While out gathering tea (Eastern White Pine)
this afternoon, I came across some plants that looked like what I read about Wintergreen.
The leaves were a thick and shiny (glossy) and, as my friend Judy told me, it is often found next to
trees. The
Peterson Field Guide for Edible Wild Plants of Eastern/Central North America mentions
that a crushed leaf will smell like wintergreen. Yes! There was no mistaking it! These
leaves had a strong wintergreen smell. It’s a good feeling being able to identify something
other than dandelion and Eastern White Pine.
Apparently, Wintergreen produces white flowers in July or August and produces an edible
red berry that tastes like wintergreen (believe it or not!) in August. The berries often
remain on the plant over the Autumn and Winter. Some additional pictures of Wintergreen
are below:
I had to be careful when identifying and picking Wintergreen. Not all the plants
with shiny green leaves growing next to trees is Wintergreen. The plant to the right
was growing all around the area, including next to the Wintergreen. But crushing the
leaves in the fingers produced just a “leafy” smell only. This brings up
another foraging lesson I learned in the foraging class I took in May. It is important
to gather plants carefully as it could be easy to inadvertently gather a leaf or more
of another plant that is right next to (or tangled up with) the plant you are harvesting.
There won’t be any Wintergreen tea tonight! From what I have read on various
web sites (1,
2,
3)
the recipe for making Wintergreen tea is as follows:
Wash leaves.
Put leaves, loosely packed into a jar and add spring water to cover the leaves.
Put the covered jar in a warm place for a couple of days until the water is
bubbly (This fermentation helps release the strong Wintergreen flavor from the leaves).
Put the jar in a pan of hot water to warm the tea.
The leaves can be strained out, dried in the sun and used again by simply pouring
boiling water over those leaves and letting them steep for 10-15 minutes.
As you can see, I didn’t pick many Wintergreen leaves today.
I was able to positively identify the American Beech tree today. It is one of the most
common trees on the trail. But it wasn’t growing to it’s typical height of 60-80 feet.
The forest was so packed with trees that the branches were extending outwards far
away from the trunk to get some sunlight. As you can see to the right and below,
the leaves are large with coarse toothing and parallel veins. The bark is smooth
and gray. According to the article
Ten Tree Species
on the NH Botanical Society web site, American Beech is on of the most common trees in
Southern New Hampshire. The leaves are “marcescent, meaning they often stay
on the three throughout the fall and winter, dropping only in the spring.”
The thin-shelled nuts have sweet kernels that are delicious roasted and eaten
whole, or ground into flour. An outstanding vegetable oil can be squeezed from
the crushed kernels. The roasted kernels can be used as a coffee substitute.
... gather [the nuts] after they drop from the trees during the first frosty
nights in October.
Well, back to gather American Beech nuts in October!
I went swimming in the Piscataquog River near Clough State Park today. I’m not sure about the
bacteria levels after so much rain we’ve gotten over the last 10 days. It wasn’t quite the
“mountain stream” I had hoped it would be, but it was still very nice to get in
the water. Regular visits to swimming holes are on my agenda this Summer.
I walked into the back entrance of Clough State Park and saw many plants that I would like to
identify for possible foraging. For example, I saw many of these plants pictured below with
big stalks and wondered what they were:
I didn’t have any guidebooks to look it up, but when I got home and looked it up in
the
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers: Eastern Region, I realized that
it is mullein! The picture to the right is the mullein we saw in the May 2009 foraging
class. Apparently, mullein is a biennial and produces a low rosette of leaves in the first year
(see image to the right) and a “stout stalk topped by a clublike flowerhead in the second [year].”
The flowers are yellow. The
USDA
PLANTS Database for Common Mullein has more images that look like the two pictures I took today.
Dried leaves can be made into tea that is specific for healing lung problems. The leaves can also
be applied to the skin to sooth sunburn and other inflammations. The leaves were used by Native
Americans and early settlers to line their footware to keep out the cold. The flowers and root were used
medicinally as well.
Now that I know what it looks like, I’ll be doing a foraging trip for mullein in the near future.
