What to do with Weeds – the Summer Edition
Hello again. If you’ve read the spring edition you know I’m passionate about wild medicinal plants – or weeds as many people like to call them.
Fragaria viriginiana
Here are three more common plants that you may find on your lawn during the summer months.
Wild Strawberry
If summer sunshine and blue skies had a flavour, I think it would be the wild strawberry.
This diminutive little plant is the tiny wild cousin of the strawberries that are appearing in roadside stands and stores at this time of year. The berries are no bigger than a pea and ripen from early June through July. You would have to be very dedicated to pick enough to fill a bowl, but they make a tasty snack when out in the garden. There are no poisonous look-alikes, so they are a great plant to get to know as a novice forager. There are a couple of different species that grow wild in Ontario, Fragaria viriginiana and Fragaria vesca, both are delicious. F. vesca grows its flowers and berries above its leaves and produces fruit throughout the summer, while F. virginiana prefers to hide its berries under its leaves and produces fruit only in June.
You will first notice these plants in the Spring when their five-petaled white flowers dot your lawn – they prefer sandy soil and plenty of sun. There is a plant called Mock Strawberry, Potentilla indica, that can resemble them, but it has a yellow flower. It also produces a berry similar to the Wild Strawberry, and while it is edible, it is rather mealy and bland. Wild food enthusiasts soon learn that there is a difference between edible and palatable.
Fragaria vesca
Wild strawberries have more to offer than delicious berries, they are also a useful medicinal plant. They are one of only a handful of herbaceous (non-woody) plants that remain green all year. If you go out in February and dig down through the snow, you will find Wild Strawberry leaves still green and fresh. This adaptation allows the plants to get a head start on growing in the early Spring, without having to wait to produce new leaves, which is why they are the earliest berry to produce fruit. In order to remain green through the winter, the leaves are full of vitamin C which acts as a natural anti-freeze and preservative for the plant and is very useful for us humans as well. Historically, before the advent of grocery stores and year-round fresh fruit and vegetables, they were used to prevent scurvy – a vitamin C deficiency – and to help cure winter coughs and colds. Both the fruit and the leaves are cooling and astringent: they tone and tighten tissues. Strawberries, both wild and cultivated, can be used as a toning face mask. The leaves are useful for relieving diarrhea, and soothing sore throats. Steep a tablespoon of fresh, chopped Wild Strawberry leaves in a cup of boiling water for 20 minutes or so and sip, or gargle in the case of sore throats.
Pineapple Weed
Matricaria discoidea
This is a wild relative of Chamomile and you will find it growing in rocky or gravelly places beside driveways and paths. It is a humble little plant, often overlooked, reaching only around 6 inches tall, and like Chamomile, it has soft feathery leaves. It has a small yellow flower resembling the centre of a daisy without any surrounding petals. But if you chance to find it and gently rub the leaves between your fingers, you will be rewarded with a sweet fragrance reminiscent of pineapple – hence the name.
If you are allergic to Chamomile, this plant should be avoided as it is a close relative and could cause the same reactions.
Pineapple weed shares all the properties of Chamomile, albeit a little less intensely. Both are calming herbs that also help with digestion. A tea can be made by adding about a tablespoon of Pineapple weed flowers to a cup of boiling water and steeping for 10 to 15 minutes. Any longer and it will begin to taste bitter. It is a pleasant soothing tea, good for calming frayed nerves and digestive upsets. I’ve found it to be an excellent remedy for restless, over-excited children, especially when they have eaten too much rich food. It was my go-to for post-birthday party crankiness. A half-cup or so of tea and a favourite picture book helped my children unwind enough to sleep.
Self Heal
Prunella vulgaris
This plant often crops up in lawns with rich soil and some shade. Again, it is a small plant, growing up to a foot tall, but often much less. It is easily recognised by its head of purple or violet flowers. Another common name for it is All-Heal. It has fallen out of favour somewhat, as it can be difficult to grow commercially as a herb, but in its heyday, it was used to heal many ills as its name denotes. It had a reputation among medieval knights for stopping bleeding and healing wounds, and later among European soldiers as a remedy for inflammation, ulcers and throat infections. The 17th-century herbalist Nicholas Culpeper wrote that the plant is called Self-heal because “when you are hurt, you may heal yourself”.
Today we tend to use it as an astringent to tone and tighten tissues, and yes, help stop minor bleeding from cuts and scrapes. It is also a vulnerary – a herb that helps broken skin knit back together. Self Heal has fairly juicy stems and leaves and can easily be crushed and rubbed into a paste that can be applied to cuts, scrapes, and bug bites while out in the garden. Like Wild Strawberry, a tea made from the flowers and leaves is useful for sore throats and diarrhea. Again, add a tablespoon of fresh, chopped herb to a cup of boiling water. Steep this herb at least 20 minutes, longer if desired – or if you wander off and forget about it.
