Edible Wild Plants of Nova Scotia. — By Walter H. 

 Prest, Bedford, N. S. 



(Read 13th March, 1905.) 



These notes on the edible wild plants of Nova Scotia are 

 the result of my early experience in the backwoods, and are 

 offered with the hope that they may prove of benefit to those 

 whom business or accident may lead temporarily beyond the 

 reach of the resources of civilization. While some of the wild 

 fruits here mentioned, such as the blueberry and cranberry, are 

 of commercial value, others are included because they may assist 

 in sustaining life at a critical time. While lost in the forest, 

 persons have perished through a want of knowledge of the 

 resources wdiich nature has bounteously provided in many 

 sections at certain seasons of the year. As these resources are 

 more animal than vegetable, the latter class has been much 

 neglected. Tlierefore, the result to a lost man, unprovided 

 with weapons or the means of snaring, trapping or catching 

 game or fish, might be perhaps serious. I propose, therefore, to 

 tabulate these edible plants, so far as known to me, and de- 

 scribe as freely and popularly as possible, all that have come 

 under my personal notice. To Dr. A. H. MacKay I am indebted 

 for several of the more difficult scientific identifications. As, 

 how^ever, the best scientific description, especially during the 

 fruiting season, w'ould be almost useless to the average man, we 

 will be forced to largely fall back on nature's testing apparatus, 

 the eyes, nose and mouth. 



The nuts and seeds, with few exceptions, do not repay the 



labor and time spent in gathering, except in extreme cases ; 



therefore an astute backwoodsman searches the hillsides for the 



stores of food buried by ground squirrels for winter use. These 



Proc. & Trans. X. S. Inst. Sci., Vol. XL Trans. Z. 



(387) 



