Dr. Jennifer Williamson, ND This plant is so common, even city-dwellers can find it. When I taught Herbal Studies at Daemen College in Buffalo, one of the homework assignments was to go out and find this and 4 other plants (Red Clover, All-Heal, Dandelion and Mallow). This is Broad leaf Plantain (Plantago major), but it’s […]
Dr. Jennifer Williamson, ND Yesterday I discussed my fears of the Apiaceae family, Sumac has been another of my fears. Anyone who has ever ventured out into the wilderness has heard of the agony inspiring triad of poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac. But, I’ve been researching my finds and am confident that this
Dr. Jennifer Williamson, ND I’m terrified of the Apiaceae family. Not bad enough to have nightmares or anything, but super-duper cautious to make sure I know the exact plant at which I’m looking. Sure, it includes regular foods like carrot, celery, dill and parsley. But, it also contains poison hemlock, wild/poison parsnip, and giant hogweed.
Dr. Jennifer Williamson, ND Now that I’m on a mission to find new herbs to photograph and describe, I feel surrounded! Everywhere I look is a new plant. This one I’ve seen before so I quickly jumped out of my car to take a picture of it sitting right next to our house. Lambs quarters
We pulled this one from our garden to make way for some veggies, but just because it was in a space we used for a different purpose doesn’t make it useless. This is Meadow Horsetail (Equisetum pratense). It has a very peculiar feel to the leaves due to its high content of Silica, a nutrient
Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is a pretty obvious plant to spot. It’s fuzzy and can grow up to six feet tall. It is a member of the Scrophulariaceae family, whose root word, scrofula, means swollen neck glands. I can’t speak for all members of the family, but at least when it comes to mullein, it is
Dr. Jennifer Williamson, ND If I asked anyone who isn’t an herbalist or botanist to draw a clover, they would draw the plant in the center of this picture. But it isn’t a clover at all. It’s Wood Sorrel (Oxalis sticta), which isn’t even in the same family as clover. Oxalis is in the Oxalidaceae
Dr. Jennifer Williamson, ND St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) is one of my favorite plants to show kids. Firstly, the leaves have translucent pinpoint circles in them which you can see when you hold up to the light. The second interesting aspect is that if you crush a leaf between your fingers, you will get
Dr. Jennifer Williamson, ND This flower commonly seen on roadsides, is Chicory (Cichorium intybus). The root is used similarly to Dandelion in that it can help alleviate liver congestion, increase bile movement, and therefore help the bowels to move more easily. Also like dandelion, it can be used like a coffee substitute when the roots
Dr. Jennifer Williamson, ND Red Clover (Trifolium praetense) is the state flower of Vermont! The flowers are a favorite for bees (honeybees our are state insect) and if consumed you can taste the subtle sweetness that will be concentrated into honey. You can make it as an infusion (tea) or take it as a tincture.
