Eat The Weeds: Episode 103: Podocarpus macrophyllus

[Chefianf]

They look very similar to the yew. Any chance to do a video on the yew berry?

[victorenriquemunoz]

Does anyone know if they are toxic for birds?

[EatTheWeeds]

@victorenriquemunoz A google search using Podocarpus macrophyllus and bird says no. 

[jasmatk]

I live in florida and have been eating the fruit of podocarpus for years.the birds will eat them and then they fly into walls and windows I think they get drunk on them

[Farfromhere001]

i really apperciate you NOT using common names! thank you! keep using latin names!

[ovandocarter]

do they grow in uk

[ovandocarter]

are you actually a teacher?

[ovandocarter]

MAN I LOVE THE FOOT THING. LOL

[BigWheelaCatPeelaYea]

Very unique fruit thanks, great video!

[Brandonly23]

Oh man! Your teaching style is so amazing! They should teach this in science in school. Nothing but survivalist stuff and nature, and not about how to manipulate our environment.

[surrealpol]

Thanks for making these very helpful videos, Dean!

[EatTheWeeds]

You're welcome.

[EatTheWeeds]

Codex and Smartstax? I have no idea what they are... Might you be referring to a rumex of some kind? Curly dock is a possibility especially when in seed.

[thefunzonesite]

codex alimentarius is a food safety bill. one thing in it would make growing your own food illegal. smartstax is a new corn breed stacked with eight genetic modifications. they will start growing these in 2010.

so, if the codex thing is really enforced, i'm sure they wont think someone is eating "weeds". thanks for the videos !

[RackAttack8BC]

Deane, have you ever seen the documentary movie called "The Future of Food?" I thought about it with the mention of Codex Alimentarius in this thread.

I don't believe they mention "Codex" in that film, but it is a SHOCKING film non the less that I would highly recommend to you or anyone who reads this.

I know you don't own a TV, but you can watch it on the web at HULUdotCOM, under "movies" then "documentaries." .. If you look, I'm sure you can find it. Very disturbing video about food.

[victorenriquemunoz]

@EatTheWeeds Are they toxic for birds ?

[thefunzonesite]

hi deane,

i grew up in raeford, north carolina.

there was a grass / weed there that we would pull out of the ground and eat it . we called it "Sour grass" cuz of the sour taste. it had black and red on the top and was tall. do you know the actual name of this ? thanks for the vids. good info especially with Codex and Smartstax coming.

[AmericanREPUBLICNow]

Thank you for your postings! I really enjoy the way you make the video as they are very educational and it is easy to remember the information.

Keep up the GREAT work!

[onetraveler]

Had my first Podocarpus aril yesterday--quite good--thanks Deane!

[EatTheWeeds]

That first step wiht a new plant is always a hard one....by the way I might be in Ft. Myers next week.

[HeatherC19]

Oh, we've got one of those in our yard. Unfortunately, the fruit is always very small, and I have tried separating the seed from the flesh before, but with no luck. The seeds on the one in my yard are actually almost seated inside the fruit so to grab it hard enough to remove it would also be crushing the fruit.

[EatTheWeeds]

If the seed is inside the fruit it is NOT the podocarpus but a Taxus.

[pastorgeorgec]

today I learned never to bite Green Deanes toes!

Thank you for another great video! I don't think this one grows this far north though.

[EatTheWeeds]

It can as a potted plant protected in winter. ... and I'm glad my toes are safe....

[feralkevin]

Brilliant!

[choowee]

I love your videos! thank you :)

[NWforager]

talk about an urban vineyard. another fine source of food sugar, booze or alcohol fuel.

[EatTheWeeds]

Wine... hmmm.... I hadn't thought of that.... must be be getting senile....

[KiloBravo69]

P.S. I plan to harvest the fruit from the abandoned Natal plum I found and make some jam!

[EatTheWeeds]

You found some natal plums? Great. They are tasty when ripe.

[888zzz]

Isn't it unsafe to eat any plant except in non developed areas because of the risk of pesticides, herbicides, or pollution?

[EatTheWeeds]

Actually that is a risk nearly everywhere now. It become a calculated decision.

[gwynedd1]

Cultivated food is typically exposed to pesticides whereas wild food is incidental. Some are more than others with peaches and apples topping the list. Our fat fruits and moncultures are also big fat targets that are defended chemically in many cases. Wild apples are likely to be much cleaner. Just try to avoid something obvious like heavy industry. Cultivated onions and avocados are said to be rather clean. Not all toxins are the same. Plant alkaloids are broken down. Heavy metal remain.