As I was walking through Clough State Park in Southern New Hampshire today, I saw many large
Eastern White Pine.
But there were numerous very large pine trees that were obviously not Eastern White Pine. Even though
the lowest branches were 40 feet off the ground, I could tell that the needles were darker green and
thicker than typical of the Eastern White Pine. I was about to assume that they must be
Pitch Pine
since the article Ten Tree Species
on the NH Botanical Society web site, states that Red Pine is uncommon in Southern New Hampshire. But the
Park Ranger drove by to save the day! He told me that those trees were Red Pine and that they had been planted
years ago in “plantation sytle.”
There are two large trees in the picture on the right. The tree on the left is the Red Pine.
The tree on the right is the Eastern White Pine. Additional pictures can be found below
that match the description found in the
National
Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees: Eastern Region. Needles: “2 in a bundle.” I could not
reach a branch 40 feet off the ground. Bark: “reddish-brown or gray; with broad, flat, scaly plates;
becomming thick.” The bark is definately redish (especially seen in a close-up image) and those
scaly plates easily flake off the tree trunk. Cones: “1-1/2 -- 2-1/2 inches long, egg-shapped,
shiny light brown; ... without prickles.”
I don’t know if Red Pine can be used for foraging. But I like being able to recognize some local trees.
Well, it looks like I didn’t wait long enough for the Wintergreen Tea. I was supposed
to wait “a couple of days” until the water was bubbly from the fermentation
of the leaves to brew the tea. After three days, the water was not bubbly, but there
were bubbles on the sides of the bottle and a very, very strong wintergreen smell.
So, I heated the tea and took a little bit (undiluted). Even though there was a strong
wintergreen smell, the taste was somewhat bland.
I picked up more Wintergreen today at the park. For half of the leaves, I will
follow the directions and wait until the water itself is bubbly ... even if it
takes 60 years! For the other half, I will try Mike & Judy’s suggestion of
putting the leaves in a coffee grinder and just make the tea right away.
I identified Eastern Hemlock this morning. It is part of the Pinaceae family and
like other trees in that family, its leaves have a significant amount of Vitamin C and
were commonly used to make tea. According to the article
Ten Tree Species
on the NH Botanical Society web site, Eastern Hemlock is one of three short, flat-needled
conifers in New Hampshire. The other two are the Balsim Fir (Abies balsamea)
and the Canadian Yew (Taxus canadensis) (which grows most commonly in shrub form).
I am not making a tea out of the Eastern Hemlock today, but I have to be careful with
my identification because the Canadian Yew is poisonous.
As you can see from the images below, the Eastern Hemlock has
short, flat, flexible, shiny green needles on redish-brown twigs.
Needles have two parallel white lines on the underside. Brown, scaled cones
on the ends of twigs. Cones are very small: 1/2 - 3/4 inch long. Bark
is redish-brown, deeply furrowed into broad scaly ridges. Other flat-needled
look-similars in New hampshire: The Balsim Fir has smooth bark with many
resin blisters and the cones are much bigger (2 - 3-1/4 inches). The
Canadian Yew (poisonous) does not have a scaly cone, has stiff pointy
needles with yellowish lines beneath the needles.
Here is an excellent little video with Frank Cook on “The Pine Family
(Pinaceae) As Wild Food:
Another very interesting video is a 25-minute documentary,
The
Local Food Challenge where “seven people, connected to the White Earth Reservation,
challenged themselves to eat foods grown within 250 miles of where they lived for one
year.” You have to scroll half way down the web page and click on the image
of the video. It takes about 5-15 minutes
for the video to load and then start automatically (so keep the sound turned up so
you know when the documentary starts). Or you can right-click on the following
Link and
“Save Target/Link As” to your desktop for later viewing with
Quicktime,
VideoLanMedia Player Classic, or
ZoomPlayer.
Went on a 2-hour foraging hike up a hill, on a gravel trail. The trail was lined with
maple and red oak trees. On the side of the trail there were occasional pools of water.
I must have walked by hundreds of plants that I had no idea what they were.
Very frustrating! I was feeling every leafy plant, hoping to find stinging nettles.
No luck. I did see some
Wintergreen
as well as other plants that I took pictures of for later identification.
