10 Plants You Can Eat To Survive In The Wild (Slideshow)

Amaranth is a weed that looks a lot like pigweed, and is a tall, upright, broad-leafed plant that grows all-year round. It comes in all sizes, shapes, and colors. The leaves can be round or lance-shaped, measure from five to fifteen centimeters long, and have a light green, dark green, reddish, or variegated color. The seeds are usually white, yellow, pink or black and the flowers can be huge tassels or tiny globes, with a red, pink, yellow or cream color.

Amaranth is kind of leafy vegetable and grain that's actually been eaten for centuries all over the world. Amaranth seeds have been used since ancient times in Central and Latin America and in the countries of the Himalayas, and the leaves are used across Asia. Most green-leaved varieties are popular in India and other places. The Chinese prefer their amaranth red-leaved and amaranth grain once was a staple in the diets of pre-Columbian Aztecs.

Amaranth seeds, in particular, have a much higher content of the minerals calcium, magnesium, iron and of the amino acid Lysine. It's actually much higher in nutrients than beets, Swiss chard and spinach. Also, amaranth leaves contain three times more calcium and three times more niacin (vitamin B3) than spinach leaves. 

Better known as bullrush, this plant is easily recognizable by its brown cigar-shaped head that stands atop a very long, stout stalk. Young shoots first emerge in spring and once fertilized, the female flowers transform into the familiar brown "cigars" also called candlewicks that consist of thousands of tiny developing seeds. Bullrush is one of the most important and most common wild foods that also boast a variety of uses at different times of the year — it can be used to make mats, baskets, and the cigar-shaped head can even be used as packing material. Dipping the head in oil or fat, they can be used as torches.

Aboriginals used the roots to make flour (high in protein and carbohydrates) and the fluffy wool of the head was used as diapers because of its softness and absorbency. These "cigar-heads" are also excellent fire started. The tight heads are often dry inside even after a heavy rain, making this essential survival tinder. Inside the stalks of fresh shoots is tasty food that can be eaten as is, sautéed or tossed into a stir fry.

Chickweed is one of those weeds we're used to seeing spring up everywhere — your backyard lawn, between cracks in the pavement, in you flowerbeds, and especially in the wild. It's wild and edible and grows all year round and is hardy despite its delicate appearance. Chickweed is an easy-to-grow plant that's healthy to eat and it produces flowers throughout the growing season even in hot, dry conditions; it's multi-functional because its presence decreases insect damage to other plants. This plant has a lot of health benefits and is full of vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients.

At one point fireweed (also known as great willowherb in parts of Canada, or rosebay willowherb in the U.K) was actually considered a rare species, though now it's found all over the world and is regarded as a common weed. It particularly thrives in wet and slightly acidic soils in open fields, pastures, and particularly burned-over lands (hence the name). Fireweed has reddish stems which stand straight at around one and a half to eight feet high and has a scattered and alternate leaf pattern. Its radially symmetrical flowers have four magenta (or pink) petals. Fireweed's leaves are particularly unique with circular veins and do not terminate on the edges of the leaf, but form circular loops and join together inside the outer leaf margins. This feature makes the plants very easy to identify in all stages of growth. When fireweed first emerges in early spring, it can closely resemble several highly toxic members of the lily family, however, it is easily identified by its unique leaf vein structure.

Young firewood shoots were often collected in the spring by Native American people and mixed with other greens. As the plant matures the leaves become tough and somewhat bitter. The southeast Native Americans use the stems in this stage. They are peeled and eaten raw. When properly prepared soon after picking they are a good source of vitamin C and pro-vitamin A. 

Although purslane is mostly considered a weed in the United States, it can also be eaten as a tasty leafy vegetable, though it has a slightly sour and salty taste. It is consumed throughout much of Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Mexico. Purslanes's stems, leaves and flower buds are all edible, which makes it useful in a salad, stir-fried, or cooked as spinach is, and because of its mucilaginous quality it also is suitable for soups and stews. Purslane contains more omega-3 fatty acids any other leafy vegetable plant, which should keep you going for a while if you're stranded in the wild.