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This morning I found the cereal cupboard bare except for a sample-sized box of Fiber One cereal, made by General Mills. Left behind by one of the summer guests of the mountain, I figured that the children chose all the really sweet ones first.

Fiber One sample cereal box.

I wouldn’t have purchased the small boxes because they have too much packaging to throw away. Different from the scored boxes we had as kids that doubled as bowls, this one had no scoring, and instead, the cereal was safe inside a heat-sealed plastic bag. Eating milk and cereal right from the box was fun - probably a memory from my childhood that today’s little ones won’t experience.

As I munched on the surprisingly sweet cereal right out of the bag, I just had to read the ingredients to see which sweetener was inside…sugar (second ingredient), fructose and dextrose. There’s little surprise there. Maybe it’s a great source of fiber with 9g per 1 cup serving, but the carbs, at 41 g, might be a little high for a diabetic.

Here’s the ingredient list for those of you trying to find a healthy alternative to Sugar Smacks:

whole grain wheat
sugar
corn bran
chicory root extract
maltodextrin
rice bran and/or canola oil
fructose
salt
dextrose
trisodium phosphate
soy lecithin
natural and artificial flavor
bht added to preserve freshness
enriched with a host of vitamins and minerals

There’s some whole grain goodness inside, but probably too much sugar to earn a gold star.

Surprised by the fourth ingredient, chicory root extract, I’m wondering if that is the ingredient responsible for the “caramel delight” flavor. What gives the natural and artificial caramel flavor? Perhaps the chicory root provides the light brown color. Before reading it on this cereal label I’ve only heard of roasted chicory root being used as a coffee substitute. It has to impart some taste to the cereal, doesn’t it? I wonder what other foods contain chicory root extract.

Chicory, Cichorium intybus, is in bloom all along the country roads in Pennsylvania. The sky blue blossoms are really pretty especially when a lot of chicory grows together.

Chicory flowers along the Pennsylvanian country roads.

Up close you can see that the petals are fringed at the ends. The chicory flowers are sessile and appear to be attached right at the stem. Leaves are few and variable along the stem and basal leaves are similar to dandelion. Long, arching blue stamens stand out nicely.

Fringed petals of chicory give its flowers a unique look.

Queen’s Anne Lace seems to be chicory’s main cohort. I see them together everywhere along the country roads and in empty fields.

The long tap root of chicory can be roasted for use as a beverage like coffee and, as I’ve read more about it, chicory leaves can be used in salads. Commercial growers in Michigan and a few other states in the Midwest now provide most of the chicory consumed in the U.S. It is an alien plant that European settlers imported into their new country.

Chicory root contains a sugar-like compound that is most likely used for soluble fiber content in my morning cereal.

Filed under: Food, Vegetable
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For three years now I have been spying on a special plant, just waiting for it to flower. We’re fortunate enough to have three members of the orchid family, Orchidaceae, on our property here in Central Pennsylvania.

Pink Lady’s Slipper, Cypripedium acaule, and Downy Rattlesnake Plantain, Goodyera pubescens, have already flowered this year. The Pink Lady’s Slipper, or Moccasin flower, blooms around Mother’s Day and the Downy Rattlesnake Plantain blooms in late Summer, around now.

I found a new colony of the Downy Rattlesnake Plantain yesterday near a stand of hemlock trees with four plants blooming and a large number of plants that almost formed a mat.

Downy Rattlesnake Plantain colony on the ridge near the hemlock grove. Photo taken 13 August 2008.

Our third orchid is a whorled pogonia, Isotria species, and we have yet to see it bloom. Since the greenery comes up each year, it may be Whorled Pogonia, Isotria verticillata, but I can’t rule out the endangered Small Whorled Pogonia, Isotria medeoloides, until the blossoms are visible.

Oval-shaped pogonia leaves join at their bases, each having a pointed tip. Photo taken 10 July 2008.

There are two pogonias in one location and a colony of 12-15 of them in a second location on the ridge.

Pogonias hide amongst the gaywings on the forest floor. Gaywings or Fringed Polygala, Polygala paucifolia, have a similar appearance of about five leaves joined at their bases, but if you look closely you will see vein branching in the leaves and short leaf stems. Pogonias, being orchids and therefore, monocots, have leaf veins that are parallel and no apparent leaf stem. Gaywings are dicots and have branching leaf veins.

Fringed polygala on the forest floor. Photo taken 29 July 2008.

Gaywing leaves are sturdy with an almost waxy feel. Pogonia leaves feel more delicate. Bugs do not seem to consume either of them very much.

As far as medicinal properties go, neither gaywings or any of these orchids have medicinal properties that are worth sacrificing the plants.

Filed under: Vegetable
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A new plant caught my eye last week as I walked down the lane to pick a couple hands full of blackberries. It reminded me of Lopseed because it had a similar arrangement of very small flowers on spikes that arose from leaf axils and from its terminal stem.

No flowers were open early in the day when I took these pics as the plant was still mostly shaded, but they are tiny, white, five-petaled and joined at the base.

Several pairs of opposite leaves are toothed and egg-shaped. Stems are hairy, but not prickly.

The habitat is mostly shady where this White Vervain, Verbena urticifolia, is growing as trees are all along the lane. At the lane’s edge it receives part sun at mid-day.

Photo taken 11 August 2008 shows the flowers arranged in spikes and the opposite leaves of White Vervain.

Hairy stem and toothed leaf of White Vervain.

White Vervain doesn’t appear to have any medicinal properties, but close relatives do. Leaf tea of Blue Vervain, Verbena hastata, was used by Native Americans to treat cold symptoms and gastrointestinal problems. The seeds were roasted and ground to create flour. European Vervain, Verbena officinalis, tea is still used for a number of ailments. It has been studied in China and Russia and found to have analgesic, anti-inflammatory and diuretic properties.

Filed under: Vegetable
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