Wild Food Guide — 'L'

Welcome to the Celtnet guide to wild foods. As this recipe site has grown it has become obvious that to allow people to replicate some of the more ancient recipes on this site (especially from the Ancient, Roman and Medieval periods it is necessary to list modern alternatives but also to produce a guide so that the curious can find the original (often wild) ingredients for themselves. These pages are an attempt at bringing all these potentially useful and often forgotten wild foods together into one place. To use this guide simply click on the first letter of your term above or below. Alternativey why not just browse through the terms. You may well find something that surprises you!

This page covers wild foods beginning with the letter 'L' and includes both common and scientific names.

This is the description page for Primrose (Primula vulgaris) and includes a description as well as an image, if available and a selection of recipes from this site that relates to the wild foodstuff: Primrose.

The primrose, Primula vulgaris is a flowering herb native to western and southern Europe which is a member of the Primulaceae (primrose) family. It tends to be one of the earliest of the spring flowers and cascades of the pale yellow flowers are common on countryside verges and in woodlands. The plants are monoecious (ie flowers are male or female) and heterostylous (ie flowers can also have one or two forms). Primrose flowers are classed as either pin (with the capita of the style prominent) or thrum (with the stamens prominent). Fertilisation can only take place between pin and thrum plants. Pin to pin and thrum to thrum pollination is ineffective.

The primrose is a common sight in the spring-time hedgerow and the flowers of this plant are slightly sweet and excellent to eat. They make a colourful addition to any salad, can be used to decorate ice-cream in a dessert and can be candied by preserving in sugar for later use to decorate cakes. Please note, however, that the picking of primroses or the removal of primrose plants from the wild without the permission of the owner of the land on which they are growing is now illegal in the UK (Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Section 13, part 1b).

Primrose Vinegar
A Spring Tart
Hedgerow Salad
Candied Primrose Flowers