By Janelle Eklund
Fond memories of conjuring up herb recipes in the Janice Schofield plant workshop bring visions of colorful wildflower salads. A bed of wild greens dressed with pinks, oranges, greens, and white flowers delighted the eye and refreshed the taste buds. We gathered these beauties in yards and along trails. Bluebell flowers add soft blue/pink colors to the salad palette. One of my favorite recipes was making chips with Bluebell leaves - drizzling them with olive oil and spicing them up with salt, pepper, garlic, and any other delectable spice, and drying them in the food dryer. It made them a real treat!
 
Some people call these beauties chiming bells for good reason. Their bell shaped dresses with a dangling creamy-green pistil seem to chime their elegance throughout the woods.
 
I observed the rosy pink buds making their debut in June. As they mature they open up and turn blue. Then the insects come to get their sweet nectar and help the plant by pollinating it. Most northern insects can't see red colors so, since the plant wants to get pollinated, it changes its color to blue, which the insects are attracted to. Once it's been pollinated it changes back to some of that rosy color it started out with. Pretty smart plant - adapting for its benefit and that of the insects!
 
The hairs on the leaves and bracts remind me of a blanket keeping the plant warm against the cool air.
 
The flowers and leaves on this languid lady, as some people call it, are edible. But since the leaves have those little hairs on it they are more palatable in cooked dishes.
 
Another name given this plant has been lungwort. Using the dried leaves in a tea stimulates the respiratory system, treating the lungs. The leaves have also been used as poultices for cuts and wounds.
 
Some of the Bluebells have run their course already and dropped their petals. Seems like a lot of the plants are 'running their course' faster than normal this year. My speculation is that it was somewhat warm in May with June responding to cool temperatures. What makes one year different than the other - weather - plant cycles - temperatures? The mystery of plants always intrigues me.
 
From my light to yours-
 
References: Plants of the Western Boreal Forest and Aspen Parkland by Johnson, Kershaw, MacKinnon, Pojar.
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By Janelle Eklund
It was early summer and as I scoured the roadside for new plants coming up I spotted a small cluster of lacy leaves giving rise to single cream colored flowers at the tip of their stems. A whorl of leaves danced around the stem a few inches or less below the flower. The petals were closed and looked like folded hands in prayer. A wooly veil of hairs covered the plant from head to toe - including the flower! I was surprised to see just this one cluster and no others in sight close by. Every day I walked by them I was hoping to catch them with open flowers of smiley faces greeting the sun. But alas, the mornings were cool and I never did catch them in their open praises. One day, my friend and I stopped by on our way back from somewhere to say hello to the plant and she helped make a positive identification. As time went on I noticed other little colonies, and some growing singly, making their appearance a short distance down the road.
 
This Anemone can wear different colors of flower dresses but not on the same plant - cream to yellowish and pink.
 
Plants of the Western Boreal Forest and Aspen Parkland says that "Anemones contain ranunculin, a harmless glycoside that produces protoanemonin, a volatile, strongly irritant, unstable oil. The leaves of most species are irritating, and have been boiled to make a strong tea used to kill fleas and lice." I suspect the leaves are irritating because of all those wooly hairs.
 
The www.efloras.org web site says: "Native Americans used Anemone multifida (no varieties specified) medicinally as an antirheumatic, cold remedy, nosebleed cure, and general panacea, as well as a means of killing lice and fleas (D. E. Moerman 1986)".
 
Since this plant is not real prolific in the area I suggest to search for it in its variety of colors and only take from the plant lessons in its prayer and praises.
 
From my light to yours-
 
References: Plants of the Western Boreal Forest and Aspen Parkland by Johnson, Kershaw, MacKinnon, Pojar; www.efloras.org
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By Janelle Eklund
We poked our heads out of the tent to assess what the day would bring us. The cool breath of the high mountains chilled the air. Frozen dew drops clung to plants waiting for the warmth of the morning sun to release them from sleep. A clear blue sky gave promise for another glorious day of traversing slopes to survey the many plant species. July 18, 1999. Chicken Creek, Wrangell Mountains. I was volunteering to help my dear friend and botanist catalogue plants in Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve.
 
