Yes, I agree not moonseed, looks like wild grapes. But since we are talking about eating wild plants, I just wanted to mention the look alike so the OP and anyone reading this post (and we both know there are plenty of those!) would know that not everything that looks like a wild grape might be a wild grape. I personally have never seen moonseed. Grapes, on the other hand... I live in a part of the US known for grapes and wine. Wild grapes grow every place. They are a common "weed" for me to deal with in gardens. Old vines in forests here get as thick as young tree trunks - you could swing on the vines like Tarzan! I would think nothing of using anything that looked like wild grapes. But I'm sure not everyone has the same situation, hence the word of caution. :) FataMorgana

Not chives, Allium schoenoprasum. May be an Allium. Don't know. A bit large, but it looks similar to Allium tuberosum -- but I am not 100% on that. Even if it is an edible plant, this plant does not agree with you - for whatever reason. It is not worth making yourself sick or worse. Leave it be. FataMorgana

Hi, I'm new to this forum, so hello everyone. I'm a small space gardener and native plant lover in MA. I'm glad to hear you are interested in native edibles, Jim; I've found them to be really fun. When I was twenty I tried to eat a lunch of all wild foods every day for about 6 months--not enough calories, I suspect, given what I was eating, but it was a great experiment. There are probably better field guides, but for the excitement of reading and getting involved in wild foods I love Euell Gibbons's books. There was a series, beginning with Stalking the Wild Asparagus, I believe. He was a wild food advocate and genuine eccentric, as far as I can tell. He used to go into the woods with boy scouts and just find food for a few days at a time. I remember one of his books dealt specifically with the arid west, though I didn't check where you were out west. Gibbons's staple was always cattail hearts. It was the starchy thing that he started with before going off to find freshwater clams or something more difficult. I didn't have cattails at the time of my experiment with wild foods, but since the nature class at the school where I teach brought some in, and I found them easy to eat, better than most wild foods. Sunchokes are tasty, raw and cooked, though you can have too much of their characteristic chestnut flavor quickly. Poke weed is good, but must be double boiled, which is irritating. It tastes very much like spinach. I also love the non-native purslane, both raw and in stir fries; eating it helps take care of it as a weed, which it is here. In fact, it really incentivizes weeding to know which ones are edible and use them. I pretty quickly cleared out all of my dandelions when I was eating wild foods and had to move on to other yards. Fiddlehead ferns are popular in my area, though I haven't tried them yet. Folks compare them to asparagus. -hope that helps. I'd be curious what you find tasty.

knittlin, I'll stay away from the pretty orange/red Yaupon berries. When I was a kid we had a similar kind of tree near our house and I stood there and ate several berries. After proudly reporting my delicious discovery to my mother, her eyes got very big and panic set in. Long story short, I ended up getting my stomach pumped. So since then my appetite for pretty wild berries has diminished somewhat. Your Library project sounds brilliant! And I would imagine that learning about what's under foot, so to speak, and in one's own yard (native edibles/medicinals) would be something that would peak people's curiosity and perhaps even entice some old timers to share their remedies and recipes with the younger generation! I was thinking about a 'native plants' garden myself with things like Purslane, Lambsquarters, etc. But I'll have to learn more about growing, harvesting and cooking them first. This website discusses the benefits of eating Lambsquarters: http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/surprising-lambs-quarters/ I believe Scooter Cheatham IS based in Austin. And there used to be a "library/store/learning center" sort of place for herbs and edible native plants out east of Austin just off the OLD airport road (Manor) about a mile past the airport entrance (on the left), but not quite as far as 183. Can't recall its name and don't know if it's still there. It could be connected to Cheatham's project. Also was exploring Cheatham's Usefull Wild Plants site that I linked to above and discovered that they apparently do still teach annual classes AND then have a banquet using the plants they've discovered. I'll bet they have some amazing recipes! http://www.usefulwildplants.org/weedfeed.htm Some of their archived newsletters look intriguing such as the first one that discusses what kind of meals were eaten by the natives and pioneers. http://www.usefulwildplants.org/newsletter.htm I did a google on Edible and Useful Plants of Texas and the Southwest, By Delena Tull and discovered it's available to read online! Or at least a lengthy preview: http://books.google.com/books?id=pnnHgcasN-cC&pg=RA1-PA140&lpg=RA1-PA140&dq=recipes,+purslane+Portulaca+oleracea&source=bl&ots=Vm-SpPMdSr&sig=6fvE7DpZ-GJiYn8AkYwCsS4FVmE&hl=en&ei=Wim6SaLdBIa-Mpq5jbcI&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPP1,M1 Can You Answer These Questions? 1) What do lipstick, World War I campaign tents, and shoe polish have in common? 2) The wood of this tree is one of the finest anywhere in the world for making bows and was prized by Native Americans for this. It is amazingly durable and decay-resistant. Paving blocks (as paved the downtown streets of old Fort Worth) made of it can last 50 years or more. One name refers to its use for bows, another to the color of the wood and the Indians who used it for bows. What are they? 3) This juicy plant thrives in the heat of summer and grows out of the cracks in city sidewalks. It is sold in Mexican and Asian markets as a vegetable. What is it? 4) You just noticed that the mustang grapes you've been picking are entwined with poison ivy. You've never broken out before so you keep picking. But should you be concerned this time? 5) Even though this plant has delicious leaves with more Vitamin A than spinach or broccoli, to most people it's a no-good weed to be mercilessly hoed out of the garden. The seeds of one of its relatives were a staple food of the Aztecs. What is it? 6) The Texas shrub called agarita (Berberis trifoliolata) produces delicious red fruits in late spring. Its yellow roots helped equip World War II paratroopers. How? 7) One U.S. president was also a great plantsman. Who said "The greatest service which can be given any country is to add a useful plant to its culture?" 8) You are curious about the plants in your own backyard and want to know more about them. What can you do? Here is a link that might be useful: ANSWERS