>>206583You mean like Bull Thistle/Spear Thistle (Circium vulgare)?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirsium_vulgare#Uses>The stems can be peeled and then steamed or boiled. The tap roots can be eaten raw or cooked, but only on young thistles that have not flowered yet.[14]I wish there were more around here. I've been wanting to try them for some time. If I do find some I'll let them go to seed and propagate them. Right now, I'm fighting shitty invasive Canada thistle/Creeping thistle (Cirsium arvense). They are edible too, but they are a super invasive weed here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirsium_arvense#Uses>Like other Cirsium species, the roots are edible, though rarely used, not least because of their propensity to induce flatulence in some people. The taproot is considered the most nutritious. The leaves are also edible, though the spines make their preparation for food too tedious to be worthwhile. The stalks, however, are also edible and more easily de-spined.[23]Pictured here are stuff I dug up, steamed, and consumed today: Cirsium arvense (Canada Thistle, Creeping Thistle), Cyperus esculentus (Yellow Nutsedge, Tigernut), and Daucus carota (Queen Anne's Lace, Wild Carrot). The thistle roots are what I was after. They become very woody and stringy the older they get, so you need to harvest them when the plants are really young. The wild carrot is the best of these three and tastes just like a carrot. These also get woody the older they get and second year plants are too woody to even try to eat (they have a poisonous look-alike, poison hemlock, so identify them well by their leaves). The tigernuts of the variety I have (macrostachyus/leptostachyus) are difficult to clean and don't grow quite like the easy to harvest varieties.
Tastes:
Thistle Root: eh, meh
Wild Carrot: very good
Tigernut: not bad, sweet and nutty.
Difficulty harvesting and using:
Thistle root: pretty easy
Wild Carrot: very easy
Tigernut: difficult
