Santalaceae

Sandalwood Family

Toadflax

FAMILY: Sandalwood family (Santalaceae) – Comandra genus. According to the fourth release by the APG (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group), the toadflax family (Comandraceae) remains included within the sandalwood family (Santalaceae).

SPECIES: Pale, white, or dusty bastard toadflax (Comandra umbellata (L.) Nutt. ssp. pallida (A. DC.) Piehl = Comandra pallida A. DC.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Warning! Pale bastard toadflax is known to absorb selenium and vivid discoloration on the leaves indicates the presence of rust fungus. Consuming the fruits or seeds of this plant on a regular basis is not recommended, and unhealthy plants should always be avoided. Trace amounts of selenium play a vital role in human nutrition, but excessive amounts are detrimental to health and the margin between beneficial and detrimental is very narrow. Since the selenium concentration in soil varies greatly, it also varies in plants. Some plants are much better at absorbing this element than others. They typically absorb it in the form of selenate, selenite, selenomethionine, or selenocysteine, all of which are water-soluble and represent the principal dietary forms. Pale bastard toadflax is considered to be a “secondary selenium absorber,” which means it could have 25-100 mg of selenium per 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of dry plant material. This greatly exceeds the US recommended daily allowance (RDA) for selenium, which is 55 μg (0.055 mg) for adult men and women. Intakes above 400 μg (0.4 mg) are potentially harmful. Selenium toxicity is called selenosis. This condition can occur suddenly or gradually depending on the amount of selenium consumed. Early signs may include nausea, diarrhea, chills, numbness, nervousness, excess salivation, a garlic odor in the breath, or a metallic taste in the mouth. Later signs may include: skin rashes, hair loss, nail loss, mottled teeth, respiratory distress, tremors, kidney failure, cardiac failure, or even death. Selenium poisoning is something that foragers should be concerned about, especially in the southwestern United States. Since the predominant forms of selenium in plants are water-soluble, thoroughly boiling selenium-rich plants and discarding the water offers a degree of protection against this hazard.

Fruits (drupes) and seeds of pale bastard toadflax are edible fresh or cooked. Only one species of the Comandra genus is currently recognized, and its segregation into 3 subspecies appears to be of no concern to foragers. Fruits and seeds of green bastard toadflax (Comandra umbellata (L.) Nutt. ssp. umbellata = C. richardsiana Fernald) can be utilized in the same way. California bastard toadflax (Comandra umbellata (L.) Nutt. ssp. californica (Eastw. ex Rydb.) Piehl = Comandra californica Eastw. ex Rydb.) apparently eluded documentation in ethnobotanical literature, but some authorities consider it a synonym of pale bastard toadflax. A closely related plant of the northern United States and Canada called false, northern, or swamp bastard toadflax (Geocaulon lividum (Richardson) Fernald = Comandra lividum Richardson) also has edible fruits. In addition, nectar derived from the flowers of C. umbellata (subspecies unspecified) was eaten as a “sweet” by the Okanagan Indians of Washington and British Columbia (Moerman p. 88).

Flowers of pale bastard toadflax taste bland and more like vegetables than flowers. Exactly which vegetable is difficult to say. It’s not a flavor suggesting that any food value is present. Sweetness is not a trait of these flowers. No excessively acrid, bitter, soapy, resinous, or other harsh accents compromise the flavor. The flowers are simply “un-tasteful” rather than distasteful. Fresh flowers have an herb-like overtone marked by a brush of bitterness. Cooking reduces the bitterness, but doesn’t otherwise affect the flavor. Bugs and diseases often attack these flowers, so caution is advised.

Fruits of pale bastard toadflax are basically “all seed and no flesh.” Fleshy layers are thin, wrinkled, leathery, never truly ripe, and often heavily infested by fungi. Most fruits drop to the ground and disappear before maturing. Unripe fruits are green. Fully ripe fruits are pink, red, purple, brown, or other colors, especially on the sun-facing sides. Each fruit is typically globe-shaped, 7-9 mm in diameter, and topped with a five-parted crown. The flesh (based on fruits sampled for this reference) is very astringent, almost as much as acorns. It’s far too bitter to consume raw. It’s also somewhat sticky. No fruity essence is perceivable. Even no food-like essence is perceivable. Pale bastard toadflax fruits are bland and bitter. Cooking offers no solution. Selecting only the ripest fruits won’t help because the bitterness never subsides. Some authors describe the fruits as “sweet” and best when gathered while still slightly green. Perhaps certain subspecies produce better-tasting fruits, or perhaps regional variances in growing conditions produce fruits of vastly different quality, or perhaps those authors didn’t actually try the fruits. In any case, all the fruits sampled for this reference couldn’t have tasted much worse, and I don’t believe green fruits would taste better than ripe fruits. Fruits of pale bastard toadflax occur in convenient clusters atop short stalks. Gathering a supply of fruits is easy, assuming a supply is available. Even though the plants are abundant, the fruits are scarce. They mature anytime from late summer to late autumn, depending on the influence of elevation and growing conditions. Overall, pale bastard toadflax fruits seem to be a dire wild food of little value.

