Medicinal Monday - Beautiful and Elusive Violet Wood Sorrel

Violet Wood Sorrel is very rare in New England with only a handful of populations found in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont. There are other parts of the country where it is more common. For centuries Native Americans have found medicinal and culinary uses for this elusive plant.

About Violet Wood Sorrel

Violet Wood Sorrels's scientific name is Oxalis violacea and it is a member of the Wood Sorrel family, Oxalidaceae. It is a low-growing perennial herb found growing on woodland slopes and in clusters on stream banks or in moist prairies. It has heart-shaped, purple-tinged leaves and purple flowers that bloom from late May through early June. This plant is stemless and only grows to ten inches with leaves and stalk emerging from a scaly bulbous base. The leaves have a similar appearance to small clovers like the shamrock.  The flowers have five petals and are arranged in an umbel atop a stalk that has overlapping leaves. The root system consists of small bulbs with fibrous roots that can multiply forming clonal offsets. The range of Violet Wood Sorrel extends from Connecticut and Massachusetts west to North Dakota, New Mexico, and Arizona and south to the Gulf States.

Medicinal & Culinary Uses

All parts of this plant are edible, flowers, leaves, stems, and the bulb. It was a traditional food source of the Apache, Cherokee, Omaha, Pawnee, and Ponca peoples. The bulbs were eaten raw or broiled. The leaves were mixed with other leaves and cooked. The Omaha and Pawnee pounded the bulbs and fed them to their horses to increase their stamina. The Cherokee among other Native American communities found many medicinal uses for this plant. They made a salve of an infusion of leaves and mixed it with sheep grease and applied it to sores. An infusion was taken and used as a wash to treat children with hookworm. A cold infusion of the leaves was taken to stop vomiting. The leaves were chewed to relieve a sore throat and to treat a sore mouth.

Did You Know

Today, Violet Wood Sorrel is rare in Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Michigan.

The Oxalis species is also known as sour grass and shamrock.

Oxalis is from the Greek word meaning sour.

This plant should not be eaten in large quantities due to the high concentration of oxalic acid which can be poisonous.

Bees are attracted to the flower for nectar or pollen.

The seeds are eaten by upland game birds, and songbirds including Morning Doves, Field Sparrows, and Horned Larks.

The Cottontail Rabbit sometimes eats the foliage even though it has a high concentration of oxalic acid.

Medicinal Monday - the Exotic Looking Pagoda Plant

Native to eastern North America including Connecticut, the Pagoda Plant is as beautiful as it is rare. Today, it can be found in many gardens as an ornamental plant. There was a time when it was more plentiful throughout Connecticut and New England when it was widely used by many Native American communities living in the Eastern Woodlands.

About Downy Wood-Mint or Pagoda Plant

Downy Wood-Mint is in the genus, Blephilia and its scientific name is Blephilia Ciliata. This plant, like most in the mint family, grows best in full sun to partial shade in good soil with good moisture conditions. It can be found in woods, thickets, fields, clearings, and on rural roadsides.  Its' root system forms clumps from short rhizomes and the plant spreads by the rhizomes and by self-seeding. The plant is erect and can grow up to three feet high on four-angled hairy unbranched stems. The leaves are more ovate-shaped near the base of the plant and more lance-shaped on the upper part of the stem. The leaves have forward-pointing teeth and fine hair on their underside and when crushed they have a slight minty fragrance, similar to peppermint. The flowers are tubular and vary in color from whitish to lavender with deeper colored lavender spots. They are arranged in whorls and are separated by a row of fringed brackets like round platforms or pagodas. There may be up to six or seven pagodas full of flowers per stem. This plant blooms from May through September.

Medicinal Uses

Downy Wood Mint is used as a ceremonial smudging herb by many Native American communities to drive away evil spirits when a person is dying. A tea is made from the leaves and drunk for coughs, colds, and chills. The Cherokee use a poultice of leaves to treat headaches. 

