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[delta9hippie]

Hey everybody!

I am living in Scandinavia for the next year. I haven't been able to find any ethnobotanical collections regarding this region, but I have been able to ID some plants here. If anyone knows of any more plants or some references, that would be awesome! I will post pics when I go out on plant hikes.  Here is a partial list of the more interesting species around here:

A couple poppies, but not so beneficial for humans (they make you sweat a lot when consumed?): Papaver dubium and Papaver argemone
Some nice mints, especially the beautiful flowering Mentha arvensis
St. John's Wart (Hypericum perforatum)
Some nettle (Urtica urens) and annoying Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica). The Stinging Nettle is one of the most prevalent weeds in Scandinavia.
Artemisia absinthium

I will continue to post here when I found out more, or take some photos.

Cheers!

[23]

shrooms bro and all them berries

[AcaciaAve]

There should be a prevalent selection of unique phalaris species there.
Artemisias and Leonurus spp would be abundant I suppose.
Hope to see updates

1 Like fairdinkumseeds likes this.

[Sunshine]

You can actually eat stinging nettle if you boil it to remove the stinging parts/acids if I remember correctly....and after a quick google search this is what I came up with

From the nutrition point of view, they pack a wallop as well. Stinging Nettles are rich in vitamins A, C, D, iron, potassium, manganese, and calcium. They are also high in protein and when cooked are very mild, tasting similar to spinach but slightly rougher.

Stinging hairs cover the nettle. Indeed, soaking, cooking, refrigerating, wilting or drying neutralizes the plant’s sting. Good as the plant is it should not be eaten after flowering. It reportedly can irritate the urinary tract, which makes some sense as it is a diuretic as well. It also gets stringy as it ages. Cooked nettles can be used in a wide variety of recipes from polenta to pesto to soup. There is a recipe below. The water you cook the nettles in can be kept for tea or as a soup base. You can also dry the leaves and use them for tea as well.

The stems of the nettles contain bast fiber and have been used the same way as flax, caesar weed, Spanish Moss, and retted similarly. (Retting is a means of rotting off the non-fiber material of the plant. ) The fiber is more coarse than cotton, closer to burlap.

http://www.eattheweeds.com/urtica-chamaedryoides-nettle-knowledge-2/

1 Like isaak likes this.

[AcaciaAve]

Nettles are great on pizza.
Also contain serotonin .
Nettles, echinacea, mullein, licorice root tea is my cold cure.

1 Like isaak likes this.

[Auxin]

Possibly not what you had in mind but it could be fun, a norwegian team got every food or medicine plant and food product they could find in norway and elsewhere and tested them for antioxidant capacity.
Their full data set of 3139 tested items is HERE
In the spices and herbs category you'll find clues like bearberry, betonica, blackcurrant, biting stonecrop, etc., apparently all used as food by someone, many are medicines too, just pay attention which they found in norway and which they imported from new zealand or zambia or something

You can then cross-reference with PFAF

[isaak]

To add to the stinging nettle info: you can also eat them raw. The spines on the top of the leaves rarely sting so you can pinch the leaf in half from the top, continue folding it into a square, place over rear molars and chew away. You'll get stung in your mouth from time to time but it's not bad.

It's also great steamed or used for tea (great medicine).

I hope you have a great stay in Scandinavia delta9hipppie!

[delta9hippie]

I think I will pass on eating the nettle raw. I get enough of it on my skin here in the Summer  But thanks for the info! This community is really great! I wasn't expecting much of a reception to this idea, actually.

I went out today for a little walk, through some small forests and a sophisticated community garden. All the plots had cabins! Not just tool sheds; people were living there. What an awesome thing! So, below, I've got a few pics. Some ID help would be most welcome!



Mentha arvensis (best guess)


Mentha spicata "Spearmint" (best guess)


Hypericum perforatum "St. John's Wort" (best guess)


Humulus lupulus "Hops" (Any idea of variety?)


More Hops


Some grass/reed? I'm very bad at IDing these. Any suggestions?


Close-up of leaf


I don't remember what these are called... Anyone?


I really like this one. Can I get some ID help?

[BubbleCat]

Your St. Johns plant is no St. Johns plant IMO, the hops must be a cultivated variety that might also have wild varieties crossed in again, telling what kind of hops you have from the looks is close to impossible, sadly you cant post its smell and flavour Of you wait a bit a few seeds will form in each umbel, crack one open and you'll get the idea. Also cuttings will root

[delta9hippie]

I should clarify:

Only the mints and the last red flowered plant were not in gardens. Whatever the plant is that I guessed was St. John's Wort, was in a ill-maintained plot by a building.

[AcaciaAve]

Pic 8, my best guess would be a Clematis spp. known as "Old Man's Beard". Maybe C. Vitalba?

Grass is most likely Sorghum Halepense(Johnson Grass).
Its seeds are used in place of barley and hops to create beer. Seeds are also very common in breads and cereals. Highly invasive and highly cultivated as a food source.
It might even make a useful source for pulp and paper production.
Also if you read "Some Simple Tryptamines" by Keeper of The Trout, you just may find some magical things out about this grass.

Best way for Sorghum Halepense identification is there being a a white sort of vein down the leaf.
I have confused it for Phragmites in the field before, though actives are located in the same parts of both plants.

1 Like delta9hippie likes this.

[delta9hippie]

I have some more photos coming of some interesting plants I found.... But first, I thought I would put some up from a "svampplockning" (Swedish for "Mushroom picking") I went on in the woods on the East Coast:

[EDIT: took down 2 photos]


Unidentified Mushroom #1


Unidentified Mushroom #2


Unidentified Mushroom #3


Unidentified Mushroom #4

More to come

6 Likes New Wisdom, happyconcacti, Seed Collector, Frog Pajamas, Greentoe and 1 more people like this.

[Skautroll]

Nice photos!

Please see Mushroom Sub-Forum FAQ for Rules

You'll find Henbane around old catholic monastery ruins, monks spread a lot of them.

Meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria and mugwort are common weeds near roads.

[delta9hippie]

Back by popular demand (and site rule changes), some Amanita photos! 


Amanita muscaria poking out of the ground, near Stockholm, Sweden (East Coast)


Beautiful Amanita muscaria cap in the wild, near Stockholm, Sweden (East Coast)


Amanita muscaria cap in the wild, near Göteborg, Sweden (West Coast)


Late season Amanita muscaria cap in a protected marshland, near Göteborg, Sweden (West Coast)