Global Regional Plant Guides

Central Andes Puna & Altiplano Plant Survival Guide

A comprehensive survival plant guide for Central Andes Puna & Altiplano, covering useful woody materials, land foods, aquatic foods, traditional-use plants and poisonous look-alikes.

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Cover of Central Andes Puna & Altiplano Plant Survival Guide

Continent: South America
USDA-equivalent zones: 3-8
Köppen climate: ET / BSk
Profiles: 20
Regional biome: High-elevation grassland, bofedal wetland and rocky slope

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Useful plants · 5 Land edibles · 5 Aquatic edibles · 3 Traditional-use · 3 Poisonous look-alikes · 4

Useful plants

Wood, fibre, shelter and craft

South American mountain bamboo

Chusquea spp.

Useful plants

Stylized form diagram for South American mountain bamboo

Identify: Solid or nearly solid segmented culms; dense branching at nodes; narrow grass leaves.
Habitat: Andean and Atlantic montane forest, often forming thickets.
Season: Culms year-round; shoots seasonal.
Field use: Arrow shafts, basketry, shelter lattice, containers and friction-fire spindles; shoots of selected species require expert preparation.
Caution: Dense thickets hide cliffs and animals. Some bamboos flower and die en masse.
Look-alikes: Reeds are hollow and rooted in wetlands rather than woody mountain thickets.

arrow shaftbasketryconstructionbow drill spindle

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Willows

Salix spp.

Useful plants

Identify: Alternate narrow to oval leaves; flexible twigs; catkins; many species root along wet ground.
Habitat: Riverbanks, lake margins, floodplains, tundra valleys and moist forest.
Season: Twigs year-round; leaves and catkins in the growing season.
Field use: Flexible rods for baskets, fish traps, wattle, arrow shafts and repair splints. Dry punky willow and softer species can serve bow-drill hearth boards; denser pieces make spindles. Bark has documented salicylate-related traditional use.
Caution: Species identification is difficult. Do not self-dose bark with aspirin allergy, bleeding risk, kidney disease, pregnancy, or in children with viral illness.
Look-alikes: Alders have cone-like female catkins; some dogwoods have opposite leaves.

arrow shaftbow drill boardbasketrycordagemedicine

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Common juniper

Juniperus communis

Useful plants

Stylized form diagram for Common juniper

Identify: Stiff sharp needles in whorls of three with one pale band; blue-black berry-like cones.
Habitat: Rocky heaths, boreal openings, mountains and steppe.
Season: Cones late summer through winter; wood year-round.
Field use: Dense aromatic wood for pegs and small tools; mature cones have limited documented culinary use.
Caution: Avoid medicinal use in pregnancy or kidney disease. Oils are concentrated and irritating.
Look-alikes: Crowberry has softer tiny leaves and glossy black fruit.

pegstinderseasoning

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Cordilleran cypress

Austrocedrus chilensis

Useful plants

Stylized form diagram for Cordilleran cypress

Identify: Narrow tree with flattened scale-leaf sprays, reddish fibrous bark and small oval cones.
Habitat: Drier Andean forest and steppe margin.
Season: Year-round.
Field use: Decay-resistant wood for small stakes, kindling and light frames from deadfall.
Caution: Populations may be protected and affected by disease. Do not strip living bark.
Look-alikes: Arrayan has broad opposite leaves and smooth orange bark.

stakesfuelframes

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Alders

Alnus spp.

Useful plants

Identify: Oval toothed leaves; catkins; woody cone-like female structures persist through winter.
Habitat: Wet thickets, streambanks, avalanche tracks and disturbed forest.
Season: Wood year-round; leaves growing season.
Field use: Straight stems for racks and wattle; seasoned alder burns evenly and is widely used as smoking wood.
Caution: Wet alder smokes heavily; dense thickets can hide unstable banks.
Look-alikes: Birch lacks persistent woody cones.

