Medicinal Monday...Forget Me Nots

Scientifically, Forget Me Not flowers are called Myosotis. The name, Forget Me Not has an interesting origin. It is a Greek word that means mouse ears. This star-shaped flower was named because this plant's leaves are curved resembling a mouse's ears.  Native American communities found several interesting uses for this delicate spring flower. There are seven species that grow in New England, but only two were used medicinally.

Myosotis sylvatica

About Forget Me Nots

The flower, Forget Me Nots were originally described by Carl Linnaeus. This flower is in the Boraginaceae family that includes 2,000 species of shrubs, trees, and herbs worldwide. In New England there are several species of Forget Me Nots but only two that were used medicinally. Myosotis laxa is found throughout New England. It grows along stream banks, the shoreline of ponds, and in wetlands and marshes. The leaves are simple and don't separate into leaflets. The flowers range from blue to purple and pink to red and have five petals, sepals that are fused into a cup. The fruit is dry and doesn't split open when ripe in the fall. Myosotis sylvatica, also found in New England is a Eurasian native wildflower that was introduced to America. It can be found along the edges of forests, and in fields, grass, and meadows. It is known to self-seed aggressively. The leaves are simple and there is one leaf per node along the stem. The flowers have five petals, sepals that are fused into a cup and range in color from blue to purple or white. The seed pods of both plants disperse themselves by clinging to fur or clothing

Myosotis laxa

Uses of Forget Me Nots

Forget Me Nots have long been used for lung problems and to stop nose bleeds. Many Indigenous people used the juice from the leaves of Myosotis sylvatica to stop nose bleeds.  The Iroquois made a compound decoction of the Myosotis sylvatica plant and mixed it into feed as an aid to cows' birthing.  The Makah People of the Olympic Peninsula rubbed the entire plant of Myosotis laxa on their hair to condition it and keep it in place.

Did You Know...

Henry IV adopted the forget-me-not as his emblem in 1398.

In medieval Germany, lovers wore forget-me-nots to ensure they would not forget each other while they were apart.

In Newfoundland, forget-me-nots were once used to commemorate the war dead.

In the Victorian language of flowers, the forget-me-not flower means friendship, loving remembrance, and fidelity.

This flower is used as a Masonic emblem and is worn worldwide by Free Masons to remember all who suffered during the Nazi era.

In New Zealand and the Netherlands, it is the symbol of Alzheimer's.

Medicinal Monday How Many Ways Was Box Elder Used?

Box Elder also known as Acer negundo is a species of maple trees native to North America. Native Americans found many uses for this fast-growing tree from medicine and culinary uses to ceremonial and practical uses. While it is a maple, box elder is the least productive maple when it comes to tapping the tree for maple syrup.

About Box Elder

This fast-growing short-lived tree has been naturalized throughout the world including in South America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. It is in the soapberry family and its native range extends from the East Coast including Connecticut to California, and from Alberta Canada to southern Mexico and Guatemala. The typical life span of this tree is between 60 and 75 years. A distinguishing characteristic of the Box Elder tree is its irregular shape with its trunk quickly splitting into multiple wide-spread branches resulting in a broad tree top that resembles shrubbery. Unlike most maples, the leaves are opposite, pinnately compound with three to five leaflets that have a margin that is coarsely serrated and somewhat lobed. The twigs are purplish green and stout, the bark is grey-brown, and the branches are smooth. It is the last maple tree to bloom in late February and March. Flowers appear before leaves emerge. These trees produce thousands of flowers, the male flowers are red and the female flower looking like hanging grapes is yellowish. The fruit occurs in long-stalked clusters with paired-winged fruit. These trees are commonly found in wet soil by rivers or streams that are normally flooded.

Practical Uses of Box Maple

It is well documented that Native Americans used boxed elder to create tools, pipes, drums, dishes, and bowls. In 1931, several Anasazi flutes were discovered that dated back to the 17th century that was made entirely of elder boxwood. The Navajo used wood to make tubes for bellows.

Culinary Uses

Native Americans used the cambium for food and boiled down the sap and used it as a sweetener and to make candy. Many Native American communities boiled the sap to make sugar and syrup.  The Apache would boil the inner bark until sugar crystalized out of it. The Cheyenne mixed the sap with shavings from the inner part of an animal hide and would eat it as candy. The wood was burned in cooking fires to cook meat and stews.

Ceremonial

The Chyene would burn the wood like incense to make spiritual medicines. The Dakota, Sioux, and Omaha made charcoal from burnt wood and used it for tattooing and ceremonial painting. The Keres used twigs as prayer sticks, The Kiowa burned wood on an altar during a peyote ceremony. The Tewa used twigs to make pipe stems.

Medicinal

Many Native American communities made a decoction from the bark and drank it to make them vomit.

Did You Know

Other names for the Box Elder tree are ash leaf maple, stinking ash, sugar ash, cut leaf maple, and in Canada, Manitoba maple.

It is one of the most widespread and best-known maple trees and is the most widely distributed of all the North American Maple trees.

Fruits are an important source of food for Virginia white-tailed deer, eastern chipmunks, migratory birds, and insects such as moths, butterflies, and eastern boxelder bugs. 

Box elder trees are crucial food sources for Lepidopterans such as moths and butterflies during their caterpillar stage. 

There is a town called Box Elder in South Dakota and there is a Box Elder County in Utah.

Early American settlers who were familiar with Elders back in England, saw a similarity in its foliage. Its wood is said to be whiteish like that of an Old World evergreen shrub called the common box. The two were combined and this new world tree was called Box Elder.

Some states consider Box Elder trees invasive.

