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…]
Joe from *Creator’s Garden calls it mskwabiimnagohns. Red-osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) is our most recognizable dogwood thanks to its bright red bark. It’s both a wild edible and a medicinal that you may be aching to know. *Link is to Joe’s video about red osier on Facebook, have a listen and follow 🙂 Our local … [Read more…]
The English name serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.) has origins related to when one can finally have funeral services/burial for winters dead. They’re also called juneberries even though you’ll be waiting until the end of June or later for ripe berries. Here around Haliburton, Ontario you’ll find, to the least: downy (Amelanchier arborea), mountain (Amelanchier bartramania), smooth … [Read more…]
Lowbush blueberry AKA “low sweet” blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) is common here, as is velvet-leaf blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides) which thrives around marshes. I’ve heard a few personal anecdotes from locals about picking blueberries all the while watching a black bear or bears doing the same nearby. There’s a myth (I originally believed!) that blackflies pollinate blueberry … [Read more…]
Balsam fir (Abies balsamea) is an edible and mostly medicinal tree that’s the closest local plant to frankincense that I know of, scent-wise. (But it’s not a sedative.) Its resin can also be used to make Balm of Gilead, mentioned in poplar posts. A little ecological history: When the fight against eastern spruce budworm vs … [Read more…]
Common blackberry syn. Allegheny blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis) is a cordial wild edible and medicinal bramble. It’s distinguishable from black raspberries by having a core instead of being hollow inside when harvested (second picture down this page). There are around 50 species of black and raspberries in North America and up here in the north, aren’t we … [Read more…]