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 burnt down many decades ago. None of Ontario’s … [Read more…]
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 wild lettuces we posted two weeks ago, most agrimonies found … [Read more…]
Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium syn. 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. I’ll be changing the graphic to Chamaenerion angustifolium for its Latin name soon! Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) is common along roadsides, in logged bush, and in fire scourged … [Read more…]
Witch AKA snapping 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, … [Read more…]
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 look-a-like Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is listed and I do see … [Read more…]
Variegated pond-lily is not just an edible and medicinal plant to the 2-leggeds, but a favourite of aquatic wildlife. It’s also visited by many pollinators. Variegated or yellow water-lily (Nuphar variegata) is common here in gently flowering shallow waters, up to a few metres deep. There was one small yellow water lily (Nuphar pumila) spotted … [Read more…]