It was a pleasant early spring day when I first knowingly encountered Phragmites.  Our afternoon was rather tame with few surprises.  Should you find yourself with the desire for such an excursion or a hankering for some freshly harvested Phragmites “Cossack asparagus,” here are some notable collecting strategies.

Young shoots, valuable targets

Harvesting young Phragmites shoots early in the growing season provides multiple benefits.  They are tender and lend themselves well to meals, and their harvest will also decrease the reproductive potential of the plant and may help prevent additional colonization.  Shoots grow from the terminal nodes of the rhizomes underground and mature into reproductive bodies.  Throughout the growing season, they will produce seeds that are blown away to colonize another patch, and though seed viability of Phragmites is somewhat low, harvesting shoots before they have a chance to produce seeds can prevent spread!

As previously stated, plant roots sequester heavy metals from soils so do not collect from areas in which there may be industrial runoff in the environment.  If you have any uncertainty about the quality of the soil or the identity of your Phragmites (native vs. invasive), please do not hesitate to contact your local Department of Natural Resources representative.  When they hear you are looking to do some invasive species control, they will likely be eager to assist and advise you.

Wetter is better!

Phragmites australis grows in the wetlands and is easiest to collect when the ground is completely saturated.  With the ground almost muddy, it is easy to stick your hands in and feel around for the rhizomes and stolons.  These are soft and fleshy stems underground from which new buds grow on the terminal nodes.

Wear gardening gloves

If your hands are like mine, with thin skin and weak fingers, you’ll need the extra grip for pulling and protection from herbaceous neighbors with potentially sharp thorns (there was an unknown Rubus species near our collection site that was particularly ornery).  If you are collecting in the late winter or early spring as we did, the area will have just thawed so the wet earth will also be cold and gloves will enable you to harvest for a longer period of time.

Limit your impact

In most locales, invasive Phragmites is the predominant species but may also have competing native neighbors; so try to minimize the collateral damage.  Your collection site should look the way it was when you arrived minus Phragmites.  Once you have finished collecting, be sure to properly destroy your unwanted collections as colonization by rhizomes is a dominant form of transmission!

Phragmites australis awaiting harvest and surrounded by local flora. Photo credit: S. Sim

Happy harvesting!

I like the flutter of expectation and curiosity I get in my stomach just as I try something for the first time.  Before the boil, the butter and the salt, with only a precursory rinse I explore the flavor over my pits and buds.  Unexpected sweetness.

“Cossack asparagus” is traditionally the young shoots from Common Cattail (Typha latifolia), but it’s very close to the Phragmites shoots we collected Monday.  And like asparagus, one of the best recipes is the simplest.  A little boiling, butter, salt, and pepper.  I’m not going to make a fancy recipe because there’s little need.  It’s is just good.  More importantly though, the easier it is, the more people might try it.  So I’m going to keep it simple.  But feel free to experiment, every part of this plant is edible*.

Harvest

In early spring, you can spot Phragmites from a distance.  Last year’s tall, brown, bushy-headed stalks wave gently above their wetland habitats*.  Just always be sure to correctly identify your species, as we discuss here.  The young shoots are simple to find, just look where the old shoot meet the damp earth.  With your fingers, probe around the base of the shoot into the soil, and pluck the shoot from where it meets the underground stems.

*It is important to note that plant roots are excellent at sequestering heavy metals from soils.  While this provides a great land management strategy known as phytoremediation, it also means that eating plants in polluted areas can be dangerous.  Phragmites commonly grows in ditches and along roadsides, but you should forgo these populations and only harvest from parks and other lesser polluted areas.

Tasty Phragmites young shoots. Photo by A. Deines

Ingredients

½ lb Phargmites shoots, washed

1 Tbs butter

1 Tbs salt

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Bring several quarts of water to a boil with 1Tbs of salt.  Add the shoots to the water and boil for 10 minutes.  Strain the shoots and place in serving try, melting and evenly distributing the butter over the top.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy

Serve the shoots still warm but at a handling temperature.  Peel 3 or 4 of the tough outer layers off the shoot, to reveal the soft core.  Holding the shoot by the hard green end, bite off the core.  Alternatively, peel the shoots and cut off the tips before serving.  I like finger food.

Peeling the boiled shoots of Phragmites. Photo by J. Deines

Andy Invasivoring a Phragmites shoot. Photo by J. Deines

Rain loomed most of this past weekend and Sunday was a reminder that spring hasn’t yet closed the door on winter.  Yet, with the snow long gone and the temperature creeping higher, we sneaked an expedition to nearby Potato Creek State Park for some early spring edibles.

There is a native variety of Phragmites australis, the common reed, and 150 years ago it was considered uncommon.  Native Americans used it for a wide variety of goods such as flutes and woven mats.  More recently however,  the abundance and range of Phragmites increased dramatically.  The growth was initially chalked-up to anthropogenic changes in habitat, pollution, soil chemistry and hydrology.  Then, in 2002, Saltonstall demonstrated that this expansion was actually an invasion of a non-native haplotype which had replaced the natives and expanded into new regions.  This non-native type is more closely related to populations in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and is now the most common in North America.

Phragmites distribution. Map by eddmaps.org

We weren’t expecting much green yet, but Phragmites shows you right where to look.  Last year’s tall brown stalks still wave above wetlands where this species invades, crowding out native vegetation, changing hydrology and restricting wildlife habitat with its dense growth.

Sheina in over her head. Phragmites at Potato Creek State Park. Photo by J. Deines

Distinguishing the North American native and the introduced type can be tricky.  We were directed to our spot by a local naturalist, and we double checked using this Phragmites Field Guide.

The whole of the plant is edible, and while I’m looking forward to syrup and porridge later in the year, now we’re after the young green shoots sprouting from the base of the reed.  Check back Wednesday for a simple recipe.

Tasty Phragmites young shoots. Photo by A. Deines