Those impom‘ed edibles 
     
    
   
   
    
     A lot of naturalists on Prince Edward Island are probably aware of 
     
     the fact that some of our birdlife has been imported from Europe. What 
     
     some of them may not know is that a good number of our plants originated 
     
     there as well. _ 
     
    

    
     While the House Sparrow, European Starling and Rock Dove were pur- 
     
     posely brought here in the late 1800's by well-meaning folk, numerous 
     
     alien plants found there own way here. Most of them came in ships, mixed 
     
     in with ballast or cargoes of grain. 
     
    

    
     They found North America quite to their liking and once ashore they 
     
     spread profusely, often to the detriment of native species of plants and 
     
     flowers. For the most part, these aliens took to roadsides, waste places 
     
     and cities that the native flora could not fully adapt to. 
     
    

    
     Once here, the settlers of the time took full advantage of them. 
     
     They were looked on as a welcome addition to the 
     
     sometimes sparse diet of those struggling to make 
     
     a living off the land. 
     
    

    
     This is certainly not the case today, where 
     
     the vast majority of us simply make a quick trip 
     
     to the local supermarket once or twice a week to 
     
     fill our shopping carts with food. The weeds are 
     
     still here though, and free for the taking. 
     
    

    
     One of the most common city weeds is the 
     
     Common Plantain. It seems to thrive on adversity 
     
     and many lawn owners will attest to its tenacity 
     
     when faced with a barrage of modern weed-killing 
     
     chemicals such as 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. 
     
    

    
     What most of them probably don't know, and 
     
     what a cow would likely tell you if it could 
     
     talk, is that they make an excellent green salad. 
     
     As a matter of fact, the greener they are the 
     
     more vitamin A and C they hold. 
     
    

    
     They can be cooked as a vegetable by first 
     
     taking the tender young leaves, plucking and 
     
     stripping the bad parts off and washing them in 
     
     saalt water for four to five minutes. Use sugar 
     
     instead of salt when cooking them and drink the 
     
     leftover fluid, or use it as a base for sauce 
     
     or gravy, as most of the minerals are contained 
     
     in the water. 
     
    

    
     A nice salad can also be made by cutting the 
     
     cleaned leaves into small pieces and mixing them 
     
     with other fresh vegetables. Eat them raw and 
     
     pour some maple syrup over them to sweeten them. 
     
    

    
     Evening Primrose is another weed familiar to 
     
     most people because of the way the flowers open 
     
     at dusk. The yelow flowers attract night-flying \ . 
     
     moths upon which they depend for fertilization. EVENING PRIMROSE 
     
     The sweet and nutritious roots made it one of the earliest edible plants. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     that was brought over from Europe as a food, long before the Pilgrims set ;“ 
     
    
   
   
    
     foot on Plymouth Rock. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The big, branching roots are good only in the first year. They Ean “:" 
     
    
   
   
    
     easily be identified because the stems with the flower spikes don't ap- 
     
    
   
   
    
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