Forsythia: Foraging for culinary and medicinal use (2024)

FAQs

What are the medicinal benefits of forsythia? ›

Forsythia fruits are widely used in Chinese traditional medicine for antipyretic and anti-inflammatory activity in the treatment of bacterial infections and upper respiratory ailments. They are commonly combined with honeysuckle flower (Lonicera) and other ingredients.

Culinary uses and recipes with Forsythia

Blossoms are edible raw, though they taste rather bitter. Toss a few fresh flowers in a salad for decoration, combining with other foraged leaves in season. It can be made into syrup, jelly, tea and infusions and petals can be added to gin & tonic..

Forsythia is a shrub. The dried fruit is used for medicine. Forsythia is used for airway illnesses, swelling, fever, and other conditions.

Forsythia (Forsythia spp.) are non-native shrubs grown for their yellow flowers that bloom in early spring. They are easy plants to grow because of their adaptability. Forsythia's main season of interest is spring, but some varieties have yellow fall leaf color.

Here at the Farm, we fertilize our specimen trees and shrubs just once, in early spring, with a light but even coverage of a balanced, granular fertilizer (such 5-10-10, 10-10-10, or an organic fertilizer). If a concentrated, water-soluble fertilizer is used, please follow the manufacturer's recommendations carefully.

Forsythia was trusted by ancient Chinese for centuries, often used in herbal skin preparations, teas, extracts, and oils. We will cover the benefits of using forsythia on the skin in more detail below, though it is commonly used to treat boils, skin infections, inflammation, and acne.

These mildly toxic substances are found in all parts of the plant, that is, in the branches, leaves and flowers. But there is no need to panic: Forsythia is only slightly poisonous and only becomes dangerous if the plant is consumed in large quantities.

Forsythia is also excellent for treating boils & acne, along with tightness & redness of the skin. Furthermore, those beautiful blossoms are edible & make lovely syrups, honeys, & jellies, adding an enchanting, golden hue to each!

A repeated herbicide application is needed to eradicate it from the ground completely. An effective strategy to get rid of the root system is to spray an herbicide on Forsythia, and wait for some weeks for the branches and foliage to wilt.

What is the fungal disease in forsythia? ›

Brown, irregular to spherical growths sometimes develop on the stems of forsythia. The cause is uncertain and has been attributed to crown gall (Agrobacterium tumefaciens), a genetic disorder, a Phom*opsis species of fungus, and the Pseudomonas savastanoi bacterium that galls oleander and olive.

In the language of flowers, the forsythia flower carries the symbolic meaning of excitement, anticipation, and a new start at the beginning of spring each year.

While they're not particularly nutrient-rich or calorie-dense, forsythia blooms, leaf buds, and very young leaves are all edible.

There is folklore surrounding forsythia, that says “three snows after the forsythia blooms” as, despite being such a bright Spring symbol, it blooms so early winter isn't quite over yet…

Whichever camp you may be in, there is a super native alternative: spicebush (Lindera benzoin). Spicebush pushes out puffy little clouds of tennis ball yellow blooms along its branches in early spring.

Forsythia is amazing in teas, jellies, & syrups -- even ice cream! The blossoms can be used fresh or dried. Fresh are quite lovely sprinkled over a salad. Dried blossoms make a fantastic addition to herbal tea blends for immune system support.

Forsythiae Fructus, derived from the dried fruit of Forsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl, is a traditional Chinese medicine used for its heat-clearing and detoxifying properties and has been a staple treatment for sores. Its use dates back to the "Shennong Bencao Jing" medical text (Zhang et al., 2000).

They add color to salads and are a cheery garnish. The very young leaves are also edible raw but that's iffy as they contain some of the glycoside Phillyrin, and it's debatable just how nasty that is. Very young leaves have also been added to soups.