Honey Locust – Gleditsia Triacanthos: Edible & Medicinal Uses of The Thorn Tree

Honey Locust - Gleditsia Triacanthos

Honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) is not listed in Haliburton Flora, as it’s another southern Ontario native. And even there it is rare. The tree has rather nefarious looking clusters of large thorns. And memorable large, brown boomerang shaped seed pods. Where I grew up, quite a ways south of Ontario, honey locust had filled a …

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Northern Bayberry – Morella Pensylvanica: Edible & Medicinal Uses for Wild Bay Leaf

Northern Bayberry - Morella Pensylvanica

Northern bayberry (Morella pensylvanica syn. Myrica pensylvanica) isn’t listed in Haliburton Flora and despite the name is more abundant to the south. Its relation sweet gale/ bog myrtle is more common in our area. It’s native to Ontario but may be closer to near native in cottage country. Edible Uses of Northern Bayberry As the …

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Mayapple – Podophyllum Peltatum: Edible & Medicinal Uses of the American Mandrake

Mayapple - Podophyllum Peltatum

Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) tends to grow in clusters making for a charming, miniature (~2ft tall) umbrella forest. It’s easy to identify. It’s not listed in Haliburton Flora, being mostly a southern Ontario native. Edible Uses of Mayapple The edible ripe late summer fruits are dull yellow, without any hint of green, with a melon-like sweet …

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True Morels – Morchella SPP.: Edible Uses of The #1 Gateway Fungi for Mushroom Foragers

True Morels - Morchella SPP.

I fondly remember searching the woods for yellow morels alongside my parents and grandparents in the 1980s. That was my introduction to foraging. The most common morel on the 100 acre is black morel, possibly because that area was disturbed by logging. The logging occurred over 50 years ago. I often find them growing with …

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Lesser Celandine – Ficaria Verna: Edible & Medicinal Uses of a Highly Invasive Buttercup

Lesser Celandine - Ficaria Verna

Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna) is not listed in Haliburton Flora, nor would we want it to be. It’s very invasive and can quickly carpet a wetland, choking out the native plants. My sister lives near a park where the entire riverbank for a hundred feet or more – the whole floodplain – is filled with …

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Mock Strawberry – Potentilla Indica: Edible & Medicinal Uses of a Bland Strawberry Lookalike

Mock Strawberry – Potentilla Indica

There are a couple strawberry look-a-likes that aren’t the real thing. Many of them are called “barren” strawberry. Then there’s our title mock strawberry (Potentilla indica syn. Duchesnea indica). This mock strawberry is actually a cinquefoil species. It’s not listed in Haliburton Flora, but it can be found in Ontario and especially southern Ontario. These …

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