From Eat the Weeds
and other things, too
by Green Deane
Serenoa repens: Weed to Wonder Drug
Ripe saw palmetto berries
Rotten cheese steeped in tobacco juice
That’s
how starving shipwrecked Quakers described the flavor of the saw
palmetto berries in 1692, “rotten cheese steeped in tobacco
juice.” The account is in a 103-page report on Saw Palmetto
written by Dr. Edwin Moses Hale in 1898:
“There
is no doubt that the aborigines of the Florida peninsula depended
largely upon the berries of the saw palmetto for their food. In a very
old book, with a quaint title page, published in 1796, are narrated by
Jonathan Dickinson the adventures of a shipload of Quakers who were
shipwrecked on the coast of Florida… The shipwreck occurred [24
September] 1696. They were captured by the Jaega Indians, who were
believed to be cannibals. After terrible sufferings, a part of the men
and women arrived at St. Augustine. Dickinson narrates that on their
[capture] they were taken to the wigwam of the “casseky” or
chief who “seated himself on his cabin, cross legged, having a
basket of palmetto berries brought him, which he eat very
greedily.” These Quakers, while with the Indians, nearly starved
to death. The only food given them were fish and berries. Their first
trial of the berries was not favorable. “We tasted them, but not
one among us could suffer them to stay in our mouths, for we could
compare the taste of them to nothing else by rotten cheese steeped in
tobacco juice. …. of the palm berries we could not bear
the taste in our mouths.” Even when almost starving “the
Indians offered us some of their berries, which we endeavored to eat
but could not; the taste was so irksome and ready to take out breath
from us when we tried to eat them.”
Dickenson's account of the journey
Hale,
quoting Dickinson, goes on to say the Quakers did learn to tolerate the
berries and the boiled juice of the saw palmetto helped feed and save
Dickinson’s infant son. That makes sense: The berry is loaded
with oil and sugar. In his book, the good doctor also describes eating
them: “The berries are at first exceedingly sweet to the taste,
but in a few seconds this is followed by an acrid, pungent sensation
that spreads to the fauces, nasal mucous membrane and larynx. This is
in turn succeeded by a feeling of smoothness in all those parts, as if
they had been coated with oil.” He likened the flavor to butyric
acid that grows stronger with age.
Some Internet pundits —
no doubt copying each other — call the shipwrecked
account about eating the berries humorous. That is woefully misplaced.
The barkentine Reformation, sailing from Jamaica to Philadelphia, was
wrecked off Jupiter Island, near Hobe Sound, by a hurricane. Twenty
survived the wrecking and subsequent capture. And though starving they
had to wrestle with the idea the Indians wanted to fatten them up for
slaughter — cannibals only eat strangers. Released after several
weeks of captivity they had to make their way on foot the 230 miles up
the coast to St. Augustine, five of them died along the way from
starvation and exposure. No food, no water, in a hostile strange land
with hostile natives. Hardly humorous. They were semi-captured as
second time by the Ais Indians and endured yet another hurricane.
One can still read of the harrowing account in Dickinson’s
narrative (abbreviated title) : God’s Protective Providence,
Being the Narrative of a Journey from Port Royal in Jamaica to
Philadelphia Between August 23 1696 and April 1, 1697. The book was
reprinted 16 times in English, and three times each in Dutch and German
between 1700 and 1869. Today it is known as Jonathan Dickinson’s
Journal. Dickinson, by the way, went on to twice serve as mayor of
Philadelphia. There is now an 11,500-acre state park, the Jonathan
Dickinson State Park, about five miles from where they were shipwrecked.
Personally, I think the black ripe berries of the Serenoa repens
(sair-ren-NOE-uh REE-penz) tastes like an extremely intense, very
long-lasting, exceptionally peppery piece of blue cheese. It is also
very close in flavor to the gastric juices we sometimes burp up and
coat our throat with. Blue cheese/gastric juice, intense, mouth
coating, near burning. Discarding the seed unless I plan on squeezing
it for oil, I eat one berry at a time, with wine, and still it is very
intense blue cheese-esque…. not as good as blue cheese,
but more intense, on the verger of being gastric juice. Not something
to eat without a chaser… you have been warned.
Saw palmettos have multiple "heads"
Old
time Seminole Indians said you shouldn’t eat more than five
palmetto berries at one time. If you eat it with hot water it will
bother your mouth for a while. They may know a thing or two about that.