Finally, near the top of the hill, there were large swaths of low-growing blueberry
bushes. I love plants that are easy to identify! Many of the blueberries were ripe,
but in a couple of weeks, there may be a bigger selection to choose from.
Below are additional images from the blueberry forage. Simple, alternative leavaes.
Minutely toothed leaves (cannot see very slight serration in the images). Berries
have 5 lobes forming a star pattern. Leave are more lance-like rather than the somewhat
ovate (oval) leaves on the Dwarf Bilberry (Vaccinium cespitosum). Dark blue
berries when ripe. It was growing as a very low shrub covering up to a 20 square
foot area. Not 100% certain of the identification as Vaccinium angustifolium
species as it could be one of the other Vaccinium species.
After work today I took a walk along a path. To the right of the path there was
a forest of maple trees. In the forest, there was some waste ground, near where
a bonfire had been built. I saw this Wood Sorrel-looking plant. I think it is
Yellow Wood Sorrel. It is a low, spreading plant with yellow flowers. The flowers
haven’t opened yet, but when they do open, they should have 5 yellow petals with
10 stamen. The leaves are divided into three heart-shaped leaflets that are each within
the 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch wide specification from my guidebook
(Peterson
Field Guide for Edible Wild Plants of Eastern/Central North America). The leaves
do have a slightly sour and a bit of a lemony flavor. I will take more pictures to
confirm the identity when the flowers open up.
But since there are not any toxic plants listed in my guidebook that look like this
plant, I added some leaflets to my noodles tonight for flavor. Tonight, I’m eating either
noodles and yellow wood sorrel or noodles and weeds! I am inviting endless
pats on the back for my tentative identification of another edible plant!
Edible plant books always stress not to overdo the eating of sorrel because it
contains oxalic acid which can block the uptake of calcium at a meal.
Bear in mind that other common foods have oxalic acid (e.g., spinach, beet greens).
As long as one has a variety and does not eat sorrel, spinach, etc. day after
day, at every meal, it is probably fine to ingest a moderate amount.
I made several attempts at a Pine & Wintergreen-aide tonight. Before I get to that,
though. I finished brewing my Wintergreen tea this morning. In order to see the
story behind that, please see the first two entries for
“Wintergreen tea
in the 2009 Foraging Key.”
After six days, there were still no bubbles in the water of the fermenting
Wintergreen leaves. But the reason I know it was done is that all of the leaves had sunk
to the bottom and there was a film of what appeared to be Wintergreen oil on the top of
the water. I am guessing that when the leaves sink, they’ve released all of their
Wintergreen oil.
I strained and refrigerated the Wintergreen liquid. Then I mixed one cup of
chilled Eastern White Pine tea with 1 Tablespoon of Wintergreen liquid and
enough honey to taste. It had a pleasant, sweet, minty-pine taste. But I’ll
try it again tomorrow to see if I want to make it a regular beverage. Update: It turns
out that honey-sweetened Eastern White Pine tea is much better by itself (or
with mint) then when adding Wintergreen. It was a good experiment, though.
Below is a foraging video on pine as a food source:
Contraindications: Do not drink pine needle/twig/bark tea when pregnant or if you are allergic to pine.
I went walking in the park at lunch with my foraging friends, Mike and Judy.
They’re not “black belt”-level foragers yet, but they are
experienced and have an eye
for the little plants. I spotted a blackberry-like bush at the park. Blackberries
are part of the Rubus genus and there are a endless number of species in that
genus that are
difficult to tell apart. At first I thought it might be the Allegheny Blackberry
(Rubus allegheniensis) or the Upland Blackberry (Rubus pergratus), but
it appears to be the Black Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis). The Black Raspberry
has some key differences from the Blackberry species:
The Black Raspberry fruit itself is more round (similar width and height)
with a deep, hollow space in the top when removed from the plant. The Blackberries
are taller than they are wide. In this case, the fruit looks more round like a Black
Raspberry.
The stems of the Black Raspberry plant often have a blue-gray
tinge to them. While the stems of the Allegheny Blackberry have a redish-brown tinge.