Did You Know...

The genus Blephilia is derived from the Greek blepharon meaning eyelid and cilia refers to the fine short marginal hairs that form something that looks like an eyelash. 

The species name Ciliata is from the Latin cilium which means eyelash.

Other names for this plant include the downy pagoda plant, Pagoda Plant, wood mint, monarda Ciliata, sunny wood mint, and Ohio horsemint.

Summer Camp Registration Open @ Institute for American Indian Studies Scholarships Available

 Spend the summer of 2022 @ The Institute For American Indian Studies! Our camp program offers immersion into the natural world and the culture of Connecticut's Eastern Woodland Native Americans through the exploration of our replicated 16th century Algonkian Village, our forests, trails, gardens, and museum.

 

The 2022 Summer Camp program will offer six weeks of programming best suited for children from six to twelve years old. Starting June 27 through August 12 camp programs run from 9 a.m.–3 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Institute’s experienced and professional educators that continually engage young and curious minds with exciting team-building programs conduct the camp. Each week has a different theme, but all sessions are fun-filled and designed to help children learn valuable life skills while appreciating nature and connecting to a culture with more than 10,000 years of history.

 

Unique activities of this program include exploring the interactive exhibits in our museum and in our outdoor replicated 16th century outdoor Algonkian Village, going on hikes in Steep Rock Reservation and along the Shepaug River, and visiting our traditional herb and flower gardens. Each week camp activities will vary and may include participating in mock archaeological digs, learning how to track animals and identify plants, how to survive outside without access to modern technology, and how to practice survival methods using traditional skills. A highlight is a camp program on Etuaptmumk which refers to learning how to see the benefits of both traditional Indigenous knowledge and Western scientific thinking.

Once again this year is the chance to apply for a scholarship that is being offered by the Institute due to the generosity of our donors. To find out more about the scholarship program email Camp Director, Gabriel Benjamin @ gbenjamin@iaismuseum.org The deadline for scholarship applications is June 1, 2022.

 

For complete registration information, visit http://www.iaismuseum.org. Pricing is $310 for members of the Institute and $345 for non-members, with special pricing for the week of July 5. To register click here. https://www.iaismuseum.org/summer-camp

 

The Institute will follow the most up-to-date COVID-19 policies for our summer camp in 2022, based on guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control, Connecticut’s Office of Early Childhood, and the American Camp Association. Given the fluid nature of the COVID-19 situation, families should be aware that policies are subject to change.

About Institute for American Indian Studies

Located on 15 acres of woodland acres the Institute For American Indian Studies preserves and educates through archeology, research, exhibitions, and programs. They have the 16^th c. Algonquian Village, Award-Winning Wigwam Escape, and a museum with temporary and permanent displays of authentic artifacts from prehistory to the present that allows visitors to foster a new understanding of the world and the history and culture of Native Americans. The Institute for American Indian Studies is located on 38 Curtis Road, Washington, CT.

Medicinal Monday - Closed Bottle Gentian

For thousands of years, Native Americans have used herbs, and plants not only to heal the body but also to purify the spirit and bring balance into their lives and surroundings. Gentiana is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the gentian family that consists of about 400 species. Native American communities have found several medicinal uses for this plant which is known for its trumpet-shaped flowers.

About Closed Bottle Gentian

This plant is found in the alpine and temperate regions in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Closed Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) is found throughout the northeastern half of the United States including Connecticut. This flowering plant grows in moist rich soil in full or partial sun and is often found in flood plain forests, thickets, and swampy areas. This plant is erect and can grow up to three feet high with a non-branching stem.  The leaves are lance-shaped and devoid of hair and move up the stem in a whorled pattern. Bottle gentian has a flower that is rich blue in color and blooms from August through October. The flower is bottled shaped with a closed mouth or terminal. It grows in clusters at the top of the plant or on the upper tier of the leaves. 

