Sedum

On PEI, spring foraging offers up lots of leafy greens and tasty roots, but there are crunchy succulents on the menu, too. Today’s example has many names: Frog’s Stomach, Garden Stonecrop, Live-forever, and Orpine, among others. I’ve always known it as Sedum (Hylotelephium telephium, Photo 1). 

Photo 1: Young Sedum (Hylotelephium telephium) on PEI.

For many people (including me) Sedum has traditionally been a sign of late summer rather than spring. My grandmother grew this in her garden, and every year I’d watch young flower buds appear midsummer and slowly mature into dark reddish-pink flowers by late August (Photo 2). For me, the sight of colourful Sedum meant the end of summer and return to school, and so it was not a particularly welcome sight! 

Photo 2: Sedum in flower on PEI.

Like too many garden plants, Sedum has escaped its confines and can now be found across PEI. While I see it commonly along roadsides and trails (especially the Confederation Trail), Sedum also pops up in more natural habitats including meadows and forests. It’s native to Europe and I can’t say for sure when it arrived on the Island, but it’s been well established here since at least the 1950s.

Despite Sedum’s penchant for escaping gardens, I wouldn’t class it as invasive: it doesn’t seem to be outcompeting native species or causing any other biological, social, or economic harm. It reproduces mostly vegetatively and so can form large patches, but it’s not likely to spread widely across the Island. That said, if you do grow Sedum in your garden, please take care to keep it there.

Like many of our wild spring greens, Sedum leaves get bitter as they age and smaller, younger leaves are best. They are firm and fleshy, with a taste reminiscent of spinach but with subtle notes of green onion and cucumber thrown in, along with a slightly bitter (but not unpleasant) finish. To me, the taste is always familiar in a can’t-quite-place-it kind of way. If you try Sedum and figure out what it reminds you of, please let me know!

I prefer Sedum leaves raw, either added to a sandwich or tossed in a salad with other greens and topped with a simple vinaigrette. You can cook them, but they’ll lose that nice, crisp texture which is part of their appeal. I suspect they’d also pickle well, and I may toss a few into my annual batch of Cattail pickles this year as a test.

If you’d rather play with your food than eat it, I have good news! The name Frog’s Stomach comes from this plant’s ability to blow up like a balloon. To try it, pick one of the larger leaves and press it firmly between your thumb and forefinger all over to bruise it without breaking the surface. Blow into the cut end, and it will inflate, which is fun for both children and young-at-heart adults. The Sedum balloon must have reminded at least one influential person of a frog’s stomach (hence the name), but to me it looks more like the vocal sac on a frog’s throat.

It's important to note that there are hundreds of species of Hylotelephium and Sedum and not all are edible. The six species known from PEI are fine (and H. telephium is the only one I’ve found in the wild), but if you have an unusual species or variety in your garden, do confirm its identification and status before tasting it. For example, Christmas Cheer (aka Jellybean Plant, Sedum x rubrotinctum) is among the members of this Family that can cause stomach upset (though it hasn’t been found this far north and looks quite different from the edible Sedum shown here). As always, try any new-to-you food in moderation, as not all foods agree with all people.

Sedum is one of the many edible wild plants in season right now, so keep your eye out for it as you explore PEI Untamed!