poleswattlefuelsmoking

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Land edibles

Terrestrial food species

Wild and cultivated quinoa relatives

Chenopodium quinoa / C. pallidicaule

Land-based edible plants

Stylized form diagram for Wild and cultivated quinoa relatives

Identify: Erect branching herb with variable triangular leaves and dense seed panicles; surfaces may be mealy.
Habitat: Andean fields, disturbed highlands and plateau margins.
Season: Seeds late growing season; leaves earlier.
Field use: Clean seed is documented staple food after washing away bitter saponins; young leaves are cooked greens.
Caution: Wild chenopods vary; saponin-rich seed must be washed and contaminated field margins avoided.
Look-alikes: Poisonous nightshades have star flowers and berries, not dense grain panicles.

food seedfood green

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Oca

Oxalis tuberosa

Land-based edible plants

Identify: Clumping Oxalis with trifoliate leaves, yellow flowers and colorful elongated tubers.
Habitat: Cultivated and escaped Andean highlands.
Season: Tubers after frost or late season.
Field use: Tubers are documented food, often sun-cured and cooked.
Caution: Oxalate content varies. Do not dig wild Oxalis unless a known cultivated patch and land permission are clear.
Look-alikes: Other Oxalis species have small bulbs or rhizomes, not large tubers.

food tuber

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Maca

Lepidium meyenii

Land-based edible plants

Identify: Low rosette with divided leaves and a swollen turnip-like hypocotyl; tiny white mustard-family flowers.
Habitat: High central Andes cultivation and disturbed puna.
Season: Harvest late season.
Field use: Cooked or dried storage organ is documented food in established cultivation.
Caution: Wild collection is unreliable and may be illegal; mustard-family roots are not interchangeable.
Look-alikes: Other Lepidium species lack the same enlarged storage organ.

food root

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Wild roses

Rosa spp.

Land-based edible plants

Identify: Prickly stems; compound toothed leaves; five-petaled flowers; red to orange hips.
Habitat: Open woods, thickets, prairie, dunes and mountain slopes.
Season: Hips late summer through winter.
Field use: Fleshy hip walls are documented food after the irritating hairs and seeds are removed; good for simmering or drying.
Caution: Internal hairs irritate skin and mouth. Avoid sprayed or moldy fruit.
Look-alikes: Hawthorn has simple lobed leaves and woody thorns.

food fruitcordage

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Wild onions and garlic

Allium spp.

Land-based edible plants

Stylized form diagram for Wild onions and garlic

Identify: Narrow leaves or hollow stems; spherical flower heads; clear onion or garlic odor in leaf and bulb.
Habitat: Meadows, rocky slopes, open woodland and stream terraces.
Season: Spring through fall.
Field use: Leaves, flowers and bulbs of positively identified Allium are documented food and seasoning.
Caution: Every sampled part must smell of onion, but odor is not the only test. Avoid unknown bulbs.
Look-alikes: Death camas lacks onion odor and can be fatal.

food greenfood bulb

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Aquatic edibles

Water-margin food species

Totora rush

Schoenoplectus californicus subsp. tatora

Water and wetland edible plants

Identify: Tall round green stems with small brown flower clusters near the tip; forms dense lake and marsh beds.
Habitat: Andean and South American lakes, marshes and slow water.
Season: Young shoots and rhizomes seasonal; stems year-round.
Field use: Rhizomes and tender shoots have documented food use; stems make mats, boats, baskets and thatch.
Caution: Water quality and harvest rights matter. Sedges are difficult to identify when not flowering.
Look-alikes: Cattails have broad flat leaves and brown cylinders.

food shootfood starchbasketrythatchfloat

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Watercress

Nasturtium officinale

Water and wetland edible plants

Identify: Creeping hollow stems; pinnate leaves with a larger rounded terminal leaflet; small white four-petaled flowers.
Habitat: Cold flowing springs and streams, often where nutrient-rich.
Season: Cool seasons.
Field use: Tender tops are documented food and are usually cooked in survival settings.
Caution: Raw watercress can carry liver flukes and sewage pathogens. Avoid downstream of livestock, roads or settlements.
Look-alikes: Water hemlock has divided leaves and umbrella flowers; never rely on habitat alone.

food green

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Broad pondweeds

Potamogeton spp.