The underside of the leaves of the Black Raspberry have a soft gray or white fuzz.
The fruit of the Black Raspberry often ripens after different rates so that one
often sees unripe white or red fruit along with some ripe black fruit.
Mike and Judy showed me what Sheep Sorrel looks like. I’ve walked
past it endless times without noticing. Even when you’re looking for it,
it can be hard to spot. It tends to grow in clumps. The lance-shaped leaves with
the distinctive double-tail should make it easy to recognize. But the double-tail
pieces sometimes curl or the leaves sometimes fold in such a way that the plant can be
it difficult to find.
Like the Wood Sorrels (Oxalis species), it has a sour, lemony taste that makes
for a good trailside nibble. But tonight's collection of Sheep Sorrel was for a first
attempt at Sorrel Soup.
From what I’ve read, Sorrel Soup is well-known in French cooking. It
is also traditional in some other European cultures. So, I looked online for
a reasonably healthy Sorrel Soup recipe and came up with the following:
3 cups of vegetable broth.
2 Tablespoons of uncooked white rice.
1 bunch of sorrel, rinsed thoroughly and stemmed.
3/4 cup of rice milk
2 Tablespoons of soy butter or natural butter substitute (Earth Balance vegan butter).
Salt and ground black pepper to taste. (I used about 1/2 teaspoon or salt and a dash
of black pepper.)
Directions:
In pan, bring vegetable broth to boil.
Stir in white rice and boil for 8 minutes.
Stir in sorrel and boil briefly.
Remove from heat. Let cool.
Blend in blender. I used a heavy-duty Vitamix blender.
Return to medium-low heat and stir in vegan butter and rice milk.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Look at the “action pictures” below of the Sorrel Soup being made, especially
the exciting blender action. You don’t get this kind of action on other foraging
web sites! The Sorrel Soup was very good. I highly recommend it.
Contraindications: Because sorrel has oxalic acid (like spinach and beet greens) it is
important not to use it excessively as calcium uptake from meals will be lower when
oxalic acid is ingested. Persons with kidney stones, gout or rheumatism should be
conscious of ingesting in moderation.
I went out to the Yellow Wood Sorrel patch to make sure I identified it correctly
a few days ago. Apparently, Creeping Woodsorrel (Oxalis corniculata) has a similar
yellow flower and leaves. But there are differences, one of which can be seen in
the picture to the far right:
Yellow Wood Sorrel roots at the rhizomes (stems spreading below ground)
while Creeping Woodsorrel will often root at the nodes. (Leaf stems grow out of
the above-ground nodes.)
Yellow Wood Sorrel tends to grow more upright, while Creeping Woodsorrel
grows very close to the ground.
Creeping Woodsorrel can sometimes have purplish leaflets (but not always).
The pictures show that the Yellow Wood Sorrel I found does not root at the
nodes (where the leaf stem emerges), but instead roots at the rhizomes
(underground stem).
I’ve read about Oxalis-aide (like lemonaide, but using wood sorrel instead)
on different foraging sites. Found a recipe for an
Oxalis Cooler on
Sunny Johnson’s foraging web site (scroll far down the page).
1/2 cup of Yellow Wood Sorrel leaves, stems, flowers, seed pods. Washed and chopped.
1 quart of spring water.
1 Tablespoon of agave nectar or honey. May try maple syrup next time.
Dash of sea salt.
Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a blender and refrigerated it.
Below, you can see “action pictures” of the Oxalis Cooler being
made. The Oxalis Cooler was like a sweet (and slightly sour) light green drink.
A nice flavor, but definately not like lemonaide. I recommend trying it at least
once.
Below is an excellent video on Wood Sorrel:
Wood Sorrel has a number of traditional medicinal uses in addition to its food uses.
Please see the
Yellow
Wood Sorrel Identification & Uses web page for more
information.
Contraindications: Because sorrel has oxalic acid (like spinach and beet greens) it is
important not to use it excessively as calcium uptake from meals will be lower when
oxalic acid is ingested. Persons with kidney stones, gout or rheumatism should be
conscious of ingesting in moderation.
