Anne from Alberta (aka annkelliott@Flickr) submitted this mid-June photograph via the BPotD Flickr Group Pool (original image). The image was taken near Calgary, Alberta. Many thanks, Anne – it's a plant I've not seen for a long time.
When I first encountered this plant, I learned it by the scientific name Psoralea esculenta and the common name Indian breadroot. Well, the common name has remained the same, but its generally accepted scientific name has changed to Pediomelum esculentum. The change seems to be the result of this monograph: Grimes, JW. 1990. A revision of the New World Species of Psoraleeae (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae). Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 61: 1-114. (sorry, the monograph is not freely available online). Grimes' work is later reinforced by this phylogenetic analysis.
The shift from Psoralea to Pediomelum is an example of a recent trend of renaming North American genera and species (Pediomelum esculentum is native to the Prairies and US Midwest) to separate them from closely-related (but not closely enough!) European counterparts. Another example is the move of North American species of Aster into the genus Symphyotrichum (and other genera).
Was this plant a source of carbohydrates for Indians as the name "Indian Breadroot" implies?
If so, how was it acquired and used?
Thanks for any answers.
Hi Stan,
Yes, the tuber was used as a source of starch by both the First Nations peoples of the grasslands and early Europeans. The actual preparation of it as a food, though, I've not been able to track down.
I have eaten a soup made by the Lakota in Eagle Butte, S.D. which had this root as a vegetable. It is called timpsula by that group. It had a slightly sweet taste, otherwise being somewhere between potato and turnip in texture.
Try A Taste of Heritage: Crow Indian Recipes and Herbal Medicines by Alma Hogan Snell. She is the granddaughter of Pretty Shield. She talks a lot about the prairie turnip and gives two recipes, "wild turnip porridge" and "wild turnip bread."
I am an Undergraduate at Sitting Bull College in Fort Yate's, ND. Currently I am preforming research on growth habits and possible long term restoration of Pediomelum esculentum to establish and promote a larger plant population.
This plant is still harvested by many families of the Lakota/Dakota people. Techniques are passed down through decending generation among families.
Prairie Turnips are used for soups mostly, the tuber is harvested in large quantities(usually 40-60 turnips in one harvesting session), and then braided together by the roots. The braid is then able to be hung up in the kitchen for easy and convenient access over the winter.