There is a pretty little plant called Butter and Eggs that has been naturalized from Eurasia in North America including Connecticut. Named for its bright yellow flower that resembles a snapdragon, this invasive plant also had some traditional Native American medicinal uses.
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| photo credit Gilles |
About Butter and Eggs
This plant grows to be between one and three feet tall and its slender stem is crowned with yellow flowers on top. The flowers are bright yellow with a distinct orange patch on the bottom lobe. Two lobes are on top and point upward and three are on the bottom and point slightly downward. The narrow blue-green grass-like leaves grow on multiple branches and resemble those of flax. This perennial spreads by rhizomes or by seeds. The plant is somewhat toxic as it contains glycosides.
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| photo Giles |
Medicinal, Practical, and Magical Uses
In traditional Native American medicine, the most common use of this plant was to make a cold infusion from the leaves to treat diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems. Another common use was to make an infusion of the plant and flowers and give it to babies that won't stop crying or to make a compound of the plant and take it to induce vomiting. A practical use was to soak the leaves in milk and use it as an insect repellant. The Ojibwa specifically used a compound that included this plant as a respiratory aid in the sweat lodge. As for magic, a compound of smashed plants was taken as an anti-love medicine to remove bewitching.
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| photo R. Herring |
Another name for this plant is toadflax because the flower reminded people of the face of a toad!
Other common names include tode, yellow rod, gallwort, monkey flower, and ranstead.
Since coming to America, this plant has spread to 49 states and all of Canada!
Butter and Eggs were used as a dye in Germany and by the Mennonites in the U.S.
In Scotland, you were advised to circle around a patch of Butter and Eggs three times to ward off evil hexes.
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