Seeds of pale bastard toadflax taste infinitely better than the fleshy fruits. Each fruit contains one seed surrounded by a hard shell. Raw seeds are pearl white, nut-like, oily, high in calories, and absolutely delicious. No acrid, bitter, soapy, resinous, or otherwise harsh accents compromise the flavor. Dry-roasted seeds taste identical to hazelnuts, even though the two are unrelated. Pure seeds are chewable, but the hard shells need to be removed. Water helps accomplish this task. Unshelled seeds can be pounded into a coarse meal and placed in water. Shell fragments sink as the seed meal rises. Most of the seed meal remains in suspension just above the shell fragments. At this point, the seed meal can be poured off, leaving the fragments behind. No cooking is required for this technique to be effective. Simply cracking the shells and picking out the seeds also works. It’s time consuming, but it may be worth the time considering the food value of these seeds. Flour made by grinding the seeds is fantastic and suitable for any culinary purpose. Based on flavor, texture, aroma, and caloric value, seeds of pale bastard toadflax easily rank among top-quality wild foods. However, they may contain harmful amounts of selenium, so consuming large amounts or even small amounts of them on a regular basis is not recommended. According to Moerman, the Okanagan Indians of Washington and British Columbia harvested them as a staple food item. Staple foods tend to be safer than nonstaple foods. They also tend to be more common, easier to gather, and easier to process. Pale bastard toadflax is rarely mentioned as a staple food, so these tendencies may not apply. Paiute and Navajo Indians also gathered the seeds of this unusual plant. Like the fruits, the seeds mature anytime from late summer to late autumn depending on the influence of elevation and growing conditions. Overall, pale bastard toadflax seeds are a delicious wild food of questionable safety.

NOTES: Several authors describe pale bastard toadflax fruits as “sweet” and best gathered when slightly green. This strongly contradicts all my experiences with these fruits. None of the fruits I ever gathered from this plant tasted good, not even slightly good. Most of the gatherings were from central Utah or southern Arizona, and the gatherings spanned the entire ripening phase, from before the fruits matured to well past maturity. Fruits gathered from plants in other states, particularly the northeastern states, might taste better. It’s also possible that descriptions of these fruits in other books are a little optimistic. I don’t candy-coat the facts, so if something tastes awful, its description will clearly indicate that it tastes awful. In contrast to the fruits, my experiences with the seeds of pale bastard toadflax were consistent with those of other authors.

IDENTIFICATION: The Comandra genus is currently represented by 1 species with 3 subspecies in the United States. Subspecies pallida is the dominant southwestern plant. It’s semi-parasitic, which means it can produce its own nutrients or procure nutrients from nearby plants. It often spreads vegetatively by underground roots (haustorias) and forms extensive colonies in dry habitats.

Description of pale bastard toadflax (Comandra umbellata ssp. pallida): FORM semi-parasitic plant about 5-40 cm tall spreading by rhizomes and forming colonies; LEAVES simple; alternate; sessile or short-stalked; blades linear, lanceolate, or elliptic; margins entire; surfaces dusty; midveins evident on lower surfaces and lateral veins obscure; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary inferior, bell-shaped, and arranged in terminal clusters; hypanthiums extending beyond the ovaries and appearing as calyx tubes; sepals 4-5, free, light pink, lanceolate, and attached to the hypanthium rims; petals 0; pistils 1; styles 1; stigmas 1; stamens 4-5; FRUITS drupes globe-shaped, about 7-9 mm in diameter, often crowned, and variously colored yellowish, pinkish, reddish-purple, or brownish-green; fleshy layers thin; surfaces usually smooth; HABITAT diverse; adapted to many habitats over a wide range of elevations; blooming April to August. NOTES: subspecies umbellata has thinner, broader, greener, more evidently veined leaves; and subspecies californica has slightly shorter, somewhat more egg-shaped calyx lobes.

