Common hops isn’t that common here, but you may find this edible and surprisingly medicinal plant near where old timers booze stills were hidden. Around Haliburton you may find hops randomly on a dry gravelly roadside. Where I tend to find it is on old farmsteads that were once home brewing. It’s still uncommon here, …
Motherwort is an edible and medicinal wild plant that I wish was native to Ontario. This herb is so popular it has been planted all around the world. Motherwort is uncommon here, yet it spontaneously showed up in my brush pile beside my driveway one year. It does have lookalikes, particularly in the mint family. …
In Chippewa, gajugens’ibug meaning “little-cat leaf”, catnip isn’t native to Ontario, but at least it’s not aggressive. It’s a surprisingly useful edible and medicinal plant, if you’re not pregnant. And whether or not you’re a cat. Catnip (nepeta cataria) is uncommon around Haliburton, but I find it around old farmsteads. It may also show up …
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 …
Ghost pipes are an herb most will mistake for a mushroom. This pale wildflower has forgone photosynthesis and can often be found in the darkest woods. It’s one of the many edible and medicinal plants that should probably be left alone due to being rarer and in this case, especially hard to propagate. There are …
Here in Canada, cannabis is a legal (and hopefully decriminalized someday) edible, medicinal and industrial plant. In Haliburton, we even have our own pot shop Capturing Eden. It’s a December day as I post this, the 24th! Mary Christmas! When Haliburton Flora was compiled, there was one cannabis sativa noted on waste ground up in …