[KiloBravo69]

Hi Deane,

I really cant say enough about how interesting and informative your vids are, they really are great! Podocarpus, another one of those shrubs my family and I used at nausea in our landscaping business. Frankly, I just got so I disliked even the sight of them, and in so. California they are every where. However your vid has really sparked a new interest in an old familiar plant, just as you did with your vid on the Natal plum.

Thanks again Deane

Happy weed eating!

[scottmudge]

Fantastic! I finally know what that is now. I've actually been to a lot of places in the area you filmed, living in the winter park area (that was Rollins I believe, and the golf-course that intersects with park ave).

Do you happen to know what the species is of the (apparently invasive) vine that grows all over the place here. It isn't Virginia creeper or kudzu; it has pointed oval leaves about 1-2 inches long and about .5 inch in width oppositely placed. Thanks for the video!

[EatTheWeeds]

You got the locales right.... as for the vine... there are many....got a little more description?

[scottmudge]

Well I figure the best way to describe it is to show you, so I made a video of some pictures and uploaded it to my account. It was from my backyard, but I believe it to be the very same species plaguing many native plants here. I'm going geocaching tomorrow, so I'll be sure to verify its similarity.

[Jesses001]

Thank you for the very informitive video. I was always told they are toxic. May I make a recommindation? Tell us what will happen to us if we eat the toxic parts of the plant. That will encourage us all to pay special attetion to what we are eating. Again, thank you for the videos.

[EatTheWeeds]

Rare to find symptons in adults... more common in kids who eat a lot. From an official publication: gastrointestinal irritation often with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, which may be severe.

[Jesses001]

I see. so in other words, we will not die if we eat the seed, but we will defently wish we did not, lol. Thanks for that information.

[EatTheWeeds]

Correct. It is not like the Taxus in which one seed can stop your heart.

[mrhulot101]

The foot part was unexpected,enjoyed it, also your moderate use of music adds to the videos. Thanks for sharing.

[EatTheWeeds]

Thanks.... got to make things different and interesting... you will probably never forget the foot and which part to eat....podocarpus... it was a natural.... I tried to find better body paint but.... I had spray paint but....the unexpected stays in the memory....

[EatTheWeeds]

PS.. about the music.... as a classically trained musician I know sometimes music should be front and center, and sometimes it should be wall paper.

[godsend420]

kewl vid 5*

[AmberThinks]

I am learning a LOT from you new friend!

[EatTheWeeds]

Great... just be careful and double check me on every thing. That will keep me and thee happy.

[AmberThinks]

extensive research before eating anything :) or using it medicinally I promise!

[otakop67]

Arigato gozaiimasu, Green Deane-sensei! Yet another thing we have in common. 5 *'s for this. I've seen them here and wondered if they were edible.

[EatTheWeeds]

Thanks.. as time goes on the more I am convinced it is the core in the ripe red arils that bother kids. I've had no issue with them but if a kid ate a lot of really ripe ones and a lot of cores it might account for the occassional report of low-grade toxicity (they ain't deadly like the Taxus, just the mother of all laxatives and stomach upsetter.)

[michaeljking]

Where I live in the Uk Yew, (taxus Baccata) is used for the same landscaping purpose, I don't know who named this podocarpus but it at a distance it looks like a giant leaved yew, The fruit/seed of the yew is similar. All parts of the yew are highly toxic especially the seeds but the fleshy part like this podocarp is edible.(I have eaten it, very carefully though..........)

[EatTheWeeds]

Usually with the taxus the aril surrounds the seed. With this podocarpus the aril and seed are end to end. I occassional see a Taxus here, with red and yellow fruit. As taxus and podocarpus are closely related they do look similar. Hence my foot...

[lady7nichole]

lovin all the silly jokes :D and your videos are always awesome. Thank you.

[EatTheWeeds]

Life is too short not to have some fun....

[draconiandevil01]

thank you green dean

[dazigg]

Is it related to the yew? It looks similar in the fruiting habit and the leaf.

[EatTheWeeds]

Yes, closely, which is why I avoided the common names. While these seeds can make you ill a single Taxus seed can stop your heart.

[OKBushcraft]

One would have thought the lawyers office shrubs would have been a lot bigger with all the, well you know, "fertilizer" that they get.

[EatTheWeeds]

I had to be polite... got several lawyers subscribing... never know when I may need one....

[MadBadVoodo]

Five Stars!!