Herbs for a friend whose bones need healing.
knit those bones
Tag: plants
Crassula ovata
Crassula ovata, commonly known as jade plant, lucky plant, money plant or money tree, is a succulent with small pink or white flowers, native to South Africa and Mozambique. It grows as an upright, rounded, thick-stemmed, strongly branched shrub and reaches a height of up to 2.5 metres (8.2 ft).
Here in Southern California, it propagates easily and grows happily with minimal water. Our neighbour has covered her steep downslope with jade by merely tossing cuttings down the hill. It produces small white or pink, star-like shaped flowers in winter, which we’re enjoying now.
grevillea
After a visit to the markets, a walk around the wetlands, and lunch by the lake, we went to the nursery to select a native plant for my sister’s yard. I love this tradition; checking on “my” trees and shrubs each visit is part of the joy of arrival.
Fare thee well, family and gardens! Till next time!
at greenleigh
I’m at my sister’s place for the rest of my Australia stay. It’s so good to be here again.
Streptocarpus caulescens
life cycle
I noticed a milkweed plant that was experiencing all its seasons at once. Nice!
one plant, many colours
Swatches rubbed from the plant material itself. Love all those tones!
Pyrola picta
On my last morning at the retreat, I sat beside another unfamiliar plant to nature journal. We had no cell reception there, so no checking iNaturalist, but I’ve since ID’d it as white-veined wintergreen or whitevein shinleaf, Pyrola picta. This perennial herb in the heath family is native to western North America from southwestern Canada to the southwestern United States.
It is not a source of wintergreen oil; that comes from plants in the Gaultheria genus.
Veratrum californicum
Veratrum californicum (California corn lily, white or California false hellebore) is a beautiful but extremely poisonous riparian plant that I encountered in the Sierras. Its steroidal alkaloids can cause serious birth defects in animals such as sheep, horses, and other mammals that graze upon it. I’m guessing pregnant humans shouldn’t munch on it, either.
Rhus integrifolia
Lemonadeberry is native to these parts; we have a LOT growing on our block. It occurs in both chaparral and coastal sage scrub communities, enduring heat and windy conditions well.
The fruit are eaten by many birds, and the nectar feeds both birds and butterflies. The berries make a pleasingly tart snack if popped in the mouth right off the bush, and sucked for their juice. They can also be dried, then soaked in water and heated to make a kind of hot pink lemonade.
hashiworks 