Vegetable Ivory: The Dog’s Tooth Violet
Daniel Atha is an Associate Editor of NYBG’s systemic botany journal, Brittonia, and a researcher specializing in floristics, taxonomy, and economic botany. He has taught classes in anatomy and systemics at the Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture and is currently working on a project to develop identifying DNA barcodes for plants of the Northeastern United States.
Despite their reputation for having less-than-perfect breath, dogs do tend to have shiny white teeth, no matter what they eat. But dogs aren’t able to brush their own teeth to keep them shiny, so the next time you’re helping Rover with his dental hygiene, give them a good look, and then dig up a dog’s tooth violet–a beautiful native wildflower now in bloom–remove the bulb coat and note the perfect semblance to Rover’s canines in vegetal form!
Erythronium americanum Ker. Gawl. (Liliaceae) dog’s-tooth violet
These plants are so beautiful it seems a shame to eat them. But we gleefully eat strawberries, squash blossoms … and lamb for heaven’s sake, so why avoid these delicate, delicious plants? Dog’s tooth violets grow naturally in huge colonies, so rooting around and pulling out a few slender bulbs is actually just thinning–what every bulb fancier does lovingly. Go ahead, dig a few out of your woods and try them. You’ll be glad you did.
The dog’s-tooth violet is a member of the lily family and closely related to tulips, though you shouldn’t eat tulip bulbs as they contain toxic glycosides. The family resemblance is clearly betrayed by the violet’s strap-like leaves with parallel veins, six barely differentiated lemon yellow sepals and petals (called tepals), prominent stamens and a three-chambered ovary. There are 27 species in the genus, 23 of which are strictly North American. The other four are found in Japan, eastern Asia, and Europe. Our species divide into two clearly defined groups, one western (Rocky Mountains to the Pacific) and one eastern (Great Plains to the Atlantic). Five species occur in the northeastern U.S., with Erythronium americanum being the most common.
Did you dig some up? Not exactly tulip bulbs, are they? They’re not mastiff teeth either. Think Jack Russel terrier. Anyway… scrape off the fibrous sheath covering the bulb, clean off the dirt, note the toothy gleam and pop the whole thing into your mouth. Just try to forget about the dog slobber.
Does it help to know that in Japan the bulbs of katakuri (Erythronium japonicum) are the basis of katakuri-ko, a tasteless, fine, white starch used extensively in Japanese dishes ranging from soups, sauces, dumplings, and cooked meats? Today, katakuri-ko is made entirely or mostly from potato starch, but if you’re lucky enough to find pure lily-based katakuri-ko, a few ounces will set you back about as much as getting Jack the terrier fitted with gold teeth. Don’t throw out the tops either. Both the leaves and the flowers are edible raw or cooked.
For a hands-on course in the edible weeds so seldom appreciated at the kitchen table, join us for “Edible Weeds of the Northeast” on May 30. Be sure to check out our Adult Education offerings for similar courses coming later in the year.
Dear Daniel,
Pleased to hear from you. I like your blog. Very interesting and useful. I am sure you’ll have many readers. may be you recieve questions from people on interested them queations about plants? It would give additional material for your blog.
Best wishes and further success in your approach
Gulnara
have you tried cooking with these? I’m thinking deep fried.
That is so cool! Do they grow in Texas? Forage your own! Grow your own! Just say no to bright packages of sugar and diabetes!