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STRANGE PLANT NAMES
BY GLADYS JEURINK
Many of our plants have “funny” or different common names and
several plants may have the same one.
They are interesting if you hear why or how they acquired that
name. The scientific names may be dull or hard to say but are the same
world wide. George has written about the scientific names so I am going
to talk about the common ones.
Out in my grey
garden I have PUSSYTOES (Antennaria plantaginifolia) which is a soft fuzzy small
leafed plant that hugs the ground and will grow in the poorest, dry soil
around. The flowers are in a cluster looking like cats paws only about 4
inches high that I usually slice off because I prefer the low, grey,
soft pattern of the leaves. Sometimes it is called
women’s tobacco PLANT
as well as at least six other common names. One of which is
poverty weed as it
grows in such poor soil. You
can pick up a piece of several inches, drop it down somewhere else,
water and have a new colony.
Just behind the
toes I have LAMB’S EARS (Stachys olympsica or some authors call it Stachys
byzantina) which are dense, white, and soft leaves that form mats if you
don’t water too much and cause root rot.
Sometimes called WOOLY
BETONY, it is planted out
by the mail box. Several
years ago I noticed several “kids” from the block coming to pet the ears
which are about four inches long.
In the same dry area is
SEAFOAM (Artemesia versicolar) also called
CURLICUE SAGE because it
grows in curls that are fragrant.
Out in the
backyard in a shady area is PIGS SQUEAK, sometimes called
ELEPHANT EARS (Bergenia species). The leaves are very large and stay
green all winter until replaced by the new ones.
The blooms, arranged on a stem 10-12 inches long and covering all
the way around in red, pink, or purple.
One bloom stalk is almost a bouquet by itself in early spring.
They dislike either very dry or very wet soil and prefer light
shade.
Six fool tall
JOE-PYE WEED (Eupatorium
fistulosum) blooms in July but some of my books say it grows to 12 feet.
It is named after a Native American Joe-Pye or sometimes Jopi who
helped the early settlers with his knowledge of herbal medicine. His
plant was used to treat typhoid fever.
Its bloom is big and fluffy as well as dearly loved by
butterflies and bees in August and early September.
I have 2 clumps in full sun that started about ten years ago as
single plants. They are not fast spreaders.
Usually the native ones are found near water.
They can do well in light shade. In the last few years a dwarf
species has been developed.
I have seen at least 5 different species of butterflies on my plants at
the same time. Sometimes the plants have been called
BONESETS, so named because it
was used to help cure a painful illness call breakbone fever. The leaves
were dried, crushed, and made into tea. This tea was also used as a cold
remedy.
There is
HORSETAIL (Equisetum arvense)
growing in the back yard in a wet spot. It is also known as
SCOURING RUSH,
SHAVE GRASS, and BOTTLE BRUSH.
In
All of us are
well acquainted with CATTAILS (Typha species). There are narrow and broad leaved
CATTAILS. I remember growing
up that the red winged blackbirds hung their nests between two plants up
to 6 feet off the ground. When we came into their territory the parents
screamed and dive bombed us coming very close to our heads. I like to
grow them in a pond or tub just to see the tails grow.
They are perennials, flowering in midsummer, covered with seeds,
and fluff by fall. If they
have adequate water the plant can become very invasive.
In the country muskrats use the stalks to build two room chambers
that look miniature beaver houses, and eat the underwater rhizomes.
People can eat the female flowers by boiling and eating like corn
on the cob. In fall the rhizomes can be ground into flour.
There is also
CATNIP (Nepeta cataria) in
the backyard. This plant has
been used as medicine for over 2000 years.
At one time or another it could cure almost everything and herb
books tell how to make a tea that can be used as a digestive aid or a
mild tranquilizer. The
tranquilizer is what makes CATNIP
so exciting to some cats. It
grows easily from seed or plants. The variety I have grows only about 18
inches high with a bright blue flower that looks good in bouquets. Cats
can destroy your plants in a short time, but they usually don’t get
interested until you bruise some leaves and they get the smell.
How about
raising BUTTER AND EGGS
(Linaria vulgaris)? It is not a native but does very well in neglected
and sandy places. It needs full sun and is often found along ditches,
produces a yellow dye, and was used to treat insect bites. You can find
it under at least a dozen names such as
DEVILS RIBBON and
TOAD FLAX. Farmers hate it as
it spreads by tough rhizomes. It looks like a small snapdragon and with
a good imagination, you can see how it was named with its bright yellow
and white petals. I have never been a success with the plant.
Perhaps because it needs to grow near other plants so its roots
can tap into their roots to get food and water.
The seed companies have seed for sale every spring.
In part #2 I
will have more plants with funny common names. In the meantime, keep
laughing and enjoy your garden. Copyright 2012 |