Edible and Medicinal Wetland Plants of Virginia
This website is a class project for Wetland Ecology and Management at George Mason University. It describes edible and medicinal wetland plants used by Native American groups throughout the United States (not just Virginia). This website is for informational purposes only, please consult field guides and other sources as to how edible plants should be prepared since some must be cooked to remove toxic substances. The same warning applies to plants used for medicinal purposes, please consult licensed medical personnel before attempting to use any of these plants for medical purposes.
There has been increased acknowledgment that wetlands provide valuable ecosystem services and no-net loss policies have resulted in more interest in creating and/or restoring wetlands. Typically, the focus of wetland creation or restoration is to provide flood control, wildlife habitat, sediment and nutrient retention; direct human use is usually limited to recreational use through parks and to indirect use through groundwater recharge and flood control. The idea of human usage of wetland plants for edible or medicinal purposes has only started to be explored.
This project looked at the historical usage of wetland plants by Native American groups. The project looked at both edible plants and those that have been used for medicinal purposes. A number of reference materials were consulted for this purpose and the
US Department of Agriculture (USDA) was consulted for plant distribution throughout the state. Lists of both edible and medicinal plants were compiled and also sorted by location through the US Geological Survey (USGS) physiographic provinces.
Virginia is located in five USGS physiographic provinces, the Appalachian Plateau, the Valley and Ridge, the Blue Ridge, the Piedmont and the Coastal Plain. The physiographic provinces are areas of similar geology, hydrology and climate and plant communities. The plants identified in this study were divided into physiographic province for ease of use in determining which plants could be used in a wetland creation or restoration project based on physiographic province.
There has been increased acknowledgment that wetlands provide valuable ecosystem services and no-net loss policies have resulted in more interest in creating and/or restoring wetlands. Typically, the focus of wetland creation or restoration is to provide flood control, wildlife habitat, sediment and nutrient retention; direct human use is usually limited to recreational use through parks and to indirect use through groundwater recharge and flood control. The idea of human usage of wetland plants for edible or medicinal purposes has only started to be explored.
This project looked at the historical usage of wetland plants by Native American groups. The project looked at both edible plants and those that have been used for medicinal purposes. A number of reference materials were consulted for this purpose and the
US Department of Agriculture (USDA) was consulted for plant distribution throughout the state. Lists of both edible and medicinal plants were compiled and also sorted by location through the US Geological Survey (USGS) physiographic provinces.
Virginia is located in five USGS physiographic provinces, the Appalachian Plateau, the Valley and Ridge, the Blue Ridge, the Piedmont and the Coastal Plain. The physiographic provinces are areas of similar geology, hydrology and climate and plant communities. The plants identified in this study were divided into physiographic province for ease of use in determining which plants could be used in a wetland creation or restoration project based on physiographic province.