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…]
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…]
Honeysuckles (Lonicera spp.) are sometimes poisonous, sometimes edible and sometimes medicinal. But always a favorite of nectar seekers like the ruby-throated hummingbird along with all-stars like scarlet bee balm and cardinal flower. Some human folks seek the nectar too. The most abundant native honeysuckle here is American/Canadian Fly (Lonicera canadensis), which likes openings in deciduous … [Read more…]
Like many plants called “lily”, orange day-lily isn’t a true lily. The flowers are just lily-like. The “day” part comes from each bloom only lasting a day. It’s a non-native edible and medicinal plant you can just gobble up if you like. In Haliburton, we have both orange (Hemerocallis fulva) and yellow (Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus) day-lilies, … [Read more…]
Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is a snappy edible and medicinal herb, known for its exploding seedpods. It’s handy to have around if you like clumsily rooting through wild plants like me, and end up grazing yourself with stinging nettle or worse – poison ivy. Jewelweed is so named because of the way the dew beads on … [Read more…]