Learn how wild herbs, shrubs, and trees are used for edible, medicinal, and craft purposes. Based east of the Rockies out of Haliburton, Ontario, Canada.
Bottle brush rye (Elymus hystrix) is occasionally found on grassy slopes and gravel flats around Haliburton, Ontario. There’s also a northern bottle brush rye (Elymus bigelovianus). Local to Haliburton as well is Virginia wild rye-grass (Elymus virginicus), which prefers a damper habitat like stream borders. These are all uncommon in the wilds of Haliburton. All … [Read more…]
Northern spicebush (Lindera benzoin) is not listed in Haliburton Flora because it’s only near native here. Its northernmost range is southern Ontario. While spicebush can grow slightly north of Toronto, it’s likely if you see bright yellow flowers on a bush along the highway here you’ve spotted an escapee nonnative forsythia shrub. The resemblance lending … [Read more…]
Tansy as well as feverfew (Tanacetum spp.) are primarily medicinal as far as human uses go. Both are nonnative to Ontario. I went back and forth about lumping them together or not, and chose to lump as they are similar. Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) and feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) are not an edible species by modern considerations, … [Read more…]
Hobblebush (Viburnum lantanoides syn. Viburnum alnifolium) is the most common viburnum around Haliburton, Ontario. It’s easy to find along roadsides and in thickets on the edges of woods. Like some of our other shrubs, you may find it nonblooming in the understory. Sometimes called moosewood, it’s not to be confused with striped maple. Like other … [Read more…]
Butterflyweed AKA butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), not to be confused with the invasive bush (Buddleja spp.), is a native milkweed in Ontario. Although some milkweed species are edible, butterfly weed is nowhere near the top of that list. Slightly edible with processing, and more along the lines of a starvation food, I’m skipping having a section … [Read more…]
Tulip tree AKA tulip poplar AKA arbre aux lis (Liriodendron tulipifera) is only native to parts of southern Ontario, so it’s near native in Haliburton and it’s not listed in Haliburton Flora. A stunner, the flowers really do look like tulips: My pictures on this page are from a tulip tree in my eldest sisters backyard … [Read more…]