Strawberry

"Wild Strawberry" (Fragaria virginiana)

2008 May 19

2007 July 13

2007 July 13

The wild strawberry is so small but tastes SO good.

The First Nation peoples ate these berries raw and sometimes mashed and dried them into cakes for winter stores. A tea was made of the leaves to ease diarrhea or to sooth sore throats.

Soopolallie

"Soopolallie" (Shephardia canadensis)

2008 May 9

2008 May 13

2007 June 20

2007 July 6

2007 July 16

2007 July 16

2007 July 16

Not beauteous, by any stretch of the imagination, but its fruit is edible. The First Nations people dried these berries to be used alone and with other dried fruit. They also whipped fresh berries up into a froth, added sweetener and the name, Indian Ice Cream, was attached to the concoction. I decided that I had to try whipping some berries up with sugar ... only to find the resulting substance still very bitter. Bleck! Not a recipe I'd do again!!! Also, they were absolutely horrendous to pick being small and very sticky. The native peoples had a way of beating them off of the bushes onto mats laid underneath ... and that surely would be the way to do it. They are apparently a good source of iron. I'll pass, thank you. You'll find lots of these bushes in our area ... we have any number in our own back yard.

Raspberries

"Wild Red Raspberries" (Rubus idaeus)

2008 May 21

2008 May 29

2008 June 14

2008 June 14

2008 June 23

2007 July 25

2007 July 25

These berries are smaller but as tasty as the cultivated kind. I found these bushes growing closer to the lake ... more to the shadier side of the lake.

This site deals with some medicinal uses for the leaves.

I have also found another type of raspberry growing in this area ... along a woodland trail ...

"Trailing Raspberry" (Rubus pubescens)

2007 July 17

These are also edible if one can find them.

Kinnikinnick

"Kinnikinnick" or "Bear Berry" (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)

2008 May 7
Kinnikinnick in Leaf Bud

2008 May 7
Flower Bud

2007 June 25

2007 June 25

2007 June 25

2007 August 5

2007 August 15

A very common plant but I love its name, Kinnikinnick ... I just like the sound of it. Kinnikinnick means "mixture" and was a term that originally applied to any smoking mixture. Greek Arktos ( bear) staphylos (a bunch of grapes); Latin uva (grape), ursa (bear). Anyway, I've tasted these berries ... mealy and dry but the birds sure like them in the spring, as the berries last through the winter. Other critters like them too, obviously, bears being one of them.

Some ways this plant was put to use:

• the leaves were smoked ... like tobacco
• leaves were boiled to make a tea
• a decoction was made of the leaves and stems as a diuretic
• the berries were fried in salmon or bear fat ... sounds so, "oh yum"
• berries were boiled into a soup

False Solomon's-Seal

"False Solomon's-Seal"
(Maianthemum racemosum)

2008 May 15

2008 May 15

2008 May 15

2008 May 16

2008 May 27

208 May 27

2008 May 27

2008 May 27

2008 June 19

2008 June 19

2008 June 20

2007 July 16

2007 July 16

2007 July 31

2007 August 24

2007 August 24

2007 August 24

2007 August 25

2007 September 1
Fall Colors

If this is False Solomon's Seal then what is true Solomon's Seal? Apparently the difference lies in the lay of the flower. True Solomon's Seal has flowers hanging from all along the main stem underneath the foliage. False Solomon's Seal puts it's flowers all out front ... on the very tip of the stem. There you have it ... and I've wondered this for ages!

This plant has been used for various things; the roots as a blood purifier; the rhizomes were eaten by some as were the berries. Its culinary uses don't seem to solicit any rave reviews. D and I tasted the ripe berries ... not too bad really, but mostly seed (2 per berry).

We found this plant in an area that we feel must be fed by an underground stream. Other, moisture loving plants, may be found nearby. It is also the moist, shady kind of place that mosquitoes like hanging out in!

"Star-Flowered False Solomon's Seal"
(Maianthemum stellatum)

2008 May 21

2008 May 21

2008 May 23

2008 June 20

2008 June 30

2008 July 8

A smaller plant than M.racemosa with a different flower.