Walked a 2 mile trail up a hill this afternoon. Finally saw an open 5-petal yellow
flower on the Yellow Wood Sorrel. Just like it shows in the book. I collected a couple
of plants to press the juice out of them and make a very small plaster. Wood Sorrel is
well known as a traditional cancer treatment. It can be used externally on skin cancer,
swellings and inflammation.
Please see the
Yellow
Wood Sorrel Identification & Uses web page for more information.
I didn't get much juice out. It may be better to use a wheatgrass juicer to get more
juice. Then I mixed it with a bit of fine flour to thicken.
For thousands of years, Man has pondered the question:
In a Wild Blueberry and Hemp Shake, which tastes better: Lowbush Blueberries or
Highbush Blueberries?
In the next 24 hours, I will be able to answer that question!
Yesterday, I spent about 1-1/2 hours picking blueberries from a huge patch of Lowbush
Blueberries. I gave about a pint of blood to the mosquitoes and had a not-so-friendly
wasp sting me in the thigh (at least I think it was a wasp, it didn't stop to introduce
itself). After about 15 minutes, a woman came up the hill to pick blueberries. She
had some sort of hand-rake contraption that makes harvesting easier. But since there
weren’t that many blueberries, the rake didn't prove useful. I picked two cups
of blueberries and had enough of the mosquitoes, so I flew down the hill into the safety
of my car.
Today, I went hiking with Mike and Judy. On the way home, we stopped by a
“pick-your-own” blueberry farm. They had Highbush Blueberry bushes.
Below are some pictures that can be compared with the
Local
Images of Lowbush Blueberry bushes. I picked 5-1/2 pounds in just under an hour.
Much easier and quicker to gather from the Highbush Blueberry bushes!
1 10-ounce package of frozen blueberries. (I used 2 cups of fresh blueberries.)
1 Cup frozen banana.
Pinch of Sea Salt.
Directions:
Blend everything except for the frozen ingredients on high speed until it is white,
cremy and frothy.
Add the frozen ingredients and blend again on high until smooth and creamy.
[Note: Since I used 2 cups of fresh blueberries, I increased
all of the ingredient levels by 1-1/2 times (2-1/4 cups water, 7-1/2 TBs of Hemp
Seeds, etc.) except for the Agave Nectar.]
I wish I could say that Lowbush or Highbush Blueberries tasted better in the
shake, but they tasted pretty much the same. The Lowbush Blueberries
might be slightly sweeter when eaten by hand. The Wild Blueberry and Hemp shake
is excellent and I highly recommend it for a Summer drink. Next time, I will make
it with Maple Syrup as I want to use as many locally-available ingredients as
possible.
I’ve been eyeing the red clover for the last week or so (ever since Mike and Judy
showed me what it looked like). Red clover leaves are edible after boiling for 5-10
minutes or soaking in cold salty water for several hours. But primarily, red clover
is known for its tea made from the purple flowers. It is a powerful blood cleansing
herb and is often part of a natural cancer treatment protocol. See the
Red
Clover Identification and Food & Medicinal Uses web page for more information.
I gathered about 15 red clover tops, rinsed them in spring water and then poured boiling
water over them and let them steep for about 10 minutes. But I accidently added too
much honey. Have to try again with less honey.
I am having some trouble find a lot of red clover flowers. There are a some near the
community gardens and there were some near where I found the Lowbush Blueberries
(but the flowers were washed away in the rain). Sometimes the flowers are dried and
used for tea later or the flowers are dried and then ground into a nutritious flour.
I met Mike and Judy for a easy hike and some foraging amongst the heavy layer of bugs
this past weekend. Fortunately, I had foraged the day before for Lowbush Blueberries
in thick clouds of mosquitoes, so relatively this wasn’t quite as bad. At the top
of the mini-mountain we found large swaths of Sheep Sorrel as you can see from the
pictures. We also saw quite a bit of Yellow Wood Sorrel, some dandelion and plantain.
The forest was primarily maple trees. There were only a couple of scruffy-looking, small
Eastern White Pines. I'll have to go somewhere else to get more pine needle tea.
