White spruce (Picea glauca) is one of the first edible and medicinal plants I enjoy come spring. Its new fresh green tips are a popular forage – a top tip! These next two edible and medicinal wild plants are very similar: white spruce and white pine. They’re named for the white crust that often coats …
Red oak (Quercus rubra) is an edible and medicinal tree we’re lucky to have even if just admiring it’s deep red foliage in the autumn. Carrying a piece of oak is said to bring good luck. And it’s a lucky tree to have around for many wild ones. It’s a long list: opossum (which nowadays …
In Chippewa, apuk’we, perhaps meaning “shelter” (muskrat is supporting me on this idea), common cat-tail (Thypha latifolia) is the multi-tool of the woods. Its uses reach far beyond the edible and medicinal. Sometimes cat-tails are mistakenly called bulrush, but that’s a separate species entirely here, yet they seem to use these terms interchangeably in Great …
Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) is the “lemonadiest” and most vinegary of edible and medicinal shrubs. Staghorn sumac has been called the vinegar tree and the lemonade tree as its juice can be used as a substitute for vinegar or lemon juice. The “staghorn” part comes from the velvety branches that somewhat resemble antlers. You’ll see …
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a “wounderful” edible and medicinal herb. A yarrow salve for healing cuts and scrapes was my first ever herbal medicine maker’s recipe! Yarrow is another European import. It’s most descriptive folk name is woundwort. It’s not the only “woundwort”, so cheers for Latin names. On the same note, it’s been called …