Rose twisted-stalk (Streptopus lanceolatus formerly S. roseus) is common around Haliburton county, Ontario. It prefers moist woods and partly shaded grassy banks. I tend to find it hiding in shady forest edges. It’s easy to miss the flowers, which hang underneath the leaves. But when you look close, its flowers are some of the prettiest …
Red elderberry or red-berried elder (Sambucus racemosa) is not as edible and medicinal or renown as its relative common elderberry is. But it wins in another area. It’s a wildlife favourite. As soon as the berries are ready, birds flock to this shrub and clear them out quickly. Its early blooms attract pollinators too. And …
Heartleaf foamflower AKA creeping foamflower (Tiarella stolonifera syn. cordifolia) is native to Ontario and found on leafy hummus in deciduous or mixed woods. The leaves resemble miterworts, making one of the folk names false miterwort. I spot foamflower on the roadsides often, and mitrewort more on rocks in streams and deeper in the woods. I …
Shinleaf AKA white wintergreen (Pyrola elliptica) is overshadowed in foraging and herbal medicine by its relations wintergreen and to some extent its cousin pipsissewa. It’s not used by foragers that I know of, and it’s a weaker medicinal than American wintergreen. I might have waited to cover this one, except it’s so common in the …
Todays plant is chokeberries (Aronia spp.), not the more popular chokecherries. Sometimes chokeberry shrubs are included in the genus Photinia instead of Aronia. Chokeberries are one of the less popular native shrubs. Even unheard of. These under-the-radar native shrubs are related to roses. The only species listed in Haliburton Flora is purple chokeberry (Aronia x …
Moosewood AKA Eastern leatherwood (Dirca palustris) has been bumped as a feature here before for more edible and medicinal plants. However, I love this shrub so much and want to talk about it! Have you noticed a mostly inconspicuous shrub in the understory of woods around Haliburton that is rubbery? With leathery branches and stems …