Oregon Manroot tubers - ideas for new uses?

My land is currently being overgrown by Oregon Manroot vines, which are a lot like wild cucumber.

The vines can obviously kill trees, and I can see they are responsible for a few small stands of dead trees from years past.

I'm pulling the vines down and compressing them into large plastic barrels to make Compost Tea, as the amount of vegetation would overwhelm my three large compost areas.  But I wanted to strike to the heart of the invasion, so I went looking for the source.

The tuber I dug out this morning is below. Weight is probably around 45 pounds. Large pocket knife for scale. Unfortunately, these are reported as poisonous.

I'm going to dig all these up I can and plant sun chokes in the holes. Obviously, that soil is good for tubers.

No idea what I am going to with these things.  I don't currently need any catapult ammo, fish toxin, or weak soap.

If you want to harvest some fish, grate it ... or do laundry.

Eric said, It has a lot of saponins in the root making it not so edible, but Native Americans used to grate it up and throw it in the water to temporarily stop fish from breathing for more convenient harvest at the surface.

Dale said,  Juice that basketball and do some laundry.

https://permies.com/t/116121/Squash-Oregon-manroot

I really think you DO need catapult ammo.

Oh sakes that is an enormous root! I never seen the likes of that and so had to look it up. Here's a few ideas on how to use it from Wikipedia:
Marah oreganus are used medicinally by Native Americans. The Chinook make a poultice from the gourd. The Squaxin mash the upper stalk in water to dip aching hands. The Chehalis burn the root and mixed the resulting powder with bear grease to apply to scrofula sores. The Coast Salish make a decoction to treat venereal disease, kidney trouble and scrofula sores.
The dried spiky fruit can be soaked in water so that the spikes can be easily removed. They are difficult to remove otherwise. The hard fruit becomes soft in water and once the spikes are gone, the fruit makes a very efficient loofa.  The tubers of M. fabaceus and M. macrocarpus contain saponins which can act as a natural soap.
The last 2 ideas seem most practical.  If you have the pods, make loofa sponges. Could be given as gifts!  Maybe if the root is grated and dried it can be powdered and used as laundry soap as others have stated.
One of the largest roots excavated at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens, weighed 467 lbs.  Now that's scary!

Jeff Lindsey wrote:My land is currently being overgrown by Oregon Manroot vines, which are a lot like wild cucumber.

The vines can obviously kill trees, ...

I wonder how you got to this conclusion?  And so certain of it...

How easy are the roots to chop up and dry? I'm thinking they might be good as feeder stock for biochar production?

"I wonder how you got to this conclusion?  And so certain of it..."

1. The small stands of dead trees, with no obvious other causes, that have both a complete cover of the vines  out of nowhere and giant tubers growing at their base.

2. The living trees that are being overwhelmed and broken down by the vines, including some 80ft tall spruces.

Are you some sort of armchair Oregon manroot conservationist who doesn't understand vine/tree dynamics?  If you want to experiment with the effect of the vine on your land, we have plenty of giant poisonous tubers you can come get.

Tj Simpson wrote:I really think you DO need catapult ammo.

TJ,

The social/cultural center of the closest village to me   is the hardware store. At least, it is the cultural center for those of us that aren't fentanyl addicts.  I was telling one of my hardware store friends about the roots - first thing he mentioned was catapult ammo.

The catapult ammo seems to be the zeitgeist.

If I do end up building a catapult over the rainy season - well, a trebuchet , because of increased range- I will make sure to invite you down to launch a few hundred pounds of tuber into the mist shrouded distance.

Jeff

Jay Angler wrote:How easy are the roots to chop up and dry? I'm thinking they might be good as feeder stock for biochar production?

Jay,

My concern is that the roots were used as a fish toxin and as a external medicine. I would worry about inhaling the smoke or contaminating the area with unburnt cytotoxins.  With that tuber I posted being on the small side, that would be a lot of cytotoxins  to deal with.

For the same reason, I am reluctant to shred and compost them, providing that I could spend the time to process that much biomass in such a manner.

Thanks for the idea, though.

Jeff

Jeff Lindsey wrote:... I would worry about inhaling the smoke or contaminating the area with unburnt cytotoxins.  With that tuber I posted being on the small side, that would be a lot of cytotoxins  to deal with... Jeff

Wise decision - stay safe!

However, that gives me a vague idea. Apparently stinging nettles tend to grow in similar places to Jewel weed. Jewel weed juice can be used to relieve the stings from the nettles.

Have you considered looking for a chemical that will render the particular cytotoxins non-toxic? ( or at least less toxic?)

Would there be a mushroom that would do that - mushrooms can break a *lot* of complex stuff down?

Are there any insects/bacteria that are known to attack these roots?

I have found from experience that if a plant naturally exists in a landscape, there is generally a microbe/insect/fungi that is capable of breaking it down safely. People say that things won't grow under cedar trees... except in my native, cedar-rich, winter rain-rich landscape, lots of plants grow right under the cedar so long as there's light. Plants adapted over generations. Are there Indian Elders in your region you could ask?