled, baked, and ground by the Navajo, who use it as an occasional substitute for corn meal (15), while the Acoma and Laguna similarly grind the roots of the sand verbena (Abronia fragrans) which they term germate and shruwi wawa, and mix it with corn meal to be used as food.” In a more recent account based on Texas populations of snowball sandverbena, the authors describe the roots as bitter, fibrous, and with a spicy aftertaste reminiscent of Tabasco sauce (Cheatham p. 5). My experiences with snowball sandverbena were based on roots gathered from Butler Wash in southeastern Utah and the Mescalero Dunes in New Mexico. Missing in the literature (including this book) is a thorough safety evaluation of these roots. Apparently, snowball sandverbena roots are of little interest to the scientific community, so information about them is scarce. Considering their bad flavor and irritating characteristics combined with the scarcity of information and lack of edible plants in the four o’clock family—all of which are danger signs—snowball sandverbena roots fail to meet basic safety requirements. They could be perfectly safe, but in the absence of a proven safety record and a well-documented history, they should be approached with caution. Just because Native Americans ate a particular plant does not mean that the plant is safe to eat. When cultivated crops didn’t do well, Native Americans relied on less-preferable plants to survive the winter months. There’s often a fine line between edible and inedible plants, and sometimes less-preferable plants cross that line. For the reasons outlined in these notes, in my estimation, snowball sandverbena roots should only be eaten in small amounts and combining them with more wholesome foods in a well-balanced diet would certainly be prudent.

IDENTIFICATION: The Abronia genus is currently represented by 22 species in the United States, all of which are found in the West. Only 7 species have white or potentially white flowers (fragrans, elliptica, bigelovii, mellifera, nana, pogonantha, and turbinata). Other species usually have pink, red, purple, or yellow flowers. Due to variability, flower color isn’t always reliable. Only A. elliptica is likely to be confused with A. fragrans. These two species are often considered the same. A. elliptica typically has wider flower bracts, narrower leaves, shorter fruits, and a more low-growing form than A. fragrans. Other white-flowered species have different forms or different ranges. For the most part, these ranges do not overlap. Sandverbenas are well adapted to sandy soils. A. bigelovii is a rare species inhabiting gypsum dunes in New Mexico. It has exceptionally profuse flower blooms. A. nana is a dwarf species with leafless stems widespread throughout the Southwest. A. mellifera is limited to the Pacific Northwest and northern Great Basin. A. pogonantha and A. turbinata are found primarily in the Mojave Desert and western Great Basin.

Description of snowball sandverbena (Abronia fragrans): FORM upright perennial plant averaging about 20-80 cm tall, emerging from a taproot; LEAVES simple; opposite, with unequal pairs; stalks usually shorter than blades; blades oval to heart-shaped; margins entire; surfaces hairless or densely covered with sticky hairs; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, and arranged in snowball-like clusters; bracts narrowly oval, free, and obscured by the flowers; perianth white, 11-25 mm long, and 5-lobed; styles, stigmas, and stamens included within the perianth tubes; FRUITS anthocarps olive-brown, fusiform, and winged or angled; the wings not surrounding the fruits; HABITAT western Great Plains, westward to Arizona and Utah; especially common in sandy soils of the Four Corners region; blooming March to September.

REFERENCES: Snowball sandverbena (Abronia fragrans): roots Castetter (1935-a p. 39), Cheatham (p. 5), Couplan (p. 86), and Yanovski (p. 23).

Spiderlings

FAMILY: Four o’clock family (Nyctaginaceae) – Boerhavia genus.

SPECIES: Coulter’s spiderling (Boerhavia coulteri (Hook. f.) S. Watson).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Warning! Various parts of many different Boerhavia species are high in compounds called oxalates that can cause a mild to severe burning sensation in your mouth or throat. Despite the oxalates, the shoots and leaves of Coulter’s spiderling were eaten by Native Americans. The following notes are based on the leaves rather than the shoots. Both parts probably taste similar, but the shoots could taste milder. Fresh or cooked leaves taste like a combination of green beans, spinach, and some kind of “mysterious vegetable dug up from a toxic waste site.” At first, the burning sensation is mild, but it gets worse as more leaves are consumed. Fresh leaves have a crisp texture. Cooked leaves become mushy like canned spinach. Boiling does not affect the oxalates, so these leaves have virtually no potential to serve as potherbs. Most spiderlings (including Coulter’s spiderling) are thin, wiry, inconspicuous plants that appear in response to summer rainfall and then promptly wither in the desert heat. They rank among the worst-tasting wild foods and should probably be considered inedible. Even if they tasted better, they would rank among the less-valuable wild foods due to difficulties involved with gathering a supply. Even though the plants are common, gathering enough shoots or leaves for a meal would be tedious because these parts are tiny and sparse. Overall, Coulter’s spiderling appears to be a wild food of minor importance.

NOTES: During the fieldwork conducted for this reference, I sampled the leaves of several species in the Boerhavia genus to provide a comparison to those of Coulter’s spiderling (B. coulteri). These species were: scarlet spiderling (B. coccinea), standing spiderling (B. erecta), fivewing spiderling (B. intermedia), creeping spiderling (B. spicata), and largebract spiderling (B. wrightii). They all tasted very similar, and none of them qualified as palatable due to a terrible burning sensation caused by the presence of oxalates. I gathered them in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico during the summer rainy season. Even though these plants are common, they’re easily overlooked because they really blend in with the desert landscape. I certainly wouldn’t recommend eating anything in the Boerhavia genus.

