RE: A vegetal magical mystery tour of a Brazilian back-yard
Yes, often wild and semi-domesticated plants are very well adapted to their environments, and yet everyone persists in trying to grow delicate plants that evolved and were bred in other continents. Here in Brazil the supermarkets are full of varieties from Europe and elsewhere. It's amazing how the colonial past is still reflected in today's food habits. Many in the wild food movement (PANC: non-conventional food plants) see the consumption of native plants as being a form of decolonisation and resistance against imperialism.
Old skool ethnobotanists are a charming breed :) I have a friend here who is going to do a masters project on traditional regional recipes usings PANCs. I'll tell her to post her stuff on here when she's done. I'll also post some photos when I get time!
I can appreciate the immense productivity, ease of harvest and processing, the ability to time harvests on the calendar, and sturdiness for going to market, for a lot of cultivated crops. But there is so much other food. People often ask what they should grow in a first garden. Many well-known gardeners say to grow what you like to eat. I say grow what does well in your area, that's almost a weed, and learn to enjoy eating that!
Not having good, simple recipes is a big barrier for a lot of folks when it comes to new foods. So your friend will be doing really helpful work. That's one thing I like about Steemit -- there are people from all over the world and many are still using traditional knowledge in their foraging, especially Asia and eastern Europe. I'd really like to see more from the Americas!
If you ever run across examples of traditional recipes using Magnolia or Peony flowers (even though they aren't from your region), I've been looking for awhile and can only come up with a few things, like pickled petals and jelly.