I finally got time to do a little plant hunting today… Boy did I need it! I haven’t been out since October of last year. I find being out in the woods and fields immensely relaxing, good for mind, body and soul.
I checked several places medicinal plants grow every year and I found a few new places. I found yellowroot growing in a place I’d never seen it before (Xanthorhiza simplissima). I also found self heal growing in a new place (Prunella vulgaris). I was driving down an old gravel road and decided to stop and check the edge of the woods. There it was! Growing nicely. For me, finding a new place medicine grows is better than finding easter eggs when I was a kid.
Up first is Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) in a new spot beside a field. It used to grow nearby. I thought the county had killed it all but nature has its ways. The picture is poor but it’s been leafing out for a few weeks.
I found Sweet leaf (Monarda fistulosa) growing is a new place too. It’s one of my favorite medicines. I’ve only explored a few of its many uses.
Self-Heal was growing in a usual spot beside a wooded track hunters use. And the new spot with the coin in the picture. Self-Heal is an ancient wound wart from Europe and Russia. It’s been used to treat major battle wounds for millennia.
Violets are blooming everywhere. Not a medicine but folks make jelly from the blooms.
Next is Yellow Jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens)… it was blooming in hundreds of places. The bright yellow blooms fill the woods with color this time of year, a harbinger of spring. It’s a very powerful medicine that was used in hospitals for major surgery up until 1900 or so.
I checked several places medicinal plants grow every year and I found a few new places. I found yellowroot growing in a place I’d never seen it before (Xanthorhiza simplissima). I also found self heal growing in a new place (Prunella vulgaris). I was driving down an old gravel road and decided to stop and check the edge of the woods. There it was! Growing nicely. For me, finding a new place medicine grows is better than finding easter eggs when I was a kid.
Up first is Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) in a new spot beside a field. It used to grow nearby. I thought the county had killed it all but nature has its ways. The picture is poor but it’s been leafing out for a few weeks.
I found Sweet leaf (Monarda fistulosa) growing is a new place too. It’s one of my favorite medicines. I’ve only explored a few of its many uses.
Self-Heal was growing in a usual spot beside a wooded track hunters use. And the new spot with the coin in the picture. Self-Heal is an ancient wound wart from Europe and Russia. It’s been used to treat major battle wounds for millennia.
Violets are blooming everywhere. Not a medicine but folks make jelly from the blooms.
Next is Yellow Jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens)… it was blooming in hundreds of places. The bright yellow blooms fill the woods with color this time of year, a harbinger of spring. It’s a very powerful medicine that was used in hospitals for major surgery up until 1900 or so.
