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Two of my prairie flower books seem to give contradicting information about Ragwort. One says this plant is "poisonous to humans and livestock, but was used in folk medicines". The other says Ragwort "was used by Native American women for general health, hence the name Squaw-weed", and "was used by early European settlers as a diuretic and diaphoretic". There would have been a risk, though, for "plants of this genus senecio are known to cause liver damage to grazing livestock. Afflicted animals may stagger, walk continuously, and become disoriented". (Hm-m.......sounds like me in SuperWalmart!)
I wondered, also, where the "rag" in Ragwort originated........but maybe it has something to do with being a medicinal for females.......sorry to bring that up, guys.
At any rate, this Ragwort photo was taken a couple weeks ago, and the blooms are now long gone. It was along our gravel road, in the ditch.
Oh, and here's one more tidbit.......I was curious as to what "wort" means, and looked it up in the dictionary: "A plant, herb, or vegetable, used for food or medicine (used chiefly in combinations in various plant names, as in liverwort, figwort).....". Spiderwort is blooming in the ditch right now, and I hope to post a photo and info about that soon. St. John's Wort is another "wort" that sounds familiar.......it is sold as a herbal supplement which helps to counteract depressive moods. I took it for a time a few years ago, and did feel it was somewhat helpful, but it takes several weeks for the benefits to kick in.
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Here's a lonely, long-lost violet photo from early in May. It didn't want to be left out of the fun of being posted on the blog!
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Have a terrific Tuesday!!
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5 comments:
Thanks, as always, for the botanical information and beautiful photos.
Have a happy Tuesday too.
I LOVE the violet picture. It would look wonderful somewhere in my house. Do you have all your flower pictures all over your house?
Have fun with VBS. We're doing that, too, this week. I usually enjoy talking to the other adults and am amazed at how badly behaved some of the other kids are!
I laughed out loud at your SuperWalMart comment. I sometimes get the blind staggers in there, too.
Your violet and ragwort photos are lovely.
Hope you're having a good time at VBS.
Beautiful. I'm glad I checked in.
Mary
Hi, Ruth, caution, Pat, Mary!
Thanks for swinging by, one and all! Hope you had a pleasant day.
VBS is going well......little kids are such a hoot. They are simply themselves, with no pretensions. Its great!
No, I don't yet have any photos on the wall....they're just in the computer and on memory cards, from which we can watch them on a digital frame. Aren't we modern!!
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