Plants grew in the most daunting places – steep scree slopes where steady careful footing was required. Slipping and plunging down these close-to-vertical mountain sides was not an option we relished. My early years on a balance beam came in handy. We headed up Chicken Creek to survey the orange scree slopes above camp. The climb was a grunt but well worth the effort. I was amazed at the diversity of plants growing from rocks and clinging for dear life on the steep slopes. Large patches of Arnica bobbed their heads in the cool breeze. Dwarf fireweed made their home from lower wet areas to the dry rocky slopes. A kaleidoscope of alpine plants painted the landscape. A moth held onto one sharing the moment. We were delighted to find a tiny ancient fern like plant known as Botrychium. It was even more exciting to find out that this particular Botrychium was a rare species. A single wide light green fern shaped leafet provided a backdrop for the yellow/green tiny grape-like spore clusters. Climbing into the plant with a hand lens was a journey unto itself. It had its own trails, mountains and stories.
 
Fast forward to the present. I was in the field behind our house snapping photos of dandelion when to my delightful surprise I bumped into – Botrichyium! It was a different species than what was found on the mountain slopes years ago – but definitely Botrichyium. And there wasn’t just one but many throughout the field.  I couldn’t wait to show my botanist friend. She was also very excited and led me to some web sites about this special plant.
There are a number of species of Botrychium, some of them documented in our area, including Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve.  Some of them are difficult to tell apart. They can often grow in mixed populations and many species are found in disturbed habitats - the mowed field behind my house being one of them. Botrychium spend most of their life underground. The spores work their way into the ground and germinate in the dark into what is called the gametophyte, one stage in the life cycle.  The gametophyte may live for a few years before producing the sporophyte, which again may stay underground for a few years.  Both stages require a mycorrhizal fungi for growth and development.[1]
The common name ‘moonwort’ comes from the half shaped pinnae (leaflet).  Mary Stensvold in her thesis says that moonwort was known from Roman times as having magical and medicinal properties, and it is mentioned in Leonard Fuchs 1542 herbal ‘De historia stirpium’.
Keep a sharp eye and you may be lucky to walk back in time and meet this ancient plant.

​From my light to yours-
References: Mary Clay Stensvold thesis: A Taxonomic and Phylogeographic Study of the Botrychium Lunaria Complex; Mary Beth Cook, Botanist helped in researching information.

[1] Mary Clay Stensvold thesis: A Taxonomic and Phylogeographic Study of the Botrychium Lunaria Complex

By Janelle Eklund
Rows of proud little suns stood rooted in the earth throwing their brightness to the winds of summer. Deep yellow centers cast their color creating a pinwheel of contrasting yellow. Each pin of the wheel radiated beams with three toothed ends. Rays of sun cast shimmering light through this pinwheel of bright yellow petals imparting its intense magic. Surely the suns wand chose this plant to mimic its powers. The faces of Arnica laughed with joy and gave me pause to drink in its happiness.
 
This sunny plant not only heals the spirit but also the body. It is used in homeopathic pills to reduce the effects of trauma. Árnica montana is the species usually used in homeopathy. I had a dentist who recommended taking the homeopathic pills before and after dental work to reduce the trauma - and it worked! Internally it should only be taken in homeopathic form as it has irritants that can cause undesirable symptoms. There are many other species of Arnica and they all seem to have the same medicinal qualities.
 
Richo Cech in his book, Making Plant Medicine, says you can make an oil, salve or cream with Arnica and use it "for external application as an anti-inflammatory and resolvent for reducing swelling and bruising caused by traumatic injury, pulled muscles or ligaments, and for treating arthritic joints". He says you can use the stems, leaves and especially the flowers of Arnica, drying them before infusing in the oil. Externally it should not be used on open wounds or broken skin.
 
Enjoy sunny Arnica and give thanks for the therapy it imparts to the spirit and body.
 
From my light to yours-
 
References: Making Plant medicine by Richo Cech (an excellent book if you are into making plant medicines.)
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