Omg look at this incredible thing ๐โ๏ธ
First thought was โlooks like mayapple leaf with a crazy flowerโ and sho nuf both are Berberidaceae
People eat it?!
I am. Rural Puget Sound basin.
Speaking of the Hoh rainforest, there is a plant that I read about as a kid that I have been wanting to find. It's called a vanilla plant. It is apparently similar to Stevia, but with a hint of Vanilla flavor. Apparently, there was a brief period where it was being grown commercially before big sugar wiped everything else out.
We arent quite rainforest here, (although its hard to tell with as much as its been raining lately) but were close enough that we could probably grow it. if i can find it.
https://www.wnps.org/native-plant-directory/10-achlys-triphylla
Discussion
well no. it was aged and dried like tea. one of its names translated is โsweet after deathโ. so i would imagine decay releases whatever enzymes are responsible for the sweetness.
the Skokomish tribe used it as a treatment for tuberculosis, and as a shampoo. which seems a strange combo.