List of more common wild edible flowers

What are the most common wild edible flowers

List of wild flowers, leaves and other wild plants parts than can be eaten

From A to C

From D to O

From P to Z

NameEdible partsHabitat

Parsley

Petroselinum crispum

Leaves to flavor foods

In humid banks, orchards and gardens. It is usually sold from crops.

Species that appears frequently cultivated. Do not confuse with hemlock . Medicinal plant with toxic properties.

Parsnip

Pastinaca sativa

The cooked leaves and roots.

In wet grasslands

Do not confuse with the hemlock that has a stinky smell, white flowers and stains on the stems.

Plantain

Plantago

Leaves and young floral stalks to eat in salads, boiled or fried.

On farmland, along the roads, in fields rich in organic fertilizers or farms.

Pigweed

Chenopodium album

The tender shoots in tortillas with egg and battered with flour and the tender leaves boiled with a couple of waters. Ripe seeds as if they were rice or to make black bread.

In vacant lots, abandoned lots, roads and grasslands
Medicinal plant with compromising properties (very useful for the treatment of external skin wounds) and diuretics (helps eliminate fluids from the body) (More  information)
Plant rich in oxalates. Its consumption should be moderated and those who have kidney problems or tend to produce stones should never eat it.

Poppy

Papaver rhoeas

Leaves and young floral stalks to eat in salads, boiled or fried.

On farmland, along the roads, in fields rich in organic fertilizers or farms.
From the poppies oil is extracted to burn. In some places the tender leaves are eaten although they are slightly narcotic. Of the 90 species of poppies, the best known is the opium poppy (Papaver sommniferum) from which opium is extracted.

Pot-marigold

Calendula arversis

The seeds are used to flavor pasta

End of summer in fields and roads.

The flower with pollen  should not be ingested  to avoid allergic reactions

Pumpkin

Cucurbita pepo

In addition to the fruits, you can also eat the flowers that are excellent when fried, in tortillas, batter with eggs or cooked with potatoes and onions.

Plant native to Central America and cultivated in many parts of the world.

Medicinal plant. (See information)

Purslane

Portulaca oleracea

Tender leaves in salad or cooked. The chopped seeds make flour. The stems in vinegar.

In cultivated fields, gardens, orchards or wet lands during the summer

Medicinal plant. (See information )

Toxicity: For animals it is a fairly toxic plant. The toxicity is due to its high oxalate content. It has not been proven to be equally toxic to humans.

Raspberry

Rubus idaeus

Fruits for eating alone, mixed with other fruits in Macedonia or for making jams or syrups

In  forests in summer

Rosemary

Rosmarinus officinalis

The leaves to flavor foods

It grows spontaneously in Mediterranean thickets in the company of other plants such as thyme (Thymus vulgaris), lavender (Lavender sp) and rock roses (Cistus sp).

Medicinal plant (See information)

Rowan, mountain ash

Sorbus aucuparia

Ripe and dried fruits to eat directly or after drying and in jams. For wine making.

In forests or parks during the fall.

It is better to dry the fruits before eating them directly so that they are not so bitter. When they have been in the tree for a long time, the cold winter reduces their acidity. Due to its tannin content, they have been used as medicinal plants with astringent properties to stop diarrhea.

The American species Sorbus americana or mountain rowan also has edible fruits

Sage

Salvia officinalis

Fresh leaves to flavor salads and dried ones to flavor stews

In rocky sites and dry grasslands of Mediterranean Europe during  the spring and the summer. Also grown as a medicinal plant

Medicinal plant (See information)

Salad burnet, small burnet

Sanguisorba minor

Early leaves and young shoots to flavor salads

In grassy places

Savory

Satureja hortensis

The leaves for cooking

Annual plant that is usually grown in a pot, gardens, orchards, etc. Rarely feral. Old farmland. It can grow between 0 and 1,000m. of altitude. It is said that with altitude loses performance in essential oil.

Sheperd’s purse

Capsella bursa-pastoris

To flavor salads. They have a very acidic taste so they should be used in a small amount. The tender leaves, collected before flowering of the plant, have a spicy flavor and are consumed fresh in salads or cooked. Flower buds before flowering are consumed as broccoli, raw or boiled. They have a spicy taste just like all crucifers, due to their glucosinolate content. The roots have a spicy flavor and squeezed (fresh) or ground (dried), they are used as a substitute for ginger.

On roads, highways or uncultivated places during spring
Medicinal plant

Sorrel

Rumex acetosa

Tender leaves and sprouts, cooked or in salads

Grassy areas in spring

Tansy

Tanacetum vulgare

The tender leaves as a vegetable and as spices to flavor cakes.

Crop fields, roadsides, banks and abandoned fields
Medicinal plant with toxic properties. (See more information)

Thyme

Thymus vulgaris

Tender or dried leaves to flavor salads or other foods

On the edges of dry roads and bushes in spring or summer
Medicinal plant with toxic properties. (See more information)

Walnut, English walnut

Juglans regia

Ripe fruits to eat fresh or cooked. The leaves for their medicinal properties (See more information.)

In humid forests. Cultivated and gardening species.
The fruits of the American species Juglans nigra or black walnut are used by the Indians to make flour and with the sap they make a syrup. The fruits of this species are more difficult to open than those of the Juglans regia and have a stronger flavor. Generally they are only used for cake making.

Watercress

Nasturtium officinale

The tender parts in salad or cooked

In streams

Water mint

Mentha aquatica

Tender leaves in salads or boiled with other vegetables.

Along with rivers or streams.

White nettle

Lamium album

Boiled leaves

Next to banks, rubble areas, barren fields.

Wild apple tree

Malus sylvestris

The fruits (apples) to prepare compote or to flavor the meat. It is not usually eaten directly because of its acidity

In forests during the fall.

Wild celery

Angelica Archangelica

Leaf petioles can be cooked or eaten raw. Green stems are caramelized to eat them in cakes. Seed and root oil is used in the preparation of liquors

Next to the mountain streams.

Wild cherry

Prunus avium

Fruits (cherries) alone or with other fruits and to make jams

In humid forests in summer
The cultivated species  of cherry comes from it

Wild garlic, bear leek

Allium ursinum

The leaves for cooking

In forests during the spring

Wild strawberry

Fragaria vesca

Fruits to eat alone, mixed with other fruits in fruit salad or to make jams or syrups

In roads, forest edges and humid mountain areas during the summer.

Medicinal plant  (See information)

From A to C

From D to O

From P to Z

punto rojo More information on wild flowers and wild edible plants

This article was endorsed by Elisenda Carballido - Dietitian nutritionist. Postgraduate in Phytotherapy and master in Nutrition and Metabolism.
Montserrat Enrich
Written by Montserrat Enrich Journalist specializing in edible wild plants and plant uses.

10 March, 2024