May 16: Appendaged Waterleaf and False Soloman's Seal

I take walks along the same path twice a day and I'm continually amazed by flowers that seem to appear overnight. So it was with this Appendaged Waterleaf.

Appendaged Waterleaf

I have never noticed this flower before, and at first I mistook the leaves for maple leaves -- they look so similar. But the leaves of this plant are hairy while maple leaves are smooth. Another blogger noted that woodchucks like these plants, and I noticed that this plant did have a fair number of chunks taken out of the leaves.

I could not find a lot of uses or history associated with Appendaged Waterleaf. Perhaps if the plant was more useful it would have a more familiar, less clinical name! So maybe this plant is just dedicated to being wild animal food, which is just as well for them. I wonder if animals can communicate different flower types to each other, and how they would do that!

The next plant is much more familiar -- False Soloman's Seal.

False Soloman's Seal

There are a couple other Soloman's Seal plants -- Smooth Soloman's Seal and Star-flowered Soloman's Seal, and if I find them I will post pictures. The name "Soloman's Seal" comes from the way the cross-section of the root stalk looks like when you take the stalk off. I didn't try it, but it's supposed to look like this -- the Jewish double triangle.

Soloman's Seal

Before it flowers, the young shoots of False Soloman's Seal can be simmered and eaten, and they taste like asparagus. But doing this is probably not a great idea unless there is a lot of False Soloman's Seal around and unless you can tell the difference between False Soloman's Seal and members of the Veratrum family, which look similar but are highly toxic. I guess False Soloman's Seal is also a strong laxative, so it might be difficult at first to tell if you've been poisoned! :-D  Indians used the plant in medicinal ways -- here's more info about that.

May 15: White Clover and Black Medic: Eating wild

As I write this blog, I"m discovering that there are many websites which discuss eating wild plants such as clover and other wildflowers. I'm not sure if they have always been there or it's a sign of the times that people are looking for cheap organic food. Some of these websites are

• The Hungry Browser
• Eat the Weeds and other things, too 
• The Art of Manliness: Surviving in the Wild; 19 Common Edible Plants 
• Wildwood Survival
• Wild Food
• and many more

And recently I myself have become interested to know what I can eat that grows naturally. Why is this? Are we all preparing for a hunter/gatherer existence once more? I prefer to think that it just makes being outdoors more interesting, and many people are looking for free entertainment these days!

Anyway, here are a couple of flowers, one very familiar and the other you've probably never thought about.

One is White Clover.

White Clover

I remember eating a clover leaf or two as a child -- that it tasted a bit like dill pickle. And I would take about the flower head (especially the purple kind) and suck on the end for a slight hint of sugar. The Art of Manliness website suggests boiling clover to make it taste better. You can also make tea and jelly out of clover, as well as pickle it. Here's a webpage with more information.

Another edible is Black Medic.

Black Medic

It's called "Black Medic" because the seeds are black and "medice" is Greek for "alfafa." The leaves are more course than clover but websites recommend eating the seeds once they turn black, either raw or roasted then ground into flour. Considering how small the plant is this seems pretty time-intensive.

May 14: Wild Ginger and English Daisy

This pair sounds like a movie waiting to happen. It could be about a young American debutante (Paris Hilton, in a role made to order) and her demure English maid (Kelly Macdonald, who played Evangeline in "Nanny McPhee"). Ginger has a fiance who, initially attracted by Ginger's sultry persona, eventually tires of her drama and falls in love with Daisy, then marries her, rescuing her from a life worse than death!

But I digress.

Wild Ginger has a very interesting flower, though it is hard to spot. Here's what Wild Ginger looks like as you walk by. (The Wild Ginger leaves look sort of like hearts.)

Wild Ginger

Doesn't look like there are any flowers, does it? But when you peek underneath the leaves, you see this:

Wild Ginger flower

The flower is the thing that looks like a little brown jug lying on the ground. It depends on inserts such as flies, ants and beetles to pollinate it, so it mimics the look of decomposing flesh. The flower also serves as a place for early spring flies to "hide out" when weather gets cold and windy.

It's said that Native Americans and early settlers used the Wild Ginger root as a spice, first drying it then grinding it into a powder. Or they boiled the root in sugar water to make pancake syrup. But scientists now think the plant is poisonous and discourage its consumption.

The plant was also used to make a poultice to treat wounds.

English Daisy is much easier to spot. Being white and growing on grass, it attracts attention from far away.

English Daisy

It's said that having English Daisy in your lawn is a sign that you are mowing your lawn too closely.

The word "daisy" comes from the term "day's eye" because the flowers open and close with the sun. In literature, a daisy represents simplicity and modesty. Daisies are the flower that are used with the "He loves me, he loves me not" game (you pluck a petal with each phrase until you come to the last one).

Here's an interesting website about flowers and their history. According to the site, King Henry VIII ate dishes of daisies to cure stomachache, and people thought that drinking crushed daisies steeped in wine could cure insanity. At least, if you gave someone enough of the mixture, the behavior of sane and insane person wouldn't be that different!

May 13: Beautybush and Wild Raspberry!

