In Chippewa, bima’kwud meaning “twisting around”, American bittersweet is much less edible and medicinal than our usual featured plants, but the berries on this vine are stunning in the fall and winter. Cheers to our 100th plant! Is it bittersweet? Yes and no. Is it very edible and medicinal? Nah. The berries are poisonous, although that’s …
In Ojibwe, makominagaawanzh, mountain ash isn’t a true ash tree, but a rose family tree. It’s one of a few edible and medicinal plants with berries that look like tiny apples. Mountain-ashes are called sorb apples for short. When Haliburton Flora was compiled, mountain ash (sorbus Americana) was fairly common on wet or moist lakeshores, and …
Blue vervain (verbena hastata) is an edible and medicinal plant that is highly valued for its tranquilizing effect on the nervous system. Ontario’s native blue vervains are pollinator friendly beauties. Finding blue vervain in the wild around Haliburton was uncommon when Haliburton Flora was compiled, but I have seen numerous small wild patches so it …
In Chippewa, wadub, alder is a highly astringent edible and medicinal wild plant. Its usage is similar to oak. Alder means red in German, so named because the bark makes your saliva red. But don’t go nibbling on the bark now – it’s emetic (it will make you throw up!) Speckled alder (alnus rugosa) as listed …
Common elderberry is possibly the epitome of edible and especially of medicinal wild plants. If I had to pick one, elder is The One. Its been called “a medicine chest of its own” and “a pharmacy of its own”. I’m excited to finally cover elderberry! I use the syrup and cough drops every winter to …
In Chippewa, ini’niwunj meaning “man like”, common milkweed is a monarch of the edible and medicinal wild plant kingdom. Let’s cultivate this king of herbs for the butterflies more than we eat it, please! Milkweeds folk names are somewhat all over the place, as there are tons of varieties, and many probably don’t refer mainly …