Noshing on Naturalized Plants in the Four Corners

Naturalized Plants in the Four Corners

Words and Photos by Anna Marija Helt

Siberian elm samaras.

Touring the Animas River valley from Durango to Farmington, you’re sure to see Siberian elm and Russian olive trees. If you look down, you’ve a good chance of also spotting common mallow. Russian olive and Siberian elm were planted extensively in the Four Corners region (and elsewhere in New Mexico) during the twentieth century. Wild mallow, native to Eurasia and North Africa, was introduced to the Four Corners area at some point prior to the 1950s, based on the ethnobotanical record. All three are fast-growing, naturalized species that commonly spring up on roadsides, on farms, in yards, in gardens, and in other sites that receive water. Russian olives and Siberian elms, initially planted as ornamentals, soil stabilizers, windbreaks, and shade trees, now grow prolifically along waterways. Due to concerns that they crowd out native trees and plants, communities along the Animas (as along the Rio Grande) have made efforts to remove the trees. But some ecologists believe that they aren’t going anywhere, because established land and water use practices have opened up niches for these non-native trees that native plants can’t tolerate.

Invasivores are folks who deliberately eat invasive species, sometimes with the aim of reducing their ecological impact. Harvesting Siberian elm, Russian olive, and common mallow for the kitchen isn’t likely to impact their populations here; nevertheless, they’re abundant, free, and nutritious sources of wild food, so why not eat them?

Russian olives.

Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) is a small, thorny tree with narrow, silver-green leaves and dark bark. The fruits—resembling olives—ripen in late summer and fall, turning from green to orangish- or reddish-brown. They’re mildly sweet, quite nutritious, and rich in antioxidants. Although dry and mealy, they make a flavorful jam or tea. I like to process them into flour for baking, where they add an apple-like flavor and a pleasant texture.

Print Recipe

Russian Olive Muffins

Ingredients

• About 30 Russian olive fruits (enough to make 1/2 cup flour)
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1 cup full-fat milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
• Brown sugar , to top

Instructions

• Collect the ripe fruits and let them dry for a week. Using a sharp knife, carefully remove the seeds. Grind the flesh and skins into flour using a coffee grinder or blender, and sieve it through a fine strainer. Preheat the oven to 475°F and lightly grease a mini-muffin pan. Combine flour with other dry ingredients. Add liquid ingredients and whisk to mix. Distribute 1 1/2 tablespoons of mix per muffin cup. Top with a pinch of brown sugar and bake for 20–25 minutes. The recipe makes 16 mini-muffins.They’re great with breakfast or as a quick snack.

Siberian elm mucilage.

The furrowed brown-gray bark and deep green, serrated leaves of Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila) are a common sight throughout the Southwest, where they shade plazas and parks, line roadways, and pop up on the edges of farm fields. Siberian elms are among the larger deciduous trees in the Four Corners region. Their size and sweeping branches make the trees easy to spot, especially in spring, when they’re covered with neon-green (and tasty) seedpods, known as samaras. 

In spring and summer, I harvest the tender inner bark from saplings or from recently downed branches or trees and separate the inner bark from the outer bark. After the inner bark is dried in strips, it’ll keep for two to three years in an airtight jar. The subtly sweet inner bark is rich in mucilage, a complex carb that the gut flora converts into nutrients that improve gut integrity and provide other nifty health benefits. If you’ve ever eaten okra, you’re familiar with mucilage, which is a great thickening agent for soups, stews, and sauces. A soothing tea of the inner bark also quenches thirst on hot summer days. However, my favorite way to use it is as a powder that can be added to smoothies. 

Print Recipe

Siberian Elm Summer Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon dried , powdered Siberian elm inner bark
• 1/2 banana , frozen
• 1/2 cup berries (of your choice), frozen
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon full-fat coconut milk

Instructions

• Dry Siberian elm inner bark using a dehydrator, or place thin strips in a single layer on a cookie sheet or hang in small bundles until dry (about 10 days). Powder your dried Siberian elm inner bark in a coffee grinder or blender. Combine 1 tablespoon of the powder with remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth, and enjoy.

Common mallow.

Common mallow (Malva neglecta) is a popular wild food around the globe. It’s a low-growing annual or biennial with roundish, lobed leaves and whitish-to-pink flowers decorated with fine purple stripes. The fruits are shaped like cheese wheels, hence another name for the plant: cheeseweed. The leaves are a vitamin C bomb and are a good addition to salads, smoothies, sandwiches, soups, and stews. Like Siberian elm inner bark, mallow leaves are a great thickening agent due to—you guessed it—mucilage. (The aforementioned okra is also in the mallow family.) The nutty-tasting fruits show themselves from summer through fall and can be eaten straight from the plant while they’re still green. I enjoy them prepared like capers. 

Print Recipe

Fermented mallow “capers”

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup green mallow fruits , washed

Instructions

• Dissolve the salt in the water in a sterilized canning jar. Add the washed green fruits; they should be completely submerged in the brine. Cap with a fermentation top, or else open the jar lid once each day to release the gas produced by fermentation. Let them ferment at room temperature for 5–7 days, then store in the fridge, replacing the fermentation lid with a regular plastic lid. (The brine can corrode a metal lid.) The “capers” are best after two weeks in the fridge and can be stored for up to two months as long as they remain submerged in brine.

Words to the wise: be certain of what you’re harvesting before you eat it. Also, mallow and Siberian elm are “accumulators.” Mallow accumulates nitrates from nitrogen-rich soils, so don’t forage where there’s agricultural runoff. Both mallow and Siberian elm concentrate heavy metals from polluted soils and waterways. Such metals can come from mining operations, coal burning, and agricultural practices. Again, be mindful of where you forage. Finally, separate your mallow meal or Siberian elm smoothie from taking medications by a couple of hours due to the theoretical potential for mucilage to reduce drug absorption. (Such interference has not been demonstrated, but it’s better to be cautious.)

These plants are a good introduction to foraging in the Four Corners region in a way that respects native ecosystems. Visit swcoloradowildflowers.com for more detailed descriptions of these and other plants endemic to the region.