FOOD RESOURCE COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SCIENCES, OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
VALERIANA EDULIS, TOBACCO ROOT, VALERIAN
Hedrick, U.P. editor. 1919. Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants. Report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for the Year 1919 II. Albany, J.B Lyon Company, State Printers. [References Available]
is a plant of Ohio to Wisconsin and westward. This is the principal edible root among the Indians who inhabit the upper waters of the streams on the western side of the Rocky Mountains. It has a very strong and remarkably peculiar taste and an odor most offenisve. The root is large, of a very bright yellow color, is full of nutriemnt and, to some, the taste is agreeable. The Indians of the Northwest collect the roots in the spring and, after baking use them as food. From a bitter and somewhat pernicious substance, it is converted by baking into a soft, pulpy mass of sweet taste which is not unwholesome.
