Gathering dog’s tooth violet (Erythronium sibiricum) in Siberia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33340/susa.82440Abstrakti
Siberian dog’s tooth violet (Erythronium sibiricum) was utilised as food by several ethnic groups in southern Siberia in the eighteenth century. It was an important vegetable supplement for groups that subsisted on hunting and fishing. E. sibiricum was gathered especially during the spring, but also rodent burrows were plundered by humans during the colder seasons. The plant was used as medicine and it was of local commercial importance. This ethnobiological article analyses the gathering, processing, conservation, preparation, consumption and nutritional significance of E. sibiricum on the basis of historical data. Questions of ethnographic, linguistic and other contacts between groups that can be identified from the use of this plant are raised, and, for comparative purposes, the use of other Erythronium species in Japan and North America is discussed.