Jennifer gave me an excellent Sorrel Soup recipe (called
“Chard Soup with Sorrel or Lemon”) from
Vegetarian
Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. I made a few changes to make
it vegan and to suit the ingredients I had on hand. Adapted ingredients:
3-1/4 cups of vegetable broth.
3-3/4 cups spring water.
1 onion, chopped
3 red potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 large bunch of chard, stems removed
2 cups of sorrel leaves, stems removed
1-1/2 cups of rice milk
5 Tablespoons of Earth Balance vegan butter
Sea Salt
Freshly-ground black pepper
Directions:
Heat vegan butter over medium-high heat.
Add onion and potatoes and cook (occasional stirring) for about 8 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup spring water and scrape anything off the bottom of the pan.
Add chard and sorrel and 1-1/2 teaspoond of sea salt.
Cook about 5 minutes or until greens have wilted down.
Add 3-1/4 cups of vegetable broth and 3-1/4 cups of spring water.
Boil and then simmer for 12-15 minutes.
Let cool.
Puree soup in blender and return it to the pot.
Add sea salt and pepper to taste.
Add 1-1/2 cups of rice milk and 3 Tablespoons of vegan butter and
set on a very low simmer until vegan butter is melted and mixed in.
It tasted very good, so I hope everyone reading this tries a Sorrel Soup
from the recipe today or the one on
July
17, 2009.
Over the next couple of weeks, I plan to post fewer foraging experiences and focus
more on catching up on some of the “Under Construction” pages on this site.
It was so relaxing to work from the State Park today. I can connect to work
from my portable computer using AT&T Laptop Connect and GoToMyPC. The Internet
connection is slow, but I”m not complaining. After I finished, I hiked up a
moderately steep trail through the forest. Along the side of the trail, I came
across an area with a large number of Partridge Berry plants.
Ground-hugging perennial herb. Creeps along the ground with vinelike stems. Plant under 2 inches tall.
Dark green (somewhat shiny) and opposite leaves. Leaves less than 1 inch in length.
White flower pairs give rise to 1/2-inch, red fruit with two eyes (indentations) on the
side of the fruit. Fruit is not sweet.
It was a surprise to come across an area near that trail with Red Pines since
the article Ten Tree Species
on the NH Botanical Society web site, states that Red Pine is uncommon in Southern New Hampshire.
Perhaps it was planted there as it was at Clough State Park (New Hampshire). I also
saw Wintergreen (no berries yet), huge patches of Lowbush Blueberries with very few blueberries
left on the plant, and a medium-sized patch of Sheep Sorrel at the top of the hill.
I didn’t pick the Sheep Sorrel as I still have Sorrel Soup left from my last
Sheep Sorrel forage.
Okay, let’s face it. My camera sucks for up-close shots! I’d like to get a Canon EOS 50D Digital
SLR camera, but it retails for over $1,000! Even the Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR camera
is almost $900. I will just forget about it for a week and see if the desire to get
a new camera is still there next week.
While out gathering tea (Eastern White Pine)
this afternoon, I came across some plants that looked like what I read about Wintergreen.
The leaves were a thick and shiny (glossy) and, as my friend Judy told me, it is often found next to
trees. The
Peterson Field Guide for Edible Wild Plants of Eastern/Central North America mentions
that a crushed leaf will smell like wintergreen. Yes! There was no mistaking it! These
leaves had a strong wintergreen smell. It’s a good feeling being able to identify something
other than dandelion and Eastern White Pine.
I had to be careful when identifying and picking Wintergreen. Not all the plants
with shiny green leaves growing next to trees is Wintergreen. The plant to the right
was growing all around the area, including next to the Wintergreen. But crushing the
leaves in the fingers produced just a “leafy” smell only. This brings up
another foraging lesson I learned in the foraging class I took in May. It is important
to gather plants carefully as it could be easy to inadvertently gather a leaf or more
of another plant that is right next to (or tangled up with) the plant you are harvesting.
There won’t be any Wintergreen tea tonight! From what I have read on various
web sites (1,
2,
3)
the recipe for making Wintergreen tea is as follows:
I was able to positively identify the American Beech tree today. It is one of the most
common trees on the trail. But it wasn’t growing to it’s typical height of 60-80 feet.
