Indian breadroot Culturally Significant Plant

1
large Indian breadrootPediomelum esculentum
(Pursh) Rydb. Synonym Psolera esculeuta
Pursh.Other common names Indian breadroot,
breadroot, prairie turnip, prairie potato,
prairie apple, wild turnip, pomme blanche,
pommede prairie, tipsin, tipsinna.

• Medicinally
• The roots and leaves have a mild, stimulating,
  bitter taste. A tea was used to treat sore
  throats, chest problems and gastroenteritis.
• A chewed root was applied to fractures, sprains
  and earaches.
• It was often used to treat equine ailments.

Photo courtesy of Bonnie Heidel, DOI, USGS.
Prairie Wildflowers and Grasses of North Dakota.
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center.

• Food
• This plant was an important food. The root forms
  an enlargement, or turnip, several inches below
  the soil surface. It is about the size of an
  egg. The Indians dug the roots up in June or
  July. The harvest had to occur after the
  vegetative tops dried down but before they could
  be blown loose. Digging beneath the hard prairie
  soil without a shovel was not easy. The roots
  were peeled and eaten raw or were cooked by
  boiling or roasting. Dried roots, a winter food
  supply, were often pounded into a starchy meal.
  The Lewis and Clark expedition documented buying
  breadroot frequently on the journey to the
  Pacific coast. Settlers traveling west with
  wagon trains would often barter for this plant
  with the tribes. Although this was a common
  plant on the prairie and easily identifiable the
  homesteaders did not know what it looked like and
  would drive right over it.

Slide developed by Pat Broyles, Soil
Conservationist, Manhattan, KS. PMC. USDA is an
equal opportunity employer.