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recent
It's been a while since I proclaimed my new project -to post photos of the plants I am learning about here. I have not forgotten. In fact, I remember all too well. I have taken way to many photos and just can't seem to find the time to sort through them. Then there is also the problem that flowers don't really last that long and plants are always changing. The plant I may have taken a photo of last week looks totally different today, so what photos do I post? It seems that the most thorough method would be to take photos of each plant all year long, and then post them in a way that documents their life. But if I had the patience for that I would be painting instead of taking photos anyway.
Well, just to show that I have not forgotten, I have spent some time today both taking pictures of a plant (the flowers are long gone), editing, and POSTING them.
Dear reader, please meet Aquilegia vulgaris (Columbine).
I have yet to find a really great plant site that tells me everything I want to know about each plant, such as "can i eat it?", "can it be used for medicine?", "what other uses are there?", "what role does this plant play in it's local ecosystem?" So, for now, I just google their names and read as many sites as I can. So all I know about this one is that it is part of the buttercup family, which I hear is poison, so I am glad I didn't eat it today. Yet, none of the other sites I have found writing about this plant mention any nasty poison attributes.
One site seems to indicate that it can be used to regulate the female menstrual cycle.
The USDA site shows where it fits in in the kingdom, subkingdom, superdivision, division...family, genus, species.
. That's interesting I guess.
Henriette's Herbal Homepage says:
Aquilegia. Aquilegia vulgaris, L. Columbine.—A perennial herbaceous plant of the Fam. Ranunculaceae, indigenous to Europe, but cultivated in our gardens. At one time considered diuretic and diaphoretic, columbine is not at present used in practical medicine. For further information concerning this drug, see U. S. D., 19th ed., p. 1394.
One thing that is clear is that this is native to Europe, but is also found in the US now, having escaped from someone's garden. Dot Flowers lists the states in which it can be found.
Many more photos of Aquilegia vulgaris.
These come in a beautiful range of colours.Seed freely, coming up year after year. We call them granny bonnets.
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