A veritable supermarket on a stick, cattails were once a source of sustenance as well as comfort to Pacific Northwest natives. Young shoots can be eaten as greens in the spring while young flower spikes can be roasted and eaten like cobs of corn. Young roots or rhizomes (underground stems) can be peeled and eaten as is — sashimi-style, hold the wasabi — or dried and pulverized into flour. Early settlers too discovered that cattail pollen could be harvested and added to bread or pancakes. Cattail down or fluff was collected in autumn for use as a wound dressing or for stuffing pillows and bedding. Cattail leaves found use in native basketry.

Illustration by Manami Kimura

No, not a place where off-duty satanists hang out. Devil’s club is a member of the ginseng family and as such is said to have curative powers for several afflictions. Commonly associated with the word “ouch!” this thorny understory shrub can otherwise be identified by large limp, maple-shaped leaves and a cluster of red berries. In coastal British Columbia devil’s club was traditionally used to provide relief from arthritis and rheumatism. As a wilderness food source, young stems of the devil’s club can be cooked as greens while the roots can be peeled, rinsed and chewed raw. Devil’s club bark was once mixed with various kinds of berries and boiled to make purplish dye for native basketry.
Illustration by Manami Kimura