Pinks AKA carnations (dianthus spp.) noted in Haliburton Flora include the uncommon to likely now more common Deptford pink (dianthus armeria), found on sandy roadsides amoung grasses. I see Deptford’s bright pink often along park edges and well used trails. A couple rare varieties included are maiden pink (d. deltoides) and garden pink (d. plumarius). …
In Chippewa, odji’biknamun refers to one species of gromwell. Common gromwell (lithospermum officinale) was noted in Haliburton Flora in a dry sandy waste area and in open damp ground beside a swamp. I found the pictured specimen in the middle of a spruce grove. The spruce had grown over an old foundation for a homestead that …
Agrimonies (agrimonia spp.) are another oft overlooked edible and medicinal herb. Starting around medieval times common agrimony was a popular heal all. For sometime it was available at apothecaries or pharmacies. Despite its decline in popularity it is still used by herbalists today. Like the lettuces we posted two weeks ago, most agrimonies found in …
In Chippewa, oja’cidji’bik meaning “slippery root”, fireweed (epilobium angustifolium) derives its common name from colonizing the charred sites of wildfires. It’s an edible and medicinal plant that is native to Ontario. Fireweed (epilobium angustifolium syn. chamerion angustifolium syn. chamaenerion angustifolium) is common along roadsides, in logged bush, and in fire scourged acres here in central …
Witch hazel is one of those edible and medicinal plants that many people have used frequently without even thinking once about herbal medicine. Witch hazel (hamamelis virginiana) isn’t listed in Haliburton Flora. We’re on the border of its natural distribution. It didn’t take off as an understory shrub here around Haliburton like, say, its floral …
In Chippewa, jo’minaga’wunj is the word for vitis vulpina the wild “fox grape”. In Ontario, you’ll find both wild grapes like riverbank grape and abandoned stretches of old cultivated vines. And they are all edible and medicinal. Wild grapevines (vitis SPP.) like riverbank grape (vitis riparia) are strangely absent from the plant index in Haliburton Flora. Their …