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."

Free Admission this Summer at Institute for American Indian Studies Funding Provided by a Grant from CT Humanities

 

The Institute for American Indian Studies was awarded a grant from CT Humanities for participating in Connecticut Summer at the Museum 2023 initiative. This program invites Connecticut children ages 18 and under plus one accompanying Connecticut resident adult to visit participating museums free of charge from July 1 through September 4, 2023. 

CT Humanities is honored to partner with the CT Office of the Arts again to administer the CT Summer at the Museum Initiative in 2023. The Department of Economic and Community Development, in partnership with the Office of the Governor, Connecticut State Department of Education, Office of Early Childhood, and Connecticut Humanities, will deliver these financially accessible summer enrichment opportunities to families and children of all ages using funding provided through ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act). 

 “The Summer at the Museum program in 2022 was very successful. We were delighted to be able to introduce so many new children to Native American culture and history and can’t wait to do it again this summer. We are very proud to be among the grant recipients,” said Chris Combs, Executive Director of the Institute for American Indian Studies. “This grant program allows us to expand our reach and also helps us achieve our mission of education by introducing children from Connecticut to the 12,000-year-old history of eastern woodland Native Americans,” Combs continued. 

Children are welcome to explore the Institute’s galleries that trace the 12,000-yearlong stories of Connecticut’s Native American peoples from the distant past to their lives and culture today. The core exhibit takes children from a time at the end of the Ice Age to modern times. A second gallery presents artifacts, images, and themes reflecting both early colonial and modern tribal lifestyles across North America. The Children’s Discovery Room is an interactive space that shows children what life would have been like if they were a Native American living 600 years ago. An indoor longhouse is an elongated wigwam that contains both original and replicated artifacts and provides an immersive experience. A highlight of any visit is taking the trail to the replicated Algonkian Village that depicts life common to an Algonkian village of 350 to 1000 years ago. 

About The 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 a 16th c. Algonquian Village, Award-Winning Wigwam Escape, and a museum with temporary and permanent displays of authentic artifacts from prehistory to the present 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 at 38 Curtis Road, in Washington, Connecticut. 

About Connecticut Humanities 

CT Humanities (CTH) is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. CTH connects people to the humanities through grants, partnerships, and collaborative programs. State and federal matching funds, community foundations, and gifts from private sources support CTH projects, administration, and program development. Learn more by visiting cthumanities.org. 

 About Connecticut Office of the Arts 

 The Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) is the state agency charged with fostering the health of Connecticut’s creative economy. The State of Connecticut as well as the National Endowment fund part of the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development, the COA for the Arts.

Medicinal Monday... Stinking Benjamin

Purple Trillium is a perennial native wildflower that gives off a foul order resembling rotting meat, perhaps it's a way of fending off pollinators. It is native to the east and northeastern parts of North America and can be found in Connecticut. One of its most common nicknames is Stinking Benjamin. Native American communities found medicinal uses for many regional plants including this spring ephemeral!

About Stinking Benjamin

This flower blooms in early spring in rich, well-drained, deciduous woods. It is shade tolerant and is often found under deciduous trees in hardwood and mixed-wood forests. This perennial wildflower grows from a single smooth purple-green central stem with three hairless diamond-shaped leaves, there are also three whorled leaves that grow from the base of the flower stalk. The maroon-colored flowers have lance-shaped petals and bloom on a curved stalk about four inches above the leaves. The flowers have three green sepals and six stamens. When the flowers wither they leave a berry-shaped fruit that starts off green and changes to purple as it matures and eventually drops to the ground. The flowers bloom in May and June. 

Medicinal Uses

The best known Native American use for the root of this plant was as an aid to childbirth. The entire plant was also made into a poultice and used to treat tumors, ulcers, and inflammation. Specifically, records show that the  Cherokee made a poultice of this plant to treat cancer, they made a decoction and took it for coughs, and they made an infusion to help with hemorrhages and the change of life. The Iroquois made an infusion of the roots and flowers and used it to treat sunburn and skin eruptions.

Edible use of this plant was limited although several sources have noted that the leaves were gathered before the plant flowered and cooked like vegetables.

Did You Know...

The genus name Trillium is derived from the Latin word "tres" for three which refers to the flower petals as well as the leaves that grow in threes.

An alternate name for this plant is Bethroot, a misspelling of the word "birth root." 

It is threatened in Rhode Island and vulnerable in New York State.

This plant is not essential in the diet of wildlife.

Medicinal Monday - Heartleaf Foamflower

Heartleaf Foamflowers are delightful plants with flowers composed of scores of short, straight off-white spikes tinged with pink that gives them an attractive frothy appearance. Native American communities found many uses for this plant which has airy clouds of dainty flowers. It is one of the showiest plants in the early summer in the woodlands of the eastern United States and Canada.

About Heartleaf Foamflowers

Tiarella cordifolia, or heartleaf foamflower is a shade loving perennial that is native throughout the eastern United States and Canada, including Connecticut. In the wild, it appears as a low-growing mound found on the banks of streams in conifer and mixed hardwood forests and in northern hardwood forests. The lobed, sharply toothed heart-shaped leaves are green in the spring and summer and turn red and bronze in the fall. Small, star-shaped feathery flowers stand above the foliage on 6-12  inch stems rising above a mound of attractive, lobed leaves. The long slender stamens give the flowers a frothy appearance.  The plant usually begins to bloom in late May. This plant spreads by underground stems that form colonies. The flowers mature into small black seeds.

Medicinal Uses

Heartleaf Foamflower has no known edible uses. This plant was used as an oral and pediatric aid by many Native American communities.  The Cherokee, for example, held an infusion made from this plant in their mouth to remove the white coat from their tongues. The Iroquois made a poultice of smashed roots and applied the mixture to wounds. They made an infusion of roots and leaves and gave it to children to fatten them up. An infusion of dried leaves was used as eye drops to treat sore eyes and an infusion of smashed roots was given to babies with sores in their mouths. The Malecite and the Micmac made an infusion of the roots to treat children and adults with diarrhea. The Iroquois also made a decoction of the entire plant and washed their rifles with this solution believing it to be a  hunting medicine. 

Did You Know...

Its botanical name, Tiarella means little crown, in reference to the Greek word tiara and is a reference to the shape of its seeds. 

Cordifolia means heart-shaped and refers to the shape of the leaves.

Heartleaf Foamflower is a genus of flowering plants in the family Saxifragaceae.

Worldwide there are seven species of this flower, one in Eastern Asia, one in North America, and five species in Eastern North America.

Today, Heartleaf Foamflowers are popular ground covers in shade gardens.

The scent of Heartleaf Foam flowers attracts bees and other pollinators.

Other names include False Miterwort because it resembles Miterwort