Don't eat the yellow ...

We all know the old adage 'Don't eat yellow snow!'

But how about yellow flowers? 

Springtime brings us an abundance of yellow blooms in our wild fields and meadows. But which can we eat? And which should we avoid?

Here's a handy guide to a few of the most common.

SAFE

Dandelions

A very recognisable wild flower (or tenacious weed if you love your lawn and garden). Hard to mistake for anything else. Every part of the plant is edible and rich in vitamins A, B, C, D and E, as well as inositol and lecithin. The flowers, or their small petals, are a colourful addition to salads - when young they taste slighty sweet like honey but get bitter tasting with age. You can also use them to make a tea, or a jam or a syrup. The same applies to the leaves - best eaten young. The root can be dug up, cleaned and roasted and used to create a substitute for coffee. Or you can use it as a flavouring - Dandelion and Burdock has been a classic soft drink for hundreds of years. Even the seeds are edible - once you separate them from their parachutes. Just one word of caution - they are a diuretic so you shouldn't eat or drink too many. One of its common folk names is Pissabed. Oh, and the name Dandelion is supposedly a corruption of dent de lion or 'lion's tooth' (based on the shape of the leaf barbs).

Primrose 

Here's one that often surprises people. Wild Primroses are perfectly edible. The flowers are refreshing and sweet and the young leaves can be used as a green vegetable or in salads. And the only thing you could really mistake it for is the Cowslip - but they're closely related and are also edible. You might also see pink Primroses - sometimes called Primulas - and they're edible too. Just make sure you know for certain that it is a Primula as some other pink flowers are not so good for you. Stick to the yellow Primroses and you'll be fine.

Gorse 

The flowers and buds are safe to eat raw but they should not be eaten too often or in large quantities as they contain small amounts of toxic alkaloids. The flowers smell of coconut and are quite bitter though you can sometimes taste almonds. They are best used to make a country wine or sparkling 'champagne' like we also do with Elderflower.

NOT SAFE 

Buttercups 

I love to see a meadow of Buttercups - it really is the essence of Spring. And we've all held one up to our chins to 'see if we like butter'. But don't eat them! Sadly, they are toxic. All Buttercup species are poisonous when eaten fresh and can cause bloody diarrhoea, excessive salivation, colic, and severe blistering of the mouth, mucous membranes and gastrointestinal tract. They can also cause skin rashes and dermatitis in some people. The toxins are degraded by drying, so hay containing dried buttercups is safe for animals - they are smart enough not to eat them fresh. But why are they called Buttercups? It's because people once believed that cows ate them which was why their milk produced yellow butter. 

Daffodils

Another easily identifiable and common flower. However, All parts of the daffodil contain a toxic chemical called lycorine. When swallowed, it can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and abdominal pain. These symptoms are usually not life threatening and resolve within a few hours. However, back when I was a police officer, I did once attend a death at a house where an older man had eaten Daffodil bulbs in the mistaken belief that they were shallots. And it killed him. The bulb contains the highest levels of lycorine, plus oxalates which are microscopic and needle-like. In his case, his age and failing health had made him more vulnerable. 

Ragwort

I have heard some people say that you could mistake Ragwort for Dandelions but I really don't see how. The flower structure is entirely different and the leaves are lobe-like rather than barb-shaped. However, do get to know this plant because it's very toxic. It's a real problem for farmers because it will kill cattle, horses, deer, sheep, goats, pigs and chickens. The poisonous substances in Ragworts are alkaloids called Jacobine, Jacodine and Jaconine which cause the liver to accumulate copper, causing ill heath and death. However, it's also an important flower for pollinating insects such as the carpenter bee and cinnabar moth, which makes it a divisive plant for land owners. You might say, 'Well, keep the animals and Ragworts separated'. But the big problem with that is that the plant spreads so easily - a single specimen can disperse thousands of seeds into the wind. Meanwhile, the advice for us humans is ...  leave it alone!

These are just six wildflowers chosen because of their colour. There are many other safe edible flowers (Calendula, Borage, Forget-Me-Nots, Cornflowers, Snapdragons etc.). But there are just as many that are toxic - some dangerously so (Foxgloves, Lords and Ladies, Hemlock, Giant Hogweed, Deadly Nightshade etc.).

As always, the best advice I can give is - if you're not 100% sure of identification DON'T EAT IT.