As you learn to discern one plant from another, you will add a new dimension to your wilderness experience. Topped by a terminal spike of bright red berries. Blooms in summer. Nettle irritation generally subsides after 10 minutes even without treatment. Stick to the berries with eyelashes.
Berries are smaller than the domesticated version by half but twice the flavor.
Eat them fresh, in pies, dried or as jelly. In late spring, the green flowering spike can be boiled for a few minutes and eaten. In summer, the yellow pollen may be shaken into a bag and used as a flour substitute. In fall, short sprouts from the rootstalk may be eaten raw or boiled. The starch can be extracted by mashing the roots in several rinses of water.