Pediomelum esculentum | |
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In bloom in Badlands National Park, South Dakota | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae |
Subfamily: | Faboideae |
Genus: | Pediomelum |
Species: | P. esculentum |
Binomial name | |
Pediomelum esculentum | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Pediomelum esculentum, synonym Psoralea esculenta, [2] common name prairie turnip or timpsula, is an herbaceous perennial plant native to prairies and dry woodlands of central North America, which bears a starchy tuberous root edible as a root vegetable. English names for the plant include tipsin, teepsenee, breadroot, breadroot scurf pea, large Indian breadroot, prairie potato and pomme blanche. The prairie turnip continues to be a staple food of the Plains Indians.
A related species, Pediomelum hypogaeum (syn. Psoralea hypogaea), the little breadroot, is also edible, although the plant and root are smaller. Another species, Pediomelum argophyllum (syn. Psoralea argophylla), was probably harvested for food only in times of famine. [a]
The prairie turnip has a range on the Great Plains from Manitoba south to Texas and from Wisconsin west to Montana. It grows best in full sun on well-drained and rocky or sandy soil. The plant is referred to by the Indians of Iowa as Tipsina, the seed-bearing plant is due to climatic conditions especially in high, dry spots and can be found near rivers or in the steppe. [b] The relative scarcity of the plant today compared to its previous abundance may be because most prairie has been converted to farmland or managed grassland.
The prairie turnip is a perennial, living 3 to more than 6 years. [5] In spring, several densely haired stems emerge from the ground and reach up to 30 cm (12 in), bearing palmately compound leaves divided into five leaflets. In early summer the plant produces abundant blue or purple flowers in terminal clusters 5 to 10 cm (4 in) long, leading to flattened, slender-tipped pods. Harvest of the tubers is during flowering. The flowers and flower stalk break off and disappear soon after flowering, making the plant difficult to locate. The plant grows from one or more sturdy brown roots which form rounded, spindle-shaped tubers about 7 to 10 cm (4 in) below the surface, each 4 to 10 cm (4 in) long.
The Lakota name for the plant is timpsula. The name of Topeka, the capital city of Kansas, is believed to mean a "good place to dig prairie turnips" in the Kansa and other southern Siouan languages. [6]
Abundant under favorable conditions, palatable, and nutritious, the prairie turnip was once a wild-gathered staple food of the Plains Indians, especially the nomads, and of early European explorers. It was harvested May through July when the blooming flower stalks were easily visible among prairie grasses. The Indians, usually women, harvested the root with a sharpened, fire-hardened digging stick. The tubers have a hard, dark skin and are peeled before eating. Some were eaten immediately, either raw or boiled, but most were dried for further use. They were sliced and sun dried, braided and hung on meat racks to dry, and pounded into flour. [7]
The prairie turnip was also a reliable food in times of shortage or famine. A number of examples have been recorded of Indians and whites subsisting on the root for extended periods when other food could not be obtained. The prairie turnip is more nutritious than most root crops, containing about 7 percent protein, more than 50 percent carbohydrates, and is rich in vitamins and trace minerals. Particularly important was the vitamin C content of 17.1 milligrams per 100 grams as the winter meat-rich diet of the Plains Indians was often deficient in vitamin C. [8] [9] [10]
The prairie turnip takes 2 to 4 years to grow from seed to mature root. The long period required for maturation probably limited the success of any efforts the Indians made to cultivate the plant. Garden plantings have been made by scientists to evaluate the potential for domestication. [11] [12]
As a food, the prairie turnip has been described variously as a "delicacy," "tolerably good eating," or "tasteless and insipid." Barry Kaye and D. W. Moodie describe the Native Americans’ use of it as food [13] as follows: "they eat it uncooked, or they boil it, or roast it in the embers, or dry it, and crush it to powder and make soup of it. Large quantities are stored in buffalo skin bags for winter use. A sort of pudding made of the flour of the dried roots and with the serviceberries ( Amelanchier alnifolia ), after boiling together, is very palatable and a favorite dish." [14]
The root can be peeled and eaten raw or cooked. The dried root can be ground into flour, [15] and then boiled with serviceberries ( Amelanchier alnifolia ) to make a sweet pudding. [16]
Prairie turnip flour is often used as a "secret ingredient" in modern Indian frybread recipes. [17]
The turnip or white turnip is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, fleshy taproot. Small, tender varieties are grown for human consumption, while larger varieties are grown as feed for livestock. The name turnip – used in many regions – may also be used to refer to rutabaga, which is a different but related vegetable.
Amelanchier, also known as shadbush, shadwood or shadblow, serviceberry or sarvisberry, juneberry, saskatoon, sugarplum, wild-plum or chuckley pear, is a genus of about 20 species of deciduous-leaved shrubs and small trees in the rose family (Rosaceae).
Root vegetables are underground plant parts eaten by humans as food. In agricultural and culinary terminology, the term applies to true roots such as taproots and tuberous roots as well as non-roots such as bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and stem tubers.