Mother's Day! But that does not give me a day off from taking the dogs for a walk. Still, I noticed some flowers that I didn't see before.

The first I saw was a Beautybush, a flowering tree. The flowers are small so I almost didn't notice them.

Beautybush

Butterflies like this tree but it's said that deer don't, so it's a popular one with gardeners. I wonder about that, though, because I came back a day later and all the blooms were gone -- it looked like they had been sucked off! And there were no petals on the ground, so somebody had been enjoying them!

I have to thank my dog Sammy for the next find. He went after a squirrel in a part of the woods I don't normally go to, and was being such a bonehead that he totally ignored my call so I had to go after him. And I discovered a Wild Raspberry bush!

Wild Raspberry

Much prettier than the Black Raspberry bush I found earlier! Of course the fruit tastes good, but many people use the leaves for tea. You have to dry the leaves before making tea, though. Raspberry leaf  tea is said to cause the uterus to shrink, so don't have raspberry tea when you're pregnant unless you're ready to deliver the baby.

May 12: Canada Anemone and Ajuga/Bugleweed

I found this flower along Lansing's Riverwalk, south of our house. It's a Canada Anemone. It's very distinct from other white anemones because of the spiky leaves, almost like geraniums. A good way to remember the "Canada" link is that the leaf half looks a bit like a maple leaf, which is on the Canadian flag.

Canada Anemone

I could find no uses for this plant, and it's just as well because the Canada Anemone is listed as by the U.S. federal government as endangered in Connecticut, Maryland, and Tennessee. You can't tell here, but the flower, at 2 inches across, is a lot larger than other anemones, which are generally about 3/4 inch across. 

Again, I give kudos to Mary at Wild Ones Red Cedar Chapter for identifying this plant, which was not listed in any wildflower book or even in a list of weeds with purple or blue flowers. It's Ajuga, or Bugleweed, which people sometimes plant as ground cover. Other names are Abija, Abuga, Bugula (sounds like a vampire!), Carpenter's Herb, Middle Comfrey, and Sicklewort.

Ajuga or Bugleweed

This plant is supposed to have a lot of medicinal uses. This is not a huge interest of mine, but I did notice the assertion that you can put the leaves and flowers in the bath to ease aching muscles and frayed nerves. (Honestly,  though...wouldn't the warm water itself do that?) It was also once used to cure hangovers! (Not that I would know anything about that!)

April 23: Chokecherry Tree and Red-Berried Elder

I know I'm stepping back a few weeks in time here, but it took me a while to identify these plants. Thank you to Mary of Wild Ones Red Cedar Chapter for helping me after I finally gave up trying to find the answers myself!

The first shows the beautiful blossoms of the Chokecherry tree.

Chokecherry Tree

The Chokecherry  tree is an important wildlife food for deer (and for bear, moose, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, and elk) but cattle and domestic sheep which eat Chokecherry can get poisoned if they eat too much. All of the tree is toxic, especially during spring and summer. By the time its berries mature, the leaves are nontoxic but the berries are poisonous. Native Americans used the bark and roots as medicine -- you can read more here.

The second plant is the Red-Berried Elder, a bush.

Red-Berried Elder

This is another plant which is very useful to wildlife but is toxic to us. The red berries, which are poisonous to humans, are eaten nonetheless by ruffed grouse, American robins, Swainson's thrush, veery, cedar waxwings, and rose-breasted grosbeaks, as well as squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, raccoons, snowshoe hare and red foxes. Many of these animals also use the bush for cover.

May 12: Wild Strawberry and Black Raspberry

I am so glad I found these flowers, because I know that good things are coming later on! ...Doesn't "Wild Strawberry" sound like the name of a 60's band?

Here's Wild Strawberry.

Wild Strawberry

Obviously, you can eat the fruit of Wild Strawberry, which ripens any time from June to August, depending upon how much sun the plant gets. They are much smaller than commercial strawberries but it's said that they taste much better. I can't wait to find out!

You can also use the leaves to make tea, which has a mild and fruity flavor. According to this website, to make tea, only "sane," "immaculate" leaves should be picked (of course!) and the best time to pick for the finest flavor is during blossoming. You can make tea from very fresh leaves or completely dry leaves. Do not crush the leaves...simply pour boiling water over them and steep for 5 minutes. A NOTE OF WARNING: Strawberry leaves experience a toxic chemical change while drying that makes them poisonous when partially dry or wilted.

The health claims made for eating wild strawberries are truly amazing -- it's supposed to cure anything from acne to psoriasis. These claims remind me a little of snake oil ads. But, true or not, I appreciate the Internet for the inventiveness and wonder it inspires!

Near our house we also have Black Raspberry plants.

Black Raspberry

The flowers are underwhelming. I almost wasn't sure they were done blooming. But I guess this is indeed what the blooms look like. Doesn't matter -- the fruit is what counts and it's one of my favorites. Last year I was able to make a some jam from the berries, which tastes just like regular red raspberry jam -- delicious!

According to this website, drinking tea made from the leaves of black raspberry can retard the effects of aging, prevent cancer, control diabetes, and improve your vision! Not to mention balance your checkbook and fix your car.