vandaliatraveler:Above are a few mementos from my trip to Dolly Sods this past Saturday. The g
vandaliatraveler:Above are a few mementos from my trip to Dolly Sods this past Saturday. The gorgeous but deadly pine barrens death camas (Stenanthium leimanthoides) is reaching peak bloom in the plateau’s peat bogs and seeps. This showy perennial is often confused with the closely related fly poison (Amianthium muscitoxicum), but while the latter produces an unbranched inflorescence (a raceme), Stenanthium produces a multi-branched one (a panicle). Both plants are in the false hellebore family and contain high concentrations of poisonous alkaloids - early white settlers who mistook death camas bulbs for those of wild onion paid dearly for their misidentification. Other wildflowers currently in bloom on the plateau include cow-wheat (Melampyrum lineare) and fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium), a tall, stately perennial with a broad distribution across the Northern Hemisphere. Incidentally, fireweed nectar makes a beautiful, rich honey that’s quite popular up north in Alaska and Canada. I order it online every now and again as a change of pace from the locally-produced honeys. But you can make it yourself if you have fireweed blossoms readily available. -- source link
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