Common toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) has a much easier folk name to remember: butter-and-eggs. the flowers look just like the breakfast. Around Haliburton this nonnative plant is common on open sandy and gravelly ground. It’s got a lot of aggressive competition in these disturbed areas, but I usually find at least one when I’m walking down …
Most false bindweeds (calystegia spp.) you’ll find in Ontario are nonnative and not very edible or medicinal. However, some false bindweeds have been used for food around the world. False bindweeds (calystegia spp.) are very similar to related “true” bindweeds (convolvulus spp.) and are sometimes categorized with them and swamp dodder (cuscuta gronovii). But our …
Common elderberry is possibly the epitome of edible and especially of medicinal wild plants. If I had to pick one, elder is The One. Its been called “a medicine chest of its own” and “a pharmacy of its own”. I’m excited to finally cover elderberry! I use the syrup and cough drops every winter to …
In Chippewa, a’gimak’, white ash is a useful tree to know. In fact, it’s one of the top five trees Caleb Kinew Nini Musgrave @canadianbushcraft recommends knowing in our area. The other four being birch, cedar, spruce and basswood. The “white” refers to the pale underside of leaves, twigs, and bark, although it’s really more …