Medicinal Uses

The Iroquois used an infusion of the roots to treat pain, headaches, and chills. An infusion of roots was also used to treat sore eyes. A poultice of the roots was applied to sore muscles and a compound of the plant was made as a liver medicine. The Iroquois also used the plant in witchcraft and would hang the dried roots of this plant in their dwellings as an anti-witch charm. The Meskwaki used a poultice of the root to treat snakebite. A compound infusion of the roots was used as a wash to banish loneliness and cure jealous witchcraft. 

Did You Know...

The genus name of this plant is a tribute to Gentius, an Illyrian king that is said to have discovered the tonic properties of this plant. Illyria is a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula.

King Gentius used the roots of yellow gentian on his malaria-stricken troops in 500 B.C.

The American subspecies of this plant was named in honor of Henry C. Andrews, an English botanical artist, and engraver.

Only a strong bee can force the corolla or mouth of the flower of this plant open to get the nectar and deposit pollen. One such bee is the Digger Bee.

The Eastern Carpenter Bee chews a narrow slit at the bast of the flower and steals the nectar without pollinating the plant. 

Whitetail deer are one of the few animals that eat the tender tops of this plant before they have a chance to flower. 

Bottle gentian is considered endangered in New York and Maryland. 

Some gentians are used to make certain types of liquors and schnapps.

Gentians are a key ingredient in Angostura bitters.

Medicinal Monday - Exotic and Beautiful - Horsemint

In addition to a number of useful medicinal uses, Horsemint has a striking pagoda-like blossom. It is native to the Eastern United States and can be found in Connecticut. Because horsemint has the highest thymol content of all the mints, it has been scientifically recognized for its antiseptic and anesthetic properties.

About Horsemint

Also known as Spotted Beebalm or Monarda punctate this perennial is in the mint family. Other members of this family include thyme, basil, rosemary, and oregano. Like most plants in this family, it tends to grow in colonies and near each other. Unlike most Monarda species that have a single flower head on a stem, horsemint has flowers that are stacked up on the stem with bracts radiating from the light green to reddish-brown square-shaped stem under each flower. The purple/pink-yellow whorled flowers attract bees and butterflies and bloom from mid-to-late summer and continue to flower for up to two months. The lance-shaped leaves smell like oregano or thyme. The plant is propagated by seed that grows in sandy well-drained soil in meadows. The root system consists of a taproot as well as shallow fibrous roots.

Medicinal Uses

Horsemint was discovered and used medicinally by many indigenous peoples including the Meskwaki, Delaware, Mohegan, Navajo, Ojibwa, and Nanticoke. The Delaware made an infusion of this plant and would bathe the face with it to treat fever. The Meskwaki made a compound of the leaves and would stuff it up the nose to treat headaches. A compound of leaves was also used to treat stomach cramps. The Mohegan used an infusion of leaves to treat fever and the Nanticoke used an infusion of the entire plant to treat a cold. The Navajo made a cold infusion that was taken and used as a poultice to treat a headache and cough. They also hung it in their hogan for the pleasing odor. The Ojibwa made a decoction of the plant for stomach or bowel trouble and used it as a laxative. The Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek used a leaf decoction to ward off rheumatism. Many communities made tea from the plant to treat flu, fevers, and colds.

Did You Know...

Monardas are called horsemint because horse signifies something large and the members of this genus are generally larger than other members of the mint family. 

Horsemint is a pollinator magnet and attracts bees, wasps, butterflies, beetles, and even hummingbirds.

The name, Monarda commemorates the Spanish physician and botanist, Nicholas Bautista Monardes (1493-1588).

Other common names are Dotted monarda, spotted beebalm, dotted horsemint, and spotted mint.

Thymol is an effective hookworm remedy but must be taken in such great quantities that it can prove fatal to the patient. 

During WWI, commercial thyme fields were destroyed in Europe, and horsemint was grown in the United States as a substitute source of thymol.