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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

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Saturday - September 24, 2005

From: Bend, OR
Region: Northwest
Topic: Edible Plants
Title: Native edible plants
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Hello, I would like some resources for identifying native edible plants in Central Oregon. Good clear images will be very helpful in links or books. We do alot of hiking and would like to know what we could eat in emergency situations, as well as supplementing our diet when we camp. I am enjoying searching your site. Thanks.

ANSWER:

Here are three recent titles that should prove very useful for Central Oregon:

1. Gregory L. Tilford. 1997. Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West. Mountain Press Publishing.
2. Thomas Elias and Peter Dykeman. 1990. Edible Wild Plants. Sterling Publishing.
3. Betty Derig and Margaret Fuller. 2001. Wild Berries of the West. Mountain Press Publishing.

You can read reviews of these and several more titles on the Wild Food Adventures web page.

Here is another list in case you are going hiking along the Oregon coast or other wetter areas of the Northwest.

1. Terry Domico. 1982. Wild Harvest: Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest. Hancock House Publishing.
2. Carol R. Biggs. Wild Edible & Medicinal Plants: Alaska, Canada & Pacific Northwest Rainforest. Alaska Nature Connection.

You can also find more books in the Native Plant Bibliography on the Wildflower Center web page.
 

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