IDENTIFICATION: The Boerhavia genus is represented by about 20 species in the United States, most of which are native to the South. Spiderlings usually bloom shortly after summer rains. Differences between species are minor.

Description of spiderlings (the Boerhavia genus): FORM low-lying or upright plants; annual or perennial; LEAVES simple; opposite, with unequal pairs; blades linear, lanceolate, or rounded; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, and arranged in head-like or spike-like clusters (cymes, racemes, or panicles); bracts 1-3, small, and distinct; perianth small, bell-shaped to trumpet-shaped, 5-lobed, white, pink, or red; styles 1; stigmas globe-shaped and exserted; stamens 1-5; FRUITS anthocarps club- or ob-pyramid-shaped; with 3-5 angles, ribs, or ridges; surfaces with or without hairs; HABITAT deserts; across the Southwest; blooming in summer.

REFERENCES: Coulter’s spiderling (Boerhavia coulteri): shoots Ebeling (p. 777); leaves Hodgson (p. 214).

Desert Four o’clock

FAMILY: Four o’clock family (Nyctaginaceae) – Mirabilis genus.

SPECIES: Desert four o’clock, Colorado four o’clock, or maravilla (Mirabilis multiflora (Torr.) A. Gray = Quamodidion multiflorum Torr.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Warning! Consumption of desert four o’clock roots may cause stomach pain, headache, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. Other parts and other southwestern species are not edible.

Desert four o’clock (M. multiflora) produces thick, soft, white, fleshy roots that may seem like an ideal wild food, but they should be regarded with caution. The flavor and texture are “just like real food,” meaning nonfibrous, nonwoody, chewable, and palatable. When eaten fresh, the flavor is similar to parsnips, but slightly acrid. The fresh aroma is also like parsnips. As the roots are boiled, the inviting aroma becomes more like potatoes with a dash of pepper. The resulting broth is clear and somewhat bitter. Gathering the roots is reasonably easy, but only small amounts of desert four o’clock roots should be consumed.

NOTES: In 1908, concerning the use of desert four o’clock (M. multiflora) roots as food among the Zuni Indians of western New Mexico, Matilda Stevenson wrote, “Women frequently slip a pinch of the powdered root into water to be drunk at meal time by the young men of the family, to prevent them overindulging their appetites. The powder is also put into he’we that is to be carried by men on long journeys, that they may not become too hungry to be satisfied with what they have.” Apparently, the roots were more of an appetite suppressant than something to satisfy the appetite. At the Fresnal Shelter in the Sacramento Mountains of south-central New Mexico, archaeological evidence concluded that desert four o’clock roots were utilized as food over two thousand years ago (Dunmire 1997 p. 209). Why the roots are no longer eaten in more recent times is uncertain, but there must be a good reason why such a potentially valuable resource would be disregarded. Desert four o’clock is common and its roots are big, fleshy, starchy, fairly easy to obtain, and reasonably palatable—qualities typical of staple foods. In 1916, concerning the use of desert four o’clock roots among the Tewa Indians, Wilfred Robbins wrote, “The roots after being ground are mixed with corn flour to improve the taste.” Based on the desert four o’clock roots I sampled, corn tastes better, but not by much. Perhaps the variation in flavor offered a welcome change to the flavor of corn, just as seasonings offer a pleasant change. At least one species of the Mirabilis genus, called mauka (M. expansa), endemic to the Andes of South America, is cultivated for its edible roots (National Research Council pp. 75-82 and Palaniswami p. 109). Leaves of mauka are also edible (Facciola p. 161). Roots and leaves of several species in the Mirabilis genus, especially those of “marvel of Peru” (M. japala), are known to have a strong purgative action, possibly due to resins, saponins, or an alkaloid called trigonelline. The servings of desert four o’clock that I ate were either too small to promote such an action or cooking eliminated the action. Trigonelline is readily soluble in water, but other compounds may endure the process. A strong purgative action would easily explain the discontinuance of desert four o’clock roots as a source of food among Native Americans. References to this plant generally indicate that it was used as medicine rather than food. Overall, limiting consumption of this questionable wild food to small amounts would be wise.

IDENTIFICATION: About 25-30 species of the Mirabilis genus are found in the United States, most of which are native to the West.

Description of desert four o’clock (Mirabilis multiflora): FORM spreading perennial plant about 3-6 dm tall; LEAVES simple; opposite, the pairs usually unequal; blades large, thick, about 4-11 cm long, lance-, egg- or heart-shaped; margins smooth; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary superior, showy, and arranged in clusters of 3-15 (typically 6) per involucre; bracts 3-5, united into calyx-like involucres; perianth pinkish-purple, 5-lobed, funnel-shaped, and 40-60 mm long; stigmas spherical and usually exserted; stamens 3-5, exserted; FRUITS anthocarps elliptic, 6-11 mm long, often weakly 5-ribbed, wingless, and usually not angled; HABITAT deserts; throughout the southwestern United States; blooming May to October, often in response to rainfall.

REFERENCES: Desert four o’clock (Mirabilis multiflora): roots Dunmire (1997 p. 209), Robbins (p. 60, cited as Quamodidion multiflorum), and Stevenson (p. 58, cited as Quamodidion multiflorum); part unspecified Perttula (p. 228).