Two Helpful Plants

These look like corn nuts don’t they? Actually, they are the berries of the Lemonade Berry plant. These little berries become sticky and sour this time of year. The tribal people in this area would crush the berries, mix them with water, strain them, add honey, and make lemonade! (ALWAYS ASK AN ADULT IF A PLANT IS EDIBLE AND ALWAYS ASK AN ADULT FOR PERMISSION TO EAT A PLANT!!!!) The tribal people also used the branches of this plant to make baskets. Trunks of this shrub would be cut up for firewood. Tribal people would turn the leaves and berries into black dye. In the autumn, the leaves would be crushed and used as incense.



What are these crazy looking things? They are dried up Wild Cucumbers. Earlier in the year, these things looked like little green spiky aliens dangling from vines. When they dry, they pop open and expel large brown shiny seeds. You can see the four empty chambers in the one on the right. The seeds were strung by tribal people and used as jewelry. The seeds and also the roots of this plant were crushed and then thrown into ponds. A chemical in the plant would stun the fish. The stunned fish would float to the top resulting in easy fishing. Pretty smart, eh? Have you ever seen a loofah “sponge?” They are not sponges, but the inside layer of a plant much like this Wild Cucumber. See how the spikes are separating from the inside layer of netting on the left? Much like a loofah, the inside layer was used as a scrubber by local tribes. Tribal people also used the Wild Cucumber for several medicinal purposes.

Look up "digitalis." What is it? What is it used for?

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