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Beefsteak Plant

Perilla is often used in cuisines in several Asian countries. It is also a salad green.
Perilla is often used in cuisines in several Asian countries. It is also a salad green. Photo: ibuki Tsubo/Unsplash

Despite the delightful name of this plant, it must be uprooted in an attempt to save our ecosystems. The beefsteak plant has green and purple leaves, which are really nice… but they also can poison cattle, and like all other invasives, takes over entire environments. It is found throughout the entire country because its seeds are spread far and wide in the wind.

You can easily rip this plant out of the ground and dispose of it, like with other invasive plants, but it doesn’t have to end up in the trash: Beefsteak plants are edible and totally safe to eat (unless you’re a cow). It’s actually sold in some supermarkets under other names like wild basil or perilla.

So foragers who want to make sure native plants are safe and get leafy greens for free should keep their eyes open: These plants tend to grow near roadsides in both rich or dry soil, so they shouldn’t be hard to find.

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