Pignuts gallore

[northenige]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

That's a good indicator of enriched and disturbed soil. Pignut will be on poorer, less disturbed, commonly basic soil.

That rules out most farmland i'll have to re-think this one, cheers

[Ludd]

Originally Posted by Jonny

This is true, you do need the landowners permission to pick any plant....................Jon

Not in Scotland you don't! here you are allowed to pick fruit (as in produce, not limited to fruit) in the woods if it is not grown for commercial purposes and the owner has no plans for it.

But please please remember if all 50.000.000 of us do the same, there would be no left very soon! Maybe that is what is happening where you find less and less of them.

I am happy to send some through the post!

Ludd

[JoulesH]

We have plenty of pignut flowering in our old pastures and meadows at present, but I've never dug it up and eaten it.

[ChrisJB]

As kids, we used to dig up a plant we called 'hairnut', for its nice crunchy tuber. Of course as I got older I found that these are really called pignuts. They are really rather crunchy and nice, with a mild, nutty flavour. Though digging them up one has to be delicate as the root is thin and the tuber is often much deeper than you imagine and it is so easy to break the root.
The last one I dug up was about two years ago, for old times sake, but I haven't the heart to dig up and kill a plant now, even if the 'hairnuts' are tasty.
They are also the foodplant of the nice little chimneysweeper moth (Odezia atrata).
They used to be common around where I live (on old pasture on acid soils overlying sandstones and shales), but development has destroyed many sites, with a once recent good site now having empty industrial units on it. Good God.

Regards, Chris

[Mr Mag00]

we have loads on the reserve next door and surprise surprise it gets uprooted by.........














wild boar!