45 Field Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) as a Food Plant Kannubjølluvísa til matna Ingvar Svanberg Department of East European Studies Uppsala University Urtak I 1700-talinum skrivaði sveisiski plantufrøðingurin von Haller at rómverjarnir brúktu myribjølluvísu (Equiset- um fluviatile) til matna. Høvundin metir at hetta er ein mistulking, tí tað eru eingi etnobotanisk prógv um at hesin vøkstur hevur verið brúktur til matna. Hinvegin hava kannubjøllur og várleggir av kannubjølluvísu (E. arvense) verið brúktir til matna fleiristaðni. I Føroyum eru prógv um at tey undir 1800-talinum ótu vøksturin tá tey um vári arbeiddu í bønum. Aðrastaðni í Evropa eru tað mest børn, sum hava eti vøksturin. I Norðuramerika og Eysturasia brúktu tey eisini E. arvense til matna. Abstract According to the 18th century Swiss botanist von Haller, the Romans used water horsetail (Equisetum fluviatile) as a food plant. The author argues that this is a misinterpretation. There is no ethnobotanical evidence that water horsetail has been used for human consump- tion. However, the bulbs and shoots of the field horsetail (E. arvense) have been widely used as human nutriment. Faroese 19th century records show that it was eaten by people working the fields during the spring. From other parts of Europe it is reported that it has been eaten mainly by children. E. arvense was used as a food plant also in North America and East Asia. According to the Swiss botanist Albrecht von Haller (1768: 1) the Romans consumed a plant called Equisetum. He identifies the actual species as the water horsetail, Equi- setum fluviatile. Especially the poorer stra- ta of the Roman Empire is said to have uti- lized the tubers but also the fresh stems as food. This information is also repeated by von Paula Schrank (1789: 415) in a Bavar- ian flora, by the English botanist Lindley (1849: 22) in his book on medical plants, by Sturtevant (1919: 255) in his magnum opus on edible plants, by Grieve (1931: 420) in her herbal book, and in Abbe's (1981: 92) book on ferns as herbs. Most published handbooks in economic botany are actually compilations with the same data repeated uncritically. The original sources are very seldom given in these books and especially 19th and 20th century publications mix freely domestic and for- eign information. In this case, I think Haller identifíed the wrong species. More recent ethnobotanical facts from Europe or Asia never mention the use of E. fluviatile as a food plant. In Scandinavia it is rather a well-known plant for fodder which have been harvested until Fróðskaparrit45. bók 1997: 45-55
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