REFERENCES: #1 pale bastard toadflax (Comandra umbellata ssp. pallida = Comandra pallida): fruits Couplan (p. 283) and Kirk (p. 115); seeds Couplan (p. 283) and Moerman (p. 88). #2 green bastard toadflax (Comandra umbellata (L.) Nutt. ssp. umbellata = Comandra richardsiana Fernald): fruits and seeds Couplan (p. 283). #3 northern bastard toadflax (Geocaulon lividum (Richardson) Fernald = Comandra lividum Richardson): fruits Britton (volume 1 p. 640) and Couplan (p. 283). References to selenium: Combs, Eisler, Frankenberger, and Kabata-Pendias.

Mistletoes

FAMILY: Sandalwood family (Santalaceae) – Phoradendron genus. This genus was formerly placed in the mistletoe family (Viscaceae = Loranthaceae).

SPECIES: #1 California, red, or mesquite mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum Nutt.). #2 juniper mistletoe (Phoradendron juniperinum Engelm. ex A. Gray).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Warning! MISTLETOE BERRIES ARE DANGEROUS! Consumption is absolutely not recommended. Eating just a few berries can cause abdominal pain, diarrhea, or vomiting. Larger amounts can cause severe digestive problems, a lowered heart rate, or cardiac failure. Human fatalities are rare, but they have occurred. Most hospital admissions associated with mistletoe resulted from children eating the berries at Christmas. Mistletoes contain an assortment of toxic lectins (including phoratoxins, viscotoxins, and viscumin) that inhibit protein synthesis in the digestive tract, cause cellular damage, interfere with the immune system, and adversely affect the heart muscles. Mistletoes are semi-parasitic plants, which means they can produce their own resources through photosynthesis or obtain resources from their host. They can also obtain toxins from their host, so the edibility of the host needs to be considered. Lectins effectively resist the digestive process, so the human body has great difficulty breaking them down. Boiling (in water) generally destroys lectins, but some types are resistant to this process. The types in mistletoes are resistant, as tea brewed from mistletoe berries has caused human fatalities. Some species are definitely more toxic than others. Species reported to be edible are presumably the safest, but are they safe enough? … The answer is no. Lectins are far too destructive and there’s no clearly defined amount of berries that is safe to eat. Despite reports of edibility, consumption of mistletoes is absolutely not recommended.

Berries of mesquite mistletoe (P. californicum) and juniper mistletoe (P. juniperinum) are allegedly edible (see warning above). The outstanding works of Edward Castetter provide some early references to mistletoes as wild foods. In regard to mesquite mistletoe Castetter states, “The berries of the mistletoe Phoradendron californicum, which grows on mesquite Prosopis glandulosa, are boiled without removing from the stem. They are eaten by the Pima by drawing the stems between the teeth to remove the berries. Although a number of species of mistletoe grow on the trees along the Gila, this is the only one used as food (34).” In regard to juniper mistletoe Castetter states, “The berries are eaten by the Acoma and Laguna, who know the plant as shikatratra, when other foods become scarce; also by the Navajo who say the berries are not very palatable, although the Hopi use them as a substitute for coffee (22, 23).” Anything that Native Americans ate only when more preferable foods became scarce is likely to have issues. Since mistletoes are common, productive, and easy to gather, Native Americans would not have let them go to waste, so the passages above imply there’s a problem.

Based on the field research conducted for this reference, finding anything good to say about mistletoe berries is a challenge. Ripe berries are sticky, slimy, chewy, nasty, and thoroughly repulsive. That was the good news! To be fair, a trace of sweetness hides under the repulsive flavor and texture. Most of the berry volume is gooey pulp rather than seed. Mistletoe berries mature in winter, a time when few other fruits are available. They look very tempting against the barren landscape of winter. Gathering a supply is reasonably easy. However, the berries do resist being pulled off the stems. Even fully ripe berries resist. Interiors tend to get pulled out in the process, which creates a sticky mess. A careful hand can avoid this issue. Mistletoes are semi-parasitic plants, usually associated with a specific host or group of hosts. Mesquite and juniper mistletoe differ mainly by fruit color and preferred hosts. Berries of both species have a similar taste, texture, and aroma. Seeds are soft. Skins are thin and loosely attached. In mesquite mistletoe, only the skins are red or pink (or occasionally white). Fleshy portions are clear white or pink. In juniper mistletoe, all the parts are semi-translucent white. Berries of these species have a medicinal taste that fails to suggest the presence of anything wholesome. In consideration of the hosts, mesquite trees are nontoxic. Therefore, they’re a safe host. Mesquite mistletoe can also grow on ironwood, acacia, and paloverde, or occasionally on condalia or creosote. Seri Indians of Mexico only gathered the berries from plants growing on mesquite, ironwood, or acacia because berries gathered from other hosts were considered bitter. Juniper mistletoe only grows on juniper, so there are no other choices of hosts. Juniper trees have somewhat edible berry-like cones and probably don’t contribute to the overall toxicity of juniper mistletoe berries. Mistletoes rely on their hosts primarily for water. Killing the host is not in their interest. Based on the literature reviewed, berries of mesquite mistletoe appear to be safer than those of juniper mistletoe. No other species of the primarily North and South American Phoradendron genus are reported to be edible. Overall, mistletoe berries are for desperate times. Consumption of these berries is not recommended.

