Fróðskaparrit

						52

FIELD HORSETAIL (EQUISETUM ARVENSE) AS A FOOD PLANT

in the 19th century. The tubers were eaten

in northern Russia, as well as in Belarus,

and regarded as a delicacy by the popula-

tion (Maurizio, 1927: 69; Zelenin, 1927:

119; Moszynski, 1967: 32). The Nenets of

northern Russia prepared a soup of the ear-

ly spikes and also used it as stuffmg in

pirogues (Manninen, 1931: 35). According

to a 19th century report from Solvychegod-

sk, Vologda govemment, many Russian

families were able to survive the spring by

eating horsetails, the only food stuff avail-

able for them. From Vjatka it is reported

that only the children ate horsetails. In

Poland it has been used as a famine food

(Maurizio, 1927: 108-109).

In Japan the spikes are eaten after being

boiled as a dish called tsukushi. The Japan-

ese also consume them salted and when

kept in vinegar mixed with soy, after being

boiled in water (Loew, 1907: 109; Uphof,

1968: 201; Iwatsuki, 1995: 19).

Our references show that E. arvense has

been used as a food plant in Eurasia and

North America. Not only the tubers were

used as food, as on the Faroe Islands, but

also the spikes. Recent folk tradition from

northern Europe indicates that the horse-

tails were eaten mostly by children. This

was actually the case with many other edi-

ble plants as well. Ghildren were also in

much more need of fresh vegetables as vit-

amin sources than adults (cf Høeg, 1974;

Svanberg, 1997c). However, older sources

from the 18th century and from some mar-

ginal areas, show that the tubers and spikes

were eaten by all inhabitants. The changing

food habits with the access to more food

through the development of national and

international trade in the 19th century most

probably made it obsolete as a spring food

plant. However, it survived as a kind of

treat for children in Europe. It is of course

difficult to identify the plant once eaten by

the Romans. However, it is more likely that

they ate E. arvense rather than any other

species of the genus. The knowledge of an

ancient food plant actually survived on the

Faroe Islands and in various parts of Conti-

nental Europe, in East Asia and North

America until recently.

References

Abbe, E. 1981. The Fern Herbal, including the Ferns,

the Horsetails and the  Club Mosses.  Ithaca &

London.

Alcorn, J.B. 1995. The Scope and Aims of Ethnobotany

in a Developing World. In: Schultes, R.E. and Reis,

S.v. (eds.). Ethnobotany: Evolution of a Discipline:

23-39.

Arnason, T., Hebda, R. J. and Johns, T. 1981. Use of

Plants for Food and Medicine by Native Peoples of

Eastern   Canada,   Canadian   Journal   of Botany

59(11): 2189-2325.

Balee,   W.   and  Brown,   J.   C.   1996.   Ethnobotany.

Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology vol 2: 399-

404.

Balick, M. J. and Cox, P. A. 1996. Plants, People, and

Culture. The Science of Ethnobotany.

Benedict, R. C. 1941. The Gold Rush: A Fern Alley.

American Fern Journal 31: 127-130.

Berglund, J. 1935. Váxter som lakemedel och i folkliga

arbetsmetoder   i   Angermanland.   Ángermanland-

Medelpad.    Arsbok   for    Vdsternorrlands    Lans

Hembygdsfórbund 1935: 42-56.

Bergmark, M. 1981. Vallort och vitlok. Om folkmedi-

cinens lakeórter. Stockholm.

Bergvall, F.   1972. Edsele folkliga flora.  Váxtnamn

(latin, dialekt, rikssprák) jamte uppgifter om váxt-

ernas anvándning. Unpublished manuscript ULMA

28-641  in The Institute of Dialect and Folklore

Research, Uppsala.

Black, M. J. 1980. Algonquin Ethnobotany: An Inter-

pretation of Aboriginal Adaptation in Southwestern

Quebec. National Museum of Man. Mercury Series.

Canadian Ethnology Service Papers No. 65. Ottawa.