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Pediomelum esculentum
Also called Prairie Turnip, Prairie Potato, Breadroot, Indian Turnip, Breadroot Scurf Pea, Prairie Apple, Tinpsila
Large Indian breadroot is a perennial wildflower of North American prairies whose starchy tuberous root is eaten as a vegetable. It thrives in full sun and well-drained, sandy or rocky soil.
Pediomelum esculentum, synonym Psoralea esculenta, common name prairie turnip or timpsila, is an herbaceous perennial plant native to prairies and dry woodlands of central North America, which bears a starchy tuberous root edible as a root vegetable. English names for the plant include tipsin, teepsenee, breadroot, breadroot scurf pea, large Indian breadroot, prairie potato and pomme blanche. The prairie turnip continues to be a staple food of the Plains Indians.
A related species, Pediomelum hypogaeum (syn. Psoralea hypogaea), the little breadroot, is also edible, although the plant and root are smaller. Another species, Pediomelum argophyllum (syn. Psoralea argophylla), was probably harvested for food only in times of famine.
As a food, the prairie turnip has been described variously as a "delicacy," "tolerably good eating," or "tasteless and insipid." Barry Kaye and D. W. Moodie describe the Native Americans’ use of it as food as follows: "they eat it uncooked, or they boil it, or roast it in the embers, or dry it, and crush it to powder and make soup of it. Large quantities are stored in buffalo skin bags for winter use. A sort of pudding made of the flour of the dried roots and with the serviceberries (Amelanchier alnifolia), after boiling together, is very palatable and a favorite dish."
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pediomelum esculentum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
