Possibly earth's first flowering tree

Aisling Blackburn

Sugar magnolia, blossoms blooming

Head's all empty, and I don't care

Saw my baby down by the river

Knew she'd have to come up soon for air - Grateful Dead

I just had to turn off the radio, my blood pressure was rising. The fuel crisis debacle has got me a little hot under the collar. Then just outside my window a welcome escape and the subject of the beginning of this article.

This tree is very old; it may be earth’s first flowering tree as fossil records of it exist from 160 million years ago. There are about 125 species, but the hybrid Magnolia x souliangiana, is the one I have growing in my front garden. I didn’t know how large it would grow at the time of planting as the soil here is very shallow and poor and plants behave in an unpredictable manner compared to what I am used to. Also, it was a bargain plant, so I am very pleased with how it turned out against all the odds.

This March, a little early I think, it burst into candy striped colour all along its outstretched branches, which is where the upright goblet shaped blooms appear to perch. The flowers are edible. I have tried them, a bit warily, as always when eating a new wild food; it is a cultivated for its beauty, and only recently did I find out that it was edible. Not all Magnolias are, but many can be consumed. They taste a little gingery or cardamony with hints of lemon. The pinker the more bitter so best for drying. For the list of edible varieties try eatweeds.co.uk

If I were to record the edibility of all the plant species in my own barely tended garden, it would be an interesting exercise. Spring is by far the most fruitful time. Ground elder (not the tree) is at its tenderest, any later and it becomes unpalatable, some people suggest eating it as an excellent way to turn a nuisance into a nutritional meal as it’s a good substitute for spinach. Incidentally, the same is also said of the dreaded Japanese knotweed.

Wild garlic (ramsons) is at a premium stage, ready for pesto, salads, chopped into mashed potato, omelettes or what have you. The flower buds have yet to appear and pickled like capers. Dandelion leaf is very tender, and the flowers are available for various uses, but I don’t because the bees need them more than I do.

It’s prime time for cutting the tops of nettles for soups or tea etc. The young leaf of hawthorn is palatable and nice in salads, I like to pinch off a few leaves while I am passing; they were once known as ‘bread and cheese’, alongside other edibles like sorrel, mallow and even bent grass, though none of them taste remotely like bread or cheese!

Speaking of sorrel, yes there is an abundance of plants around, but due to the poor ground it has not taken over as such. Three cornered leeks, so called due to the stem of the plant having three edges running lengthways, which a cross-section reveals, are very oniony and an excellent substitute for spring onion. Plant it in poor soil in an out of the way place as it may take over a well-tended flower bed.

Heaps more

That’s quite a bit considering that I made little or no effort to arrange such a market of produce. There is heaps more, the Scots pine tree for tea, campanula for salads and so on but I don’t always eat everything that I can. I prefer to watch and learn slowly from a wise elder or some such person before trying everything. The obvious stuff such as mint and lemon balm, herbs that grow unhindered are the most used. I haven’t actually made any tea from the Scots pine yet, it is supposed to be very good for you, however I have used, and use regularly, everything else mentioned above. But beware, not all pine trees are edible! Some like the yew (not a pine tree at all but someone might think so) are highly toxic.

Every nontoxic edible plant is not for all tastes. You should only try a little and see how your system gets on with that. It also may take a couple of seasons watching a wild plant growing in the same place, checking out the new growth each spring, watching it flower and go to seed to get confidant with identification. Constant exposure to plants in the wild help people to just soak it up, all you really need is the interest.

Until the next…