NOTES: It was always with a sense of impending doom gathering like storm clouds on the horizon that I sampled mistletoe berries. After calming the trepidations somewhere in the Trigo Mountains of Arizona, I tried them for the first time. Noting the location of the nearest emergency room seemed like a wise precaution. No adverse effects occurred, but I never consumed more than a handful at a time. After reading books that described mesquite mistletoe berries as sweet and contrasting that with the nightmarish flavor of the first few experiences, I was determined to find some sweet berries. About 35 attempts later, I found those berries in the Black Mountains of Arizona. They had an acacia host rather than a mesquite host, but I’m not suggesting a correlation in flavor among these hosts. Most of the berries I sampled were from mesquite hosts, and the samples spanned the northern Sonoran Desert. Regardless of the host, the flavor was generally awful. Juniper mistletoe berries were even worse. I never found any that could pass as palatable, so (as usual) the Native American knowledge of plants is correct. After a long walk into the Mormon Mountains of southern Nevada, I found a supply of juniper mistletoe berries. Every one of them in suspiciously perfect condition. None of them missing or damaged in any way. Certainly anything looking like that must be poisonous. That’s just the way things work on this planet. If they were edible, something would have eaten them. After eating just a few of these distasteful berries, I no longer wondered why all the birds, bugs, and other creatures found something else to eat.

IDENTIFICATION: The Phoradendron genus is currently represented by approximately 15 species in the continental United States, of which about 10 occur in the Southwest. Mistletoes are semi-parasitic plants associated with specific hosts. The scale-like leaves of mesquite and juniper mistletoes are distinctive. Mistletoes with well-developed leaves clearly indicate other species.

Description of mesquite mistletoe (Phoradendron californica): FORM semi-parasitic shrubs appearing as clumps on trees; with or without chlorophyll; STEMS jointed, brittle, and variously colored, commonly red; LEAVES simple; opposite; blades tiny, scale-like; margins entire; FLOWERS regular, unisexual, ovary inferior, and arranged in axillary spikes; sepals 3-4 (usually 3), yellow, tiny, and tooth-like; petals 0; pistils 1, compound with 3-4 united carpels; styles 1, short, and with small stigmas; stamens 3-4, lacking filaments, and opposite the sepals; FRUITS berries red, slimy, sticky, and lacking stalks; HABITAT found on mesquite, acacia, ironwood, palo verde, and other trees nearly throughout the Southwest; blooming January to April, or potentially anytime.

Description of juniper mistletoe (Phoradendron juniperinum): FORM semi-parasitic shrubs appearing as clumps on trees; with or without chlorophyll; STEMS jointed, brittle, and variously colored, commonly green; LEAVES simple; opposite; blades tiny, scale-like; margins entire; FLOWERS regular, unisexual, ovary inferior, and arranged in axillary spikes; sepals 3-4 (usually 3), yellow, tiny, and tooth-like; petals 0; pistils 1, compound with 3-4 united carpels; styles 1, short, and with small stigmas; stamens 3-4, lacking filaments, and opposite the sepals; FRUITS berries white, slimy, sticky, and lacking stalks; HABITAT found on juniper and cypress trees nearly throughout the Southwest; blooming June to September, or potentially anytime.

REFERENCES: #1 mesquite mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum): fruits Castetter (1935-a p. 39 and 1935-b p. 19), Couplan (p. 284), Hodgson (pp. 243-244), Moerman (p. 179), and Rea (pp. 174-175). #2 juniper mistletoe (Phoradendron juniperinum): fruits Castetter (1935-a p. 39), Couplan (p. 284), and Moerman (p. 180). References to toxicity: Turkington (p. 153) and Turner (1991 pp. 250-251).