August 2015 – Page 2 – wildeherb.com

Flower Poetry Fridays: The Stranger’s Flower

August 7, 2015 by wilde

Welcome back to Flower Poetry Fridays with Mrs. Sigourney. Each Friday a new poem will be posted from her The Voice Of Flowers.

THE STRANGER’S FLOWER.

In some of the South American republics, it was customary for ladies to present a flower to every stranger whom they received as a guest.

STRANGER ! new flowers in these vales are
seen,
With a dazzling eye, and a fadeless green,
They scent the breath of the dewy morn,
They feed no worm, and they hide no thorn,
But revel and glow in our balmy air ;
They are flowers that freedom hath planted
there.

This bud of welcome to thee we give ;
Bid its glowing blush in thy bosom live ;
It shall charm thee from all a stranger’s pain,
Reserve, suspicion, and dark disdain ;
A race in its freshness and bloom are we,
Bring no cares from a worn out world with
thee.

‘Tis a little time since the lance and spear,
And the clamor of war and death were here ;
Our siesta the shout of the murderer broke,
And we struggled to rend a tyrant’s yoke,
Till our midnight slumbers were pale with
fears,
And the fairest cheeks bore a mourner’s tears.

But now on the couch of its mother’s breast,
The infant sleeps long in its dream of rest,
And the lover beneath the evening star,
Woos the young maid with his light guitar ;
These are the blessings that wait the free,
And stranger ! this flower is our gift to thee.

Giving a flower to each stranger who visits your home is a lovely tradition.

It’s like the woman of the house was inviting the stranger in to enjoy their company and at the same time she encouraged them to leave their worries and cares of the world on the doorstep.

The lovely flower would help to break the ice so the stranger would feel relaxed while calling on the host. How welcoming is that?

Come back next Friday for the next installment in our series of flower poems from Mrs. Sigourney’s The Voice of Flowers, “The Lily’s Whisper”.

How to Know Sumac Leaves

August 6, 2015 by wilde

How to Tell the Difference Between Sumac and Tree of Heaven

Sumac is a plant that we want to encourage growing on the lane down to the highway. In this one location a similar-looking tree also grows, called Tree of Heaven, which serves no utilitarian purpose.

Staghorn Sumac Growing to the Left of Tree of Heaven

We can see the plants growing throughout the year and then have an easy time telling which trunk belongs to the trees we want to keep and which we want to cut.

Once decisions are made the trees to be cut down are marked with pink spray paint.

Tree of Heaven grows very fast and will quickly overshadow other plants growing there. Since we’d like to encourage sumac to grow much of the Tree of Heaven will be cut down.

But, if the plants are young and there is no fruit present, how to tell the difference? At first glance the huge leaves look the same, so we have to look a little closer.

Staghorn Sumac, Rhus typhina

Giant Compound Leaves and Red Fruit Clusters of Staghorn Sumac

pinnately compound leaves
lance-shaped leaflets strongly toothed
leaflets without stems, sessile
velvet-like twig bark with long hairs
small round fruits in upright cone-shaped cluster at the ends of branches
individual fruits fuzzy or hairy and red when mature

(Click on any image to see a larger view.)

Tree of Heaven, Ailanthus altissima

Compound Leaves and Winged Fruit of Tree of Heaven

pinnately compound leaves
lance-shaped leaflets with basal teeth
leaflets with short stems
twig bark smooth
yellow-green winged seeds dangle in clusters

Study Leaves By Rubbing Them

When learning about new plants it’s helpful to study their leaves up close by rubbing them. You know, as a kid we all did this with the leaves we collected in the fall.

Put a leaf between two sheets of paper and rub the top piece of paper with a pencil, charcoal or crayon. This rubbing action transfers the three-dimensional design of the leaf to the paper.

Making a rubbing of plant leaves reveals the veins, leaf edges and overall shape in a way that’s more memorable than when looking up at the leaves while they’re still hanging on the plant.

In this case the different leaflet shapes of Staghorn Sumac and Tree of Heaven were uncovered and highlighted in a fun way.

Staghorn Sumac has strongly toothed leaflet edges and leaflets with no stems.

Tree of Heaven has slightly wavy leaflet edges and a couple of strong teeth near the base of the leaflets, which do have small stems.

Reading about how a leaf should look a certain way doesn’t give your brain the same strong image as touching and feeling the leaf itself. Making a leaf rubbing involves us in a tactile or sensory way and that probably ingrains the leaf image better in one’s mind.

Do some leaf rubbings with children for a great outdoor activity. Or have a scavenger hunt for leaves and bring them inside on a hot day. The kids don’t have to know you’re studying the leaf shapes, but after all they might learn something, too.

Collecting Lemony Red Sumac Berries

August 4, 2015 by wilde

Lemons, too bad they’re tropical. It would be great to have a lemon tree in the backyard, but you’d have to live in Florida or similar climes for that.

Wouldn’t it be great to find a local alternative for a lemony taste? That way we could always have some “lemon” on hand.

It turns out that the berries of the sumac shrub can be used to add a sour note to our favorite foods.

Staghorn Sumac Growing At the Roadside (On Left)

Sumac would be considered a shrub or understory tree. It needs to grow with lots of sunlight so you’ll find in sunny locations like at the edge of roads or fields.

In Eastern USA there are several different species of sumac. One that we have in abundance here in Central PA is Staghorn Sumac, Rhus typhina.

Staghorn Sumac is the most common sumac that grows in Northeastern USA. The fruits of this deciduous shrub are cone-shaped clusters of fuzzy red berries.

The “staghorn” name comes from the velvet-like surface of branches, a helpful identifying characteristic.

The fruit cluster at end of branch is held above giant compound leaves that can stretch out to two feet long.

The berries are edible and used as a spice or flavoring agent.

Once you mention sumac though, some folks think poison right away. That’s because there is a totally separate plant called Poison Sumac.

Obviously, we don’t want to eat that one, but its berries are white and not likely to get mixed up with the edible red sumac berries.

Also, Poison Sumac grows in swampy areas, not in the upland and agricultural areas where you’ll find Staghorn Sumac.

Identifying characteristics for Staghorn Sumac:

pinnately compound leaves
lance-shaped leaflets strongly toothed
leaflets without stems, sessile
twig bark with velvet-like surface of long hairs
small round fruits held in upright cone-shaped cluster at the ends of branches
individual fruits fuzzy or hairy and red when mature

If the plant you’ve found has all of those characters, you’re good to go. Check the photos and a field book, like Newcomb’s Wildflower Book, if you’re still not sure.

Use a sharp knife to remove the cluster of berries from the branch or grasp firmly and break off the cluster with your hand.

Put the fruit clusters into a paper sack so that any of the little fruits that get knocked off aren’t lost.

Go collecting on a day in July or August when it hasn’t rained for at least three days. You want the little fruits to be dry.

Rain washes off or dilutes the lemony taste.

To find sumac look at the edges of fields, along roads and right-of-ways, and in other areas where the ground has been disturbed.

Sumac likes to grow at the edges of forests and fields. When the foliage is starting to turn colors in autumn the sumac shrubs will be easy to find as their leaves turn a bright, bright red.

Autumn is too late for collecting these berries, but you can locate the plants then for collection in future years.