Water and wetland edible plants

Stylized form diagram for Broad pondweeds

Identify: Submerged or floating leaves with parallel veins; small flower spikes rise above water; flexible stems.
Habitat: Lakes, ponds and slow rivers across temperate and cold regions.
Season: Growing season.
Field use: Tubers, young shoots or seeds of some species have documented food use; beds shelter fish and invertebrates.
Caution: Species identification and water quality are essential. Avoid stagnant, cyanobacteria-rich or polluted water.
Look-alikes: Water smartweed has jointed stems and pink flower spikes.

food aquatic

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Traditional-use

Documented traditional medicine

Muña

Minthostachys mollis

Medicinal and traditional-use plants

Identify: Mint-family shrub with opposite aromatic leaves and small white-lilac flowers.
Habitat: Andean dry slopes, field edges and highland scrub.
Season: Leaves growing season.
Field use: Documented Andean seasoning and traditional digestive use; dry stems aid tinder.
Caution: Essential oils and concentrated teas are not safe field dosing, especially in pregnancy.
Look-alikes: Other mint-family shrubs require flower and scent confirmation.

seasoningmedicinetinder

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Yarrow

Achillea millefolium

Medicinal and traditional-use plants

Identify: Aromatic finely divided leaves; flat clusters of small white to pink flower heads.
Habitat: Dry openings, trails, grassland, shore gravel and disturbed soil.
Season: Summer through fall.
Field use: Documented traditional external uses include washes and aromatic preparations; dry flower heads make light tinder.
Caution: Possible allergy, pregnancy and anticoagulant concerns. Not a substitute for wound cleaning or medical care.
Look-alikes: Poison hemlock is much taller with hollow purple-spotted stems and true umbels.

medicinetinder

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Golden root

Rhodiola rosea and related spp.

Medicinal and traditional-use plants

Identify: Fleshy blue-green leaves on upright stems, yellow flower clusters and thick aromatic rhizome.
Habitat: Cold Eurasian alpine cliffs, streambanks and tundra.
Season: Summer.
Field use: Widely documented traditional-use plant.
Caution: Wild populations are vulnerable to root harvest. No field dosing; may affect mood, sleep and medications.
Look-alikes: Other Rhodiola and Sedum species are similar.

medicine

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Poisonous look-alikes

Do not eat — verify before harvest

Monkshoods

Aconitum spp.

Poisonous plants

Identify: Deeply divided palmate leaves; blue, purple, yellow or white hood-shaped flowers.
Habitat: Moist mountain meadows, streambanks and cool forest.
Season: Summer.
Field use: No food or field medicinal use.
Caution: All parts contain potent aconitine-type alkaloids; ingestion can cause fatal heart and nerve effects.
Look-alikes: Larkspurs have a rear spur and are also toxic.

poison

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Water hemlocks

Cicuta spp.

Poisonous plants

Stylized form diagram for Water hemlocks

Identify: Wetland perennial with divided leaves, white umbrella flower clusters and thick chambered rootstocks.
Habitat: Marshes, wet meadows, stream edges and ditches across the northern hemisphere.
Season: Spring through fall.
Field use: No survival use. Make wetland root gathering a prohibited activity unless a qualified botanist is present.
Caution: Extremely poisonous; small amounts, especially roots, can cause violent seizures and death.
Look-alikes: Angelica, cow parsnip and other Apiaceae can look similar. Never taste to decide.

poison

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Daturas / thorn apples

Datura spp.

Poisonous plants

Stylized form diagram for Daturas / thorn apples

Identify: Large foul-smelling leaves; upright trumpet flowers; spiny egg-shaped capsules.
Habitat: Disturbed warm ground, dry riverbeds and fields worldwide.
Season: Summer-fall.
Field use: No use.
Caution: All parts contain dangerous tropane alkaloids causing delirium, overheating, seizures and death.
Look-alikes: Brugmansia has hanging trumpets on woody shrubs and is also toxic.

poison

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False hellebores

Veratrum spp.

Poisonous plants

Stylized form diagram for False hellebores

Identify: Tall herb with broad strongly pleated leaves around a stout stem and branched greenish flower clusters.
Habitat: Wet meadows, seeps and stream margins in temperate and montane regions.
Season: Spring through summer.
Field use: No food use.
Caution: All parts are poisonous and may cause vomiting, slow heart rate, low blood pressure and collapse.
Look-alikes: Young shoots can resemble wild leek but lack onion odor and have broad pleated leaves.

poison

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