Around Haliburton, nannyberry (Viburnum lentago) is one of our uncommon bush cranberries. It may be found on wet banks, river edges, or in wet meadows. It’s on the taller side as bush cranberries go. In appearance and usage, it’s much like black haw, which grows just to our south in the States. It’s also similar …
Honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) is not listed in Haliburton Flora, as it’s another southern Ontario native. And even there it is rare. The tree has rather nefarious looking clusters of large thorns. And memorable large, brown boomerang shaped seed pods. Where I grew up, quite a ways south of Ontario, honey locust had filled a …
Dear Wood Folk, Buttercups are one of the first flowering plants I noticed when I moved to Haliburton County, Ontario. They have a reflective shininess to them that makes them pop. Buttercups are common in my yard, and common along the nearest trail. These mostly perennial plants show up in varied terrain. Some species are …
Yew is an important shrub to know if you’re going to forage conifers. It’s trendy to make teas out of evergreens like spruce or cedar, but just a cupful of fresh yew leaves can actually kill you. While parts of yew have been used both for edible and medicinal purposes, most of the plant is …
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 …
Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) is the usual fern called fiddlehead. It’s a traditional dish in Quebec and New Brunswick and the sprouts are a delicacy called kogomi in Japan. It was the first fern in our edible and medicinal plants series! And presently one of many ferns we’ve covered. As per edibility, this one is …