The Blue Flower Water Lily Is Tasty
There are other roots, too, besides the cat-tails. Alongside most streams, ponds, or swamps the arrow-leaf, blue-flowered water lily will be found growing. This grows in shallow water, and the roots, or rather tubers, lie practically on the surface of the bottom of the water, and are very easily dislodged. Being lighter than water, too, they will float up to the surface when torn loose. These tubers reach about the size of black walnuts, and may be cooked as the cat-tail roots and with equal satisfaction. The tubers of the yellow water lily are good also, but as they lie under from two to four feet of water they are not so easily gotten at.
Still another root that makes fair eating is the bulb of the wood lily. These may be found in clearings and at the edges of forests. A slightly different variety of the same plant is somewhat frequent in open fields and is known as the meadow lily. These bulbs are rather loose in formation and may be easily pulled apart. They cook quickly.
For those who like something pungent, wild onion and wild garlic will fill the bill.
The motor camper who is going it wild and living off the country can find much that is edible if he will keep his eyes open. For example, there are the berries, varying with the season—wild strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries; even elderberries and pokeberries are not to be despised. The writer is aware that some people think the [[163]]pokeberry poisonous, and in fact it is so characterized in some books. Nevertheless, in some sections of the country the poorer folk use them as filler for pies, and the children eat them raw without any apparent ill effects. However, they are not especially palatable, being rather tasteless.