Valeriana edulis

Nutt. ex Torr. & A. Gray

Edible Valeriana

Caprifoliaceae Edible: Roots, Seeds 2,085 iNaturalist observations

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Summary

Valeriana edulis, commonly known as edible valerian or tobacco root, is a species of flowering plant native to North America in the honeysuckle family. Despite the common name, "tobacco root", edible valerian is not closely related to tobacco.

Description

A herb. It grows 1-2 m high. It has a strong smell. The stem is four sided. It has a large long root. It is carrot shaped. The leaves are opposite. There are only a few leaves along the stem. Young leaves can have soft hairs. The flowers are yellow, pink or white. It has a large fleshy edible root. It is bright yellow. The fruit are egg shaped.

Edible Uses

Edible valerian has long been used as food. One of the earliest written accounts is from the journal of explorer John Charles Frémont in the 1840s: I ate here, for the first time, the kooyah, or tobacco root, (Valeriana edulis) the principal edible root among the Indians who inhabit the upper waters of the streams on the western side of the mountains. It has a very strong and remarkably peculiar taste and odor, which I can compare to no other vegetable that I am acquainted with, and which to some persons is extremely offensive. It was characterized by Mr. Preuss as the most horrid food he had ever put in his mouth; and when, in the evening, one of the chiefs sent his wife to me with a portion which she had prepared as a delicacy to regale us, the odor immediately drove him out of the lodge; and frequently afterwards he used to beg that when those who liked it had taken what they desired, it might be sent away. To others, however, the taste is rather an agreeable one, and I was afterwards always glad when it formed an addition to our scanty meals. It is full of nutriment; and in its unprepared state is said by the Indians to have very strong poisonous qualities, of which it is deprived by a peculiar process, being baked in the ground for about two days. The botanist Harold Harrington and fellow researchers experimented with many methods of cooking the roots, including boiling them for varying periods of time with many changes of water, baking them in aluminum foil, and soaking them with sodium bicarbonate, but came to agree with Charles Preuss on the offensive taste. They described the flavor to be like chewing tobacco with a smell like unwashed feet. However, they did observe that spring is the best time for gathering the roots as they are less fibrous than in the fall and with less insect damage. The botanist David Douglas observed native peoples cooking the roots on his journeys through northwestern America. He recorded, "The roots during the spring months, are collected by the Indians, baked on heated stones, and used as an article of winter or spring food. From a bitter and seemingly pernicious substance, it is thus converted into a soft and pulpy mass, which has a sweet taste, resembling that of treacle, and is apparently not unwholesome."

Traditional Uses

The roots are baked or steamed and eaten. They are steamed for 24 hours to remove the unpleasant odour. They can be used in salads, soups, stews or fried. They can be dried and made into flour. The seeds are also eaten.

Distribution

It is a temperate plant. It grows naturally along streams in the Rocky Mountains in the United States of America.

Where It Grows

Canada, Mexico, North America, USA,

Cultivation

It can be grown by seeds.

Other Information

It is an important staple food.

Notes

Also put in the family Valerianaceae.

Synonyms

Patrinia ceratophylla Hook.f.Valeriana furfurescens A. NelsonValeriana trachycarpa Rydb.

Also Known As

Bitterroot, Tap-rooted valerian, Tobacco-root

References (14)

Beckstrom-Sternberg, Stephen M., and James A. Duke. "The Foodplant Database." http://probe.nalusda.gov:8300/cgi-bin/browse/foodplantdb.(ACEDB version 4.0 - data version July 1994)
Elias, T.S. & Dykeman P.A., 1990, Edible Wild Plants. A North American Field guide. Sterling, New York p 91
Esperanca, M. J., 1988. Surviving in the wild. A glance at the wild plants and their uses. Vol. 1. p 327
Fl. N. Amer. 2:48. 1841
Hedrick, U.P., 1919, (Ed.), Sturtevant's edible plants of the world. p 670

Show all 14 references

Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 897
Kiple, K.F. & Ornelas, K.C., (eds), 2000, The Cambridge World History of Food. CUP p 1874
Lim, T. K., 2015, Edible Medicinal and Non Medicinal Plants. Volume 9, Modified Stems, Roots, Bulbs. Springer p 84
MacKinnon, A., et al, 2009, Edible & Medicinal Plants of Canada. Lone Pine. p 328
Moerman, D. F., 2010, Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press. p 588
Saunders, C.F., 1948, Edible and Useful Wild Plants. Dover. New York. p 16
Turner, N., 1997, Food Plants of Interior First Peoples. Royal BC Museum Handbook p 170
Turner, N., et al, 2011, "Up on the Mountain": Ethnobotanical Important of Montane Sites in Pacific Coastal North America. Journal of Ethnobiology 31(1): 4-43
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew