Friday's Herbal - Let's Take a Walk

This week I thought we'd take a little walk in the Wasatch mountains to learn the herbs and other plants that grow in this area. You probably have many of these in your own wooded areas. Come, let's go.

My good friend Fool-On-The-Hill , aka Bryant, accompanied me on an herb walk this week.  It was a very educational excursion.  My own knowledge of herbs comes from books and growing them in my backyard.  Bryant has spent a lot of time in the mountains and other wild places in Utah, and has also read a lot of books, giving him an extensive knowledge of the flora and fauna of the area.  I was happy to have him share some of that knowledge with me.  Not that I retained everything he told me, but I had fun and did learn a couple things.


On the left here is the wild yarrow native to Utah, Milfoil Yarrow.  The shrub on the right is Mountain Lover (Paxistima myrsinites).

Cleavers(Galium aparine) or Stickywilly and Wolfsbane (Aconitum napellus) also known as aconite or monkshood.  This is highly poisonous, but is good for keeping away the werewolves.

Two kinds of mullein here, on the left is Moth Mullein (Verbascum blattaria), and on the right Common Mullein (Verbascum thapsus).  Both are commonly used as TP in the wild, but mullein is also useful for relieving the pain and irritation of hemorrhoids.

Narrow Leaved Cottonwood (Populus angustifolia) and Lance-leaf Figwort (Scrophularia lanceolata ).

An itty bitty little flower, Maiden Blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parviflora). On the right is Scorpion Weed (Phacelia sp).

Here we have Lungwort or Bluebells (Mertensia sp) and Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum).

Related to the Coral Bells in your garden is Littleleaf Alumroot (Heuchera parvifolia).  Feeling adventuresome, I actually put some of the wild plants in my mouth; this Cinquefoil (Potentilla sp?) was one.  Bryant told me to chew it up a little and put it on my mosquito bite.  It did make it stop itching for the rest of the day.  I should have taken some home with me.

A few years ago, Bryant took a road trip with me back to Colorado.  While there, we went to the Rocky Mountain National Park with my daughter.  She and I were a little taken aback by Bryant's walking along putting (what we thought) random leaves and berries in his mouth.  We were just so sure he was going to poison himself.  That was before I knew just how much he had studied (experimented?) the plants.  He thought we were pretty funny with our cries of, "You can't do that!"  So I decided to trust in his knowledge on this little hike.  We came across a White Fir, with sap running down the trunk.  I followed Bryant's lead and put some sap in my mouth.  Too late he told me not to chew it!  It was stuck to my teeth all night.  But it was really good.  It's supposed to be used for coughs and other lung complaints.

Myrnie, this moss covered tree trunk is for you;)  On the right is Baneberry (Actaea rubra);  it's also poisonous, but the berries are very bitter, so you won't want to eat them anyway.

Ballhead Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum capitatum) and Horsemint or Giant Hyssop (Agastache urticifolia).

I put these in my mouth too.  On the left is Sweet Cicely (Osmorhiza depauperata) AKA Blunt Seed Sweetroot, and on the right is Chilean Sweet Cicely (Osmorhiza berteroi).  The Sweet Root tastes the most like anise.

This rhubarb looking plant is Burdock (Arctium lappa) and on the right is Hound's Tongue (Cynoglossum officinale).

We're at the end of the trail.  Hope you enjoyed our walk.   Next week, we will be having an extra special guest at our house, so I won't be here Monday or Tuesday.  I will be back on Wednesday with my Pin-it-Forward post.  I'm really excited to participate in this, so I hope you stop by to see and read my version of "What Home Means to Me".  Have a fabulous weekend!