Purple-flowered raspberry (rubus odoratus) is common around Haliburton county, Ontario. You’ll typically find this edible and medicinal shrub on bushy roadside banks in sandy, gravelly and rocky ground. It’s a shrubby thornless raspberry that looks like a maple (due to the shape of its large leaves) and a rose (showy pink-purple flowers) more so than a bramble. …
Ninebark (physocarpus opulifolius) isn’t all that edible or medicinal, but it is a wonderful source of nectar and pollen for pollinators. Ninebark (physocarpus opulifolius) is a rare sight around Haliburton country. When Haliburton Flora was compiled there was only one noted, on an open grassy bank. Yet this is a popular deciduous shrub for native …
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 …
Water smartweed (persicaria amphibia syn. polygonum amphibium) is another edible and medicinal plant from the buckwheat family. It is native to Ontario and has the showiest flower of all our local smartweeds. Water smartweed (persicaria amphibia syn. polygonum amphibium) since the compilation of Haliburton Flora got a new genus, persicaria. It’s common here in wet ditches, shoresides and banks, and …
In Chippewa, cigagwa’tigon meaning “skunk-like”, refers to swamp red currant, one of our native currants around Ontario. These edible and medicinal plants aren’t the same “currant” you find dried in grocery stores. Currants (ribes spp.) are spattered everywhere around Haliburton county, Ontario. Gooseberry was covered earlier this year and is also a ribes. But here we’re …
In Chippewa, oza’widji’bik meaning “yellow root” refers to bitter dock (rumex obtusifolius), a nonnative here in Ontario. The nonnative yellow rooted docks, sour and bitter, have a long history of medicinal use. We have a couple dozen (native and nonnative) edible and medicinal docks. Last week’s sheep sorrel is a rumex too, but docks stand alone. …