The forest was so packed with trees that the branches were extending outwards far
away from the trunk to get some sunlight. As you can see to the right and below,
the leaves are large with coarse toothing and parallel veins. The bark is smooth
and gray. According to the article
Ten Tree Species
on the NH Botanical Society web site, American Beech is on of the most common trees in
Southern New Hampshire. The leaves are “marcescent, meaning they often stay
on the three throughout the fall and winter, dropping only in the spring.”
I went swimming in the Piscataquog River near Clough State Park today. I’m not sure about the
bacteria levels after so much rain we’ve gotten over the last 10 days. It wasn’t quite the
“mountain stream” I had hoped it would be, but it was still very nice to get in
the water. Regular visits to swimming holes are on my agenda this Summer.
I didn’t have any guidebooks to look it up, but when I got home and looked it up in
the
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers: Eastern Region, I realized that
it is mullein! The picture to the right is the mullein we saw in the May 2009 foraging
class. Apparently, mullein is a biennial and produces a low rosette of leaves in the first year
(see image to the right) and a “stout stalk topped by a clublike flowerhead in the second [year].”
The flowers are yellow. The
USDA
PLANTS Database for Common Mullein has more images that look like the two pictures I took today.
As I was walking through Clough State Park in Southern New Hampshire today, I saw many large
Eastern White Pine.
But there were numerous very large pine trees that were obviously not Eastern White Pine. Even though
the lowest branches were 40 feet off the ground, I could tell that the needles were darker green and
thicker than typical of the Eastern White Pine. I was about to assume that they must be
Pitch Pine
since the article Ten Tree Species
on the NH Botanical Society web site, states that Red Pine is uncommon in Southern New Hampshire. But the
Park Ranger drove by to save the day! He told me that those trees were Red Pine and that they had been planted
years ago in “plantation sytle.”
There are two large trees in the picture on the right. The tree on the left is the Red Pine.
The tree on the right is the Eastern White Pine. Additional pictures can be found below
that match the description found in the
National
Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees: Eastern Region. Needles: “2 in a bundle.” I could not
reach a branch 40 feet off the ground. Bark: “reddish-brown or gray; with broad, flat, scaly plates;
becomming thick.” The bark is definately redish (especially seen in a close-up image) and those
scaly plates easily flake off the tree trunk. Cones: “1-1/2 -- 2-1/2 inches long, egg-shapped,
shiny light brown; ... without prickles.”
Well, it looks like I didn’t wait long enough for the Wintergreen Tea. I was supposed
to wait “a couple of days” until the water was bubbly from the fermentation
of the leaves to brew the tea. After three days, the water was not bubbly, but there
were bubbles on the sides of the bottle and a very, very strong wintergreen smell.
So, I heated the tea and took a little bit (undiluted). Even though there was a strong
wintergreen smell, the taste was somewhat bland.
I picked up more Wintergreen today at the park. For half of the leaves, I will
follow the directions and wait until the water itself is bubbly ... even if it
takes 60 years! For the other half, I will try Mike & Judy’s suggestion of
putting the leaves in a coffee grinder and just make the tea right away.
I identified Eastern Hemlock this morning. It is part of the Pinaceae family and
like other trees in that family, its leaves have a significant amount of Vitamin C and
were commonly used to make tea. According to the article
Ten Tree Species
on the NH Botanical Society web site, Eastern Hemlock is one of three short, flat-needled
conifers in New Hampshire. The other two are the Balsim Fir (Abies balsamea)
and the Canadian Yew (Taxus canadensis) (which grows most commonly in shrub form).
I am not making a tea out of the Eastern Hemlock today, but I have to be careful with
my identification because the Canadian Yew is poisonous.
Finally, near the top of the hill, there were large swaths of low-growing blueberry
bushes. I love plants that are easy to identify! Many of the blueberries were ripe,
but in a couple of weeks, there may be a bigger selection to choose from.
