Shadow Void

Bouncing Bet / Soapwort

Bouncing Bet: Here the flowers look white but they can also be pink.

The second picture shows you the leaves

Now for the meat of this article.

Bouncing Bet ( Saponaria officinalis )

Bouncing bet is a perenial that grows throughout eastern and central United States. Oringinally, this plant was brought from Europe. I'm sure it was a part of their medicinal gardens. It's usage as a cleaning agent go all the way back to the Assyrians in the 8th century BC. It's also been used and is still being used to wash some fabrics. If you choose to use this as a cleaning agent you will need to crush the leaves and the root and then mix it with water. In North America, the leaves were made into a poultice which was used for the spleen and aslo for boils. In Europe, it was made into a leaf tea. It served as diuretic, a laxative, and an expectorant. It also serves an a poultice for acne, boils, and poison ivy rash. The root tea was used for lung disease, asthma, and jaundice.

** Usage of this plant for medicinal purposes can lead to muscular paralysis.

American Holly; A pretty poison

American Holly - Ilex opaca

I wanted to do a post on a poisonous plant to sort of wind down the whole poisonous / venomous grouping of posts that I did. I picked the American holly for our little trip into poisonous plants. American holly is an evergreen meaning that the leaves stay green all year long. You need both a male and female tree if you wish to have berries. The berries are red in color and rarely are they yellow. This tree can grow to 15 to 30 ft high and can reach a diameter of 12 to 18 inches. These trees can live for years or more. Many forest animals feed on this tree including deer, wild turkeys, and several species of songbird. It can be found along the Atlantic coast as well as in the southern states.

As I've already made mention of this plant is poisonous. It is especially dangerous for younger kids. In humans, holly berries cause violent vomiting, diarrhea, and stuphor. It is also poisonous to dogs, cats, and horses. If your animals get into plant, they show the following signs. Like with us, they will experience vomiting, diarrhea, and depression. It also has medicinal uses some of which I'm sure are related to the usage of holly from Europe.

The plant has many medicinal uses. The berries have been chewed for colic and indigestion. A tea made from the leaves was used for colds, the flu, and for the measles. Hmm...wonder if it has anti-viral properties. The leaf tea was also used as an external wash which was applied to sores, and as a remedy for itching. A bark tea was used for epilepsy. The berries are a known laxative, emetic, and diuretic.

Now for some off the wall little facts!

1.Holly wood is used to make ship models, for inlay work, and for umbrella handles.

2.It was used in the old country in the forges of blacksmith shops because it burns very hot.

3.It was associated with the element of fire by the druids.

Only the first fact has anything to do with American holly.

Keystone species; What does that mean

What would you say if I told you that one species of plant or animal could determine the overall health of an ecosystem? Take that one species out of the picture and the entire ecosystem could face a collaspe. In one book, they mention that this idea of a keystone species is just a theory. So what is a keystone species? According to wikipedia, a keystone species is a species that plays a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community and whose impact on the community is greater than would be expected based on its relative abundance or total biomass. Just as an example say we remove Krill from the Antarctica food chain, their removal as a species would disrupt baleen whale species, penguin species, fish species, and seal species. Not to mention that it could also impact the populations of invertebrates. The keystone species may not be a prey species. Another example given is the example of a gopher tortoise. Gopher tortoises dig burrows. These burrows create micro-enviroments where other creatures take shelter or live. A wide variety of other animals make use of these burrows. They include mammals, inverts, amphibians, and reptiles. Two species that stand out are the Indigo snake and the Eastern Diamond-Back Rattlesnake. In places where this tortoise has locally disappeared so have certain invertebrates have also disappeared. It doesn't stop with just animals that dig burrows either. Other animals might be considered keystone species also. Let's look at one such creature. The Beaver is one such animal that might be considered a keystone species. Beavers as we all know, gnaw down trees in order to feed and make their lodges and dams. It's this act of engineering that might just give the beaver it's status. Beaver dams provide new environments. They also provide predators places to hunt. These dams are a great place to look for aquatic animals. Reptiles like turtles and water snakes will be drawn to their waters for both shelter and for hunting purposes. The dam creates a place of fairly calm water where mosquitos can lay their eggs. According to the September 2009 issue of National Geographic magazine, the pond created by a beaver dam provides habitat for 7 species of bird, many species of insect, 12 species of fish, plants, small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Wipe out beaver lodges, and animals like Snapping turtles, Eastern garter snakes, Gray Foxes, and many others will be affected. You may not realize this but an animal as cute as a sea otter is also a keystone species. It's disappearance in one area of kelp forest can case the forest of disappear. Why does it disappear? The kelp is grazed upon by Sea Urchins. Kelp is held to the bottom by the roots or holdfasts as they are often called. Once disconnected from the bottom, the kelp plant is at the mercy of the tide. Without the sea otter feeding on the sea urchin, their populations can explode which leads to the kelp forest getting smaller. Kelp forests provide shelter for prey and predators alike. If you would like to know more about this idea of keystone species, do your own little search. It's worth it.