Medicinal Monday - What makes Spicebush Special

This slim angular shrub also called Wild Allspice or Feverbush is incredibly useful to the American Indians living in the northeast and elsewhere. This plant is used in a wide variety of preparations to treat many ailments from hives to colds.

About Spice Bush

The Latin name for this plant is Lindera Benzoin commonly called the Northern Spicebush. It is a shrub in the laurel family that is native to eastern North America with a range as far north as Ontario Canada and south to Florida. This shrub grows in the understory of moist forests, especially those with exposed limestone.  it can grow up to 15 feet tall.  Look for this plant along stream banks, in the woods, and at the edges of marshlands. Spicebush has yellow flowers that bloom in early spring before the appearance of leaves.  The flowers have six sepals and a very sweet odor.  The ovate leaves of the plant are smooth with no teeth on their edges and have a very aromatic citrus spicey smell when crushed. The oblong shape ripe fruit is red and has a turpentine-like taste and aromatic scent. It contains a large seed.  The leaves turn a golden yellow in the fall.  

Medicinal Uses
The slim twigs of spicebush are chewed to savor and are used to massage the teeth and gums; one or two ripe berries are chewed to relieve thirst and to freshen the mouth.  The Cherokee had several uses for this shrub, they would use a tonic or tea made from this plant to treat colds and coughs.  The Cherokee, Creek, Ojibwa, and Rappahannock made a tea from this plant and used it as a blood purifier.  The Delaware chew the fresh leaves to expel intestinal worms and gas. Many tribes use an infusion of bark to treat hives, bring down fevers, and treat menstrual cramps.  The Creek use an infusion of the branches in a steam bath to cause perspiring for aches and joint pains.  The Iroquois made an infusion of the entire plant for a bath to treat cold sweats.

Did You Know...

The caterpillar of the spicebush swallowtail butterfly feeds on the leaves of this shrub.

Sometimes this plant is called the "forsythia of the wilds" because of its early spring yellow flowers.

Spicebush is also called the toothbrush shrub because of its' toothpaste and aromatic flavor.

Medicinal Monday - Limestone Bittercress

Cardamine douglassii, commonly referred to as limestone bittercress or purple cress, is a perennial forb native to the eastern and central United States as well as the province of Ontario in Canada. Being in the Brassica family, this plant has many health benefits. It contains vitamin C, beta-carotene, lutein, and glucosinolates that are known to remove carcinogens from the body. It is very rare in Connecticut and o the Special Concern list. Many Native American communities found medicinal uses for this plant. 

About Limestone Bittercress

This early-blooming wildflower blooms in the understory of the woodlands and flourishes in moist loamy soil. It can often be found blooming under deciduous trees, especially large oaks.  It can grow up to 12 inches tall and has an erect, hairy stem, and is considered to be a tall plant for a spring wildflower.  It is topped with a raceme of buds and flowers. At the base of each plant are one to two basal leaves that have serrated edges. The alternate leaves are oval with serrated edges and clasp the central stem. The leaves become smaller and more narrow toward the top of the stem. The soft blooms of this plant, which can be dropping or upright are pale purple to pink and have four petals, 4 sepals, and several stamens. They grow from the apex of the raceme. These fragrant flowers bloom in clusters for about two weeks. Each flower is replaced by a seedpod that splits in half lengthwise to release its seeds. The root system is fibrous and tuberous. The flowers look almost exactly like their cousin, Cardamine concatenate, what differentiates them are their leaves.

Medicinal Uses

The Iroquois considered the root to be a valuable medicine and used it as an antidote to counteract all kinds of poison. They also used it ceremonially, to divine a perpetrator of witchcraft.

Did You Know...

Other names for Limestone Bittercress are Purple cress and Pink Spring Cress.

The name, Cardamine is derived from the Greek, kardamon, meaning cress. David Douglas, (1798-1834), a Scottish plant collector for the Royal Horticultural Society, is the namesake for douglassii

It has a basal leaf that is present all winter, but when spring comes, the leaf falls to the ground.

Deer rarely feed on this plant.

The leaves have a bitter taste.

New Exhibit @ Institute for American Indian Studies on Native American Identity

The Institute for American Indian Studies located at 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut has just announced a new temporary traveling exhibit, "Native American Identity Stolen, Sold, and Reclaimed." This exhibition invites guests of the museum to reflect on the stories that every one of us carries, consciously or not about Native American People. It is an enlightening and thoughtful journey through Native American stereotypes and more. This exhibit will be up through August. The Institute is taking part in Summer @ the Museum so one Connecticut child under 18 accompanied by an adult gets in free through September 4th.

"Native American Identity Stolen, Sold, and Reclaimed," traces the story of 500 years of Western perceptions that have been placed on Indigenous peoples of North America through family myths and popular culture that have been woven into a mythology depriving Native Americans of their cultural, ethnic, and linguistic diversity. 

Walking through this exhibit, visitors will see an interesting array of displays that explore misguided representations of Native American People in film, news, print media, literature, art, and commercial products. These displays highlight that Native Americans have a very limited scope of representation. They are most often represented either as historical figures belonging to the past or as stereotypical cliches, such as the Indian Princess, the Savage Indian, or the Noble Savage. Displays highlight tropes in advertising, films, T.V. shows, video games, and more that embrace these stereotypical generalizations, and in doing so, validate them in the way people view Indigenous people.

The final set of displays showcases an alternative narrative through a series of short bios on Native Americans from just about every walk of life and from many different time periods. Their stories and self-expression seek to help visitors break the cycle of misrepresentation in a positive and uplifting manner. As, Dr. Janine Pease concludes in one of the displays, "What's been lost over many generations, it will take perhaps that many generations to restore...the challenge is to realize the power we do have. It's not going to take some outside power. It's power within that will really make the difference."