Taro is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in African, Oceanic, East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian cultures. Taro is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated plants.
Indigenous cuisine of the Americas includes all cuisines and food practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Contemporary Native peoples retain a varied culture of traditional foods, along with the addition of some post-contact foods that have become customary and even iconic of present-day Indigenous American social gatherings. Foods like cornbread, turkey, cranberry, blueberry, hominy, and mush have been adopted into the cuisine of the broader United States population from Native American cultures.
Pachyrhizus erosus, commonly known as jícama or Mexican turnip, is a native Mexican vine, although the name jícama most commonly refers to the plant's edible tuberous root. It is in the pea family (Fabaceae). Pachyrhizus tuberosus and Pachyrhizus ahipa are the other two cultivated species in the genus. The naming of this group of edible plants can sometimes be confusing, with much overlap of similar or the same common names.
Indian bread root is a common name for several plants with edible roots and may refer to:
Wild turnip is a common name for several plants and may refer to:
Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, leaves, roots, and seeds. An alternative definition of the term is applied somewhat arbitrarily, often by culinary and cultural tradition. It may exclude foods derived from some plants that are fruits, flowers, nuts, and cereal grains, but include savoury fruits such as tomatoes and courgettes, flowers such as broccoli, and seeds such as pulses.
Tylosema esculentum, with common names gemsbok bean and marama bean or morama bean, is a long-lived perennial legume native to arid areas of southern Africa. Stems grow at least 3 metres (9.8 ft), in a prostrate or trailing form, with forked tendrils that facilitate climbing. A raceme up to 25 millimetres (1 in) long, containing many yellow-orange flowers, ultimately produces an ovate to circular pod, with large brownish-black seeds.
Pediomelum hypogaeum is a perennial herb also known as the little Indian breadroot or subterranean Indian breadroot. It is found on the black soil prairies in Texas.
Pediomelum cuspidatum is a perennial herb also known as the buffalo pea, largebract Indian breadroot and the tall-bread scurf-pea. It is found on the black soil prairies in Texas. It has an inflorescence on stems 18-40 centimeters long arising from a subterranean stem and deep carrot-shaped root that is 4–15 cm long. The long petioled leaves are palmately divided into 5 linear-elliptic leaflets that are 2-4 centimeters long. The flowers, borne in condensed spikes from the leaves, are light blue and pea-like.
Pediomelum is a genus of legumes known as Indian breadroots. These are glandular perennial plants with palmately-arranged leaves. They have a main erect stem with inflorescences of blue or purple flowers and produce hairy legume pods containing beanlike seeds. Some species have woody roots while others have starchy tuber-like roots which can be eaten like tuber vegetables such as potatoes or made into flour. Indian breadroots are native to North America. Many species have synonymy with genus Psoralea.
Xanthosoma sagittifolium, or tannia, is a tropical flowering plant from the family Araceae. It produces an edible, starchy corm. X. sagittifolium is native to tropical America where it has been first cultivated. Around the 19th century, the plant spread to Southeast Asia and Africa and has been cultivated there ever since. X. sagittifolium is often confused with the related plant Colocasia esculenta (Taro), which looks very similar and is also used in a similar way. Both plants are often collectively named Cocoyam.
P. esculenta may refer to:
Pediomelum tenuiflorum, the slimflower scurfpea, is a perennial in the pea family. It is about 2–3 feet (0.6–0.9 m) tall and has a lot of leaves on top. Its leaves can reach a length of 3 inches (80 mm). This flower can be found mainly in the central and southwestern U.S.
Agriculture on the precontact Great Plains describes the agriculture of the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains of the United States and southern Canada in the Pre-Columbian era and before extensive contact with European explorers, which in most areas occurred by 1750. The most important crop was maize, usually planted along with beans and squash, including pumpkins. Minor crops such as sunflowers, goosefoot, tobacco, gourds, and plums, little barley and marsh elder were also grown. Maize agriculture began on the Great Plains about 900 AD.
Pleasant Valley Conservancy is a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources-dedicated State Natural Area. The area contains a variety of natural communities found in Wisconsin including oak woodland, oak savanna, dry and wet prairies, sedge meadow, shrub-carr, and an open marsh.
A staple food, food staple, or simply staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for an individual or a population group, supplying a large fraction of energy needs and generally forming a significant proportion of the intake of other nutrients as well. For humans, a staple food of a specific society may be eaten as often as every day or every meal, and most people live on a diet based on just a small variety of food staples. Specific staples vary from place to place, but typically are inexpensive or readily available foods that supply one or more of the macronutrients and micronutrients needed for survival and health: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, and vitamins. Typical examples include grains, seeds, nuts and root vegetables. Among them, cereals, legumes and tubers account for about 90% of the world's food calorie intake.
Pediomelum argophyllum, synonym Psoralea argophylla, is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae. The species is native to the central United States, as well as the three Canadian prairie provinces, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Pediomelum argophyllum grows naturally as a forb, and it grows perennially.