They still squeeze the berries, but add a little sugar with the juice,
and drink it as a tea. In the early 1900’s in Miami you could buy
“Metto” which was saw palmetto juice mixed with sugar and
carbonated water. And as much as Dickinson said none of his party could
eat them the berries were exported to europe nearly as century earlier
in 1602.
Fortunately for us there is more to forage off the saw
palmetto than the berries. The terminal buds of the growing trunks
contain heart of palm just like the cabbage palm does except it’s
smaller. Taking it from the saw palmetto does not kill the many-trunked
palm. The growing bottom ends of young fronds are also edible,
after one carefully pulls them out. You get one or two bites off those
but it is work hauling them out. You pull them out by putting on
some thick leather gloves, grabbing the youngest stalk firmly, and
yanking. Where it breaks is edible. Also the stems can be chopped,
ground, mixed with water, strained and an edible starch settled out.
The
Saw Palmetto cover about 10% of the state of Florida and is a major
source of honey. There are actually two varieties, one with yellow
green fronds and ones with blue green fronds. Both of them also produce
wax in their leaves but the wax from the blue green variety is
preferred. Besides that the plant is used for fiber and thatching.
Seminole Indians still make their dolls out of 100 saw palmetto
fiber. It stems provide a good cork substitute, the root pulp was
used to plug WWII ammunition, and the root makes a natural scrub brush.
Saw palmetto in blossom
In
a modern day twist the saw palmetto berries have several medical
application so this “irksome” weed is a $70 million or more
business in Florida. They’ve even had to pass laws to prevent
unauthorized saw palmetto berry pilfering. Has a $500 fine. We
now know saw palmetto berries have a positive effect on the male
reproductive system, though the studies are mixed. Older Seminole
Indians called the berries the “spring of life.” Some think
this is where Ponce De Leon got the idea there was some fountain of
youth in Florida. Talk about a mistranslation… Update: Fall,
2011. I am processing some saw palmetto berries now, got a lot of them
soaking in vodka (for a medicinal tincture of course) and dehydrating
the others. I have noticed that slightly dry saw palamtto berries have
a milder flavor.
Incidentally, be careful when foraging for
palmetto berries. Palmetto thickets are favorite place for the Eastern
Diamondback Rattlesnake, not only on the ground but in the fronds. The
snake often climbs the plant on sunny days to get off the hot ground
and enjoy the shade. It is also where their prey like to escape as
well. Proceed carefully. Creatures that like to eat the berries include
raccoon, fox, black bear, gopher tortoises, white tailed deer, feral
hogs, water birds and even fish. Butterflies like it, too. In fact
the plant provides food or cover for some 100 birds, 27 mammals, 25
amphibians, 61 reptile species and numerous butterflies. Cows fed saw
palmetto berries produce richer milk, perhaps because the berry is
loaded with oil. Two thirds of the oil is comprised of free fatty acids
including capric, caprylic, caproic, lauric, palmitic and oleic acids.
Incidentally, the heart of the Sabal etonia
aka Sabal minor can also be eaten. It resembles the saw palmetto but
its stalks have no saw-like teeth. It is also rather rare, so
don’t put it on your dinner plate unless it is development kill.
Sereno Watson, Phd.
The genus, Serenoa,
is named for shy Harvard botanist and herbarium curator Sereno Watson,
1826/92. His name means calm, peaceful. Repens means
“creeping.” The palm has many branches and creeps out in
all directions along the ground.
Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile
Identification: A small palm, six to twelve feet, sprawling, grows in clumps or dense thickets. Leaf stalks are covered with saw like teeth.
Time of Year: Fruits ripen in fall, heart available year round.
Environment:
Sandy ridges, flatwood forests, coastal dunes, islands near marshes,
hardwood hammocks, dominant ground cover in some southeastern pine
forests, sometimes covering hundreds of acres. Seen inland as far as
Arkansas
Method of Preparation:
Fruits raw or dried, heart raw or cooked. Crown end of growing leaf,
trail side nibble. The seeds are edible raw or cooked but is an
acquired taste.
Green Deane's Disclaimer
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contained on this website is strictly and categorically intended as a
reference to be used in conjunction with experts in your area. Foraging
should never begin without the guidance and approval of a local plant
specialist. The providers of this website accept no liability for the
use or misuse of information contained in this website.
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