Wild plants in Florida are many and several are edible, including the saw palmetto. For thousands of years native Floridians used the saw palmetto plant for making rope, cord, baskets, and edible food. Shoes and a sun visor can also be made from wild edible plants like this but here are some ways to eat the Florida saw palmetto.
Berries
This is probably the most horrible tasting part of the saw palmetto and one of the most nutritional of the Florida wild plants. If you can get past the taste, this Florida wild edible offers carbohydrates, fats, minerals, and protein. The saw palmetto berries are black when ripe and resemble black olives (only in looks, not taste).
The berries from these wild plants are well known for their healing properties for men. While the saw palmetto berry helps with prostate problems and hair loss, this Florida edible also benefits women as well.
As one of the most useful wild edible plants, this Florida edible berry has been known to help with reproductive and digestive systems for women as well as men. If you can’t stand the taste of this wild Florida edible berry, try the capsule form at your local grocery store. Many wild plants such as the saw palmetto are harvested just for their medicinal purposes.
Palmetto Heart
The inner young stalk of this Florida wild edible is tasty and nutritional. Unlike some wild plants like the Sabal Palm (also known as cabbage palm) the plant does not die if you pull out the inner stalk. The inner young stalk of these wild plants taste a lot like a potato or cattail. It is fairly easy to remove by just pulling it out of the center of the plant. Depending on the size, you usually get 2-4 nibbles from one stalk of this Florida edible. Wild plants like these are found abundantly in Florida.
The Florida saw palmetto makes for a good edible trail nibble but be careful when approaching this plant. Snakes and hornets sometimes like to hang around these types of wild plants. Also be aware of the “saw” part of this Florida plant. The stems from these plants are like a small saw and they can cut you.
When foraging from these wild Florida plants, you can always remove several of the stalks, bring them home, and cook them up like potatoes or just throw them into your salad to add crispness. I never can seem to get these saw palmetto stalks home to do this as they are quite tasty on the trail.
In extreme survival situations, you can remove the entire plant and have several meals from the core (heart) of the saw palmetto. Doing this does not necessarily kill the entire plant because saw palmetto plants have an incredible underground root system that resembles the kudzu plant. The saw palmetto heart or center stalk provides you with water, carbs, and other needed nutrients and is found abundantly all over Florida.
Always properly identify potential edible wild plants before eating. Seek the advice of a local professional whenever possible.
More from Teresa:
How to Harvest and Cook Kudzu Leaves
How to Make Kudzu Jelly (Tastes Like Grape)
How to Catch Rain Water While Camping
How to Build a Stone Oven While Camping