Turkey Run State Park

Chicory; More Than Just Coffee

Chicory - Cichorium intybus

So what to say about this wonderful plant? Chicory is originally from Southern Europe and Western Asia. It's been raised in Europe since the 17th century. It's leaves, roots, and flowers are all edible. The root is edible if cooked through several changes of water. It can also be used as a coffee substitute. The very young leaves are edibler raw, however the older leaves are edible if you boil them in several changes of water. The flower buds can be pickled.

The plant has been used a dieretic , laxative, and for the lowering of blood sugar. It has also been used against jaundice.

**** WARNING There is a possibility of allergies associated with this plant

Food Under Foot - Chicory

Culinary Cafe - Flowers - Chicory

Wild Crafting - Chicory

Eat The Weeds - Chicory

 

 

My Video of Poison Hemlock

Poison Hemlock

Ladies and gentlemen, my dad is a pretty gardener.  He can grow almost anything or at least that is my experience. Apparently he can also grow posison but poison hemlock.  Yes, it would appear that my dad is growing the very plant that killed Socrates.  He's growing it amongst tomatoes.  In fact, he's had it for two years now.  I'm not sure why it took me this long for the red flags to go up.  Call me crazy but no one should be growing this plant.  It serves no real purpose.  I'll post pictures today and then tomorrow if I can find my video camera, I'll put up a video of it.  At any rate, I thought it was kind of a different type of garden plant.

 A Bad view of Poison Hemlock Flowers:

 Look at the plant in the back, do you see the purple on the stem that is a good sign of poison hemlock:

Here is a pic of the leaves

 

I use myself as to give you an idea of how tall this plant can be.  I'm 5'1".

Hepatica; A cure for the Liver>?

 

I promised you some new plants coming up and here is one of them. This picture was taken on top of one of the sand dunes that run along the Lake Michigan shoreline in the borders of the state park. This particular plant is Round-Lobed Hepatica or Hepatica acutiloba, nobilis, or americana. I found only one in with blossoms but couldn't stop to take a picture. You can see the clearly rounded leaves of this plant. I've only seen this plant growing in one other area and that was located in a scout camp near Michigan city, Indiana. I'll go almost anywhere to be in nature. Any way, there is more to tell you about this plant. As many of you know, I don't just like to show you a plant and leave it at that. The genus gives a clue as to at least one use for this plant. Our native people used this plant in a tea for liver ailments, to aid digestion, and even as a laxative.

**** Warning this plant comes from the buttercup family and contains irritating compounds.

** Information comes from Peterson's field guide to Eastern/Central Medicinal plants and herbs

Remember it is against the law to pick any plant within a federal or state park. Check local , state, or federal regulations before harvesting any plant. Also at no time, should you try to use any plant medicinally. And at no time should you ever eat any plant without being accompanioned by someone who knows the edible plants in your area.

 

Now On Flicker

You already seen a lot of these pictures, but I wanted a place where others could see them. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shyguyx/

Red Bud – Cercis canadensis

I think this tree is one of favorite sights in the spring. Few native trees in my area are as beautiful as this tree. It tends to flower March through May. The flowers come out first followed by the leaves. The tree can grow to 30 ft tall but I've never seen it that big. Very often this tree is planted as an ornamental in fact one of my neighbors has a tree in their yard. There is also a white flowered form of Red Bud but it's called by a different name. The white-flowered form is called Judas tree. Since I don't just write about any plant, it is time to move on to it's uses.

First, we will look at it's edible uses. The flower buds, flowers, and young seed pods are all edible. Flowerbuds can be pickled. The flowers can be added to salads. The seed pods can be sauted for ten minutes. Again you should look for the flowers from March through May. The Seed pods can be found July through August. Medinically, a tea using the inner bark can be brewed that is astringent.

 

Now for safety sake, do not use this post as a means to use red bud or any other plant. You could poison yourself or family members.