Reed grass (Phragmites spp.) changed my completely black-and-white thinking about herbicides, and I’m sad it came to that! It’s hard to tell our native reed grass from the invasive European subspecies, and it may be hard to tell if a patch has been treated. It’s a tread with caution sort of edible and medicinal wild … [Read more…]
Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum) grows well along ponds, wetlands and streams, but any damp sunny area will do. It is one of the pollinator all-stars of edible and medicinal plants. Joe-Pye weed is common around Haliburton in low wet areas by ponds, marshes, streams, and even damp ditches. One spontaneously appeared by my rain barrel … [Read more…]
Arrowhead (Sagittaria spp.) is an edible and medicinal plant in the humans case as well as moose. Not to be confused with arrowroot, which you can find at health food stores, you’ll find arrowhead in the marsh instead. Usually surrounded by cattail and the like, arrowhead (Sagittaria spp.) is a common aquatic plant in North … [Read more…]
Roses (Rosa spp.) are both edible and medicinal. They have a global epicurean history that surpasses other herbs we’ve covered. A rosy pink Turkish delight may come to mind. The floral taste may take some getting used to, like a fine wine often does. I love the flavor. We have a handful of wild roses … [Read more…]
Bulrush (Scirpus spp.) is often neighbor to the similarly highly edible cattail. Across the pond, cattail is called bulrush. Perhaps “bulrush” being used for unrelated plants is one of the reasons Scirpus spp. is an often overlooked edible and medicinal plant here in North America. Or perhaps it’s due to cattail being so similar yet … [Read more…]
Willow (Salix spp.) is an edible, mostly medicinal and heavily utilized plant. Its powerful component salicin was synthesized to make the well known OTC medicine Aspirin. “Sal lis” means “near water”. And our many Haliburton waters are surrounded by salix species! The marshes I visit for birding and herping are filled with a wide variety … [Read more…]