After work today I took a walk along a path. To the right of the path there was
a forest of maple trees. In the forest, there was some waste ground, near where
a bonfire had been built. I saw this Wood Sorrel-looking plant. I think it is
Yellow Wood Sorrel. It is a low, spreading plant with yellow flowers. The flowers
haven’t opened yet, but when they do open, they should have 5 yellow petals with
10 stamen. The leaves are divided into three heart-shaped leaflets that are each within
the 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch wide specification from my guidebook
(Peterson
Field Guide for Edible Wild Plants of Eastern/Central North America). The leaves
do have a slightly sour and a bit of a lemony flavor. I will take more pictures to
confirm the identity when the flowers open up.
But since there are not any toxic plants listed in my guidebook that look like this
plant, I added some leaflets to my noodles tonight for flavor. Tonight, I’m eating either
noodles and yellow wood sorrel or noodles and weeds! I am inviting endless
pats on the back for my tentative identification of another edible plant!
I went walking in the park at lunch with my foraging friends, Mike and Judy.
They’re not “black belt”-level foragers yet, but they are
experienced and have an eye
for the little plants. I spotted a blackberry-like bush at the park. Blackberries
are part of the Rubus genus and there are a endless number of species in that
genus that are
difficult to tell apart. At first I thought it might be the Allegheny Blackberry
(Rubus allegheniensis) or the Upland Blackberry (Rubus pergratus), but
it appears to be the Black Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis). The Black Raspberry
has some key differences from the Blackberry species:
Mike and Judy showed me what Sheep Sorrel looks like. I’ve walked
past it endless times without noticing. Even when you’re looking for it,
it can be hard to spot. It tends to grow in clumps. The lance-shaped leaves with
the distinctive double-tail should make it easy to recognize. But the double-tail
pieces sometimes curl or the leaves sometimes fold in such a way that the plant can be
it difficult to find.
I went out to the Yellow Wood Sorrel patch to make sure I identified it correctly
a few days ago. Apparently, Creeping Woodsorrel (Oxalis corniculata) has a similar
yellow flower and leaves. But there are differences, one of which can be seen in
the picture to the far right:
Walked a 2 mile trail up a hill this afternoon. Finally saw an open 5-petal yellow
flower on the Yellow Wood Sorrel. Just like it shows in the book. I collected a couple
of plants to press the juice out of them and make a very small plaster. Wood Sorrel is
well known as a traditional cancer treatment. It can be used externally on skin cancer,
swellings and inflammation.
Please see the
Yellow
Wood Sorrel Identification & Uses web page for more information.
For thousands of years, Man has pondered the question:
I’ve been eyeing the red clover for the last week or so (ever since Mike and Judy
showed me what it looked like). Red clover leaves are edible after boiling for 5-10
minutes or soaking in cold salty water for several hours. But primarily, red clover
is known for its tea made from the purple flowers. It is a powerful blood cleansing
herb and is often part of a natural cancer treatment protocol. See the
Red
Clover Identification and Food & Medicinal Uses web page for more information.
I met Mike and Judy for a easy hike and some foraging amongst the heavy layer of bugs
this past weekend. Fortunately, I had foraged the day before for Lowbush Blueberries
in thick clouds of mosquitoes, so relatively this wasn’t quite as bad. At the top
of the mini-mountain we found large swaths of Sheep Sorrel as you can see from the
pictures. We also saw quite a bit of Yellow Wood Sorrel, some dandelion and plantain.
The forest was primarily maple trees. There were only a couple of scruffy-looking, small
Eastern White Pines. I'll have to go somewhere else to get more pine needle tea.
It was so relaxing to work from the State Park today. I can connect to work
from my portable computer using AT&T Laptop Connect and GoToMyPC. The Internet
connection is slow, but I”m not complaining. After I finished, I hiked up a
moderately steep trail through the forest. Along the side of the trail, I came
across an area with a large number of Partridge Berry plants.
Ground-hugging perennial herb. Creeps along the ground with vinelike stems. Plant under 2 inches tall.
Dark green (somewhat shiny) and opposite leaves. Leaves less than 1 inch in length.
White flower pairs give rise to 1/2-inch, red fruit with two eyes (indentations) on the
side of the fruit. Fruit is not sweet.
