On the foraging walks with Victoria,we ran into about twenty different vines. Here in August with little active flowering we will look at a few of the common vines in the area. Clematis virginiana or virgin's bower is flowering at this time of the year. The photo is actually from the first of September with even more active blossoms. The latin is just a suggestion, that is the native species and common, but there is also an asian species(Clematis terniflora),more florid and more invasive. A gardener may be more specific. Here the leaf margin is smooth or entire not typical in many Clematis illustrations which are coarsely sawtoothed. The leaves are opposite,pinnately compound in groups of three leaflets. The leaf margins may go better with the Asian cultivated variety.
More certainly it is in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, and therefore mostly on the poison or toxic side. As is frequently the case native Americans did find some medicinal use for the plant. The seeds were used as a pepper substitute. In small doses it was used for headache, higher doses were toxic. Some may be sensitive to the oils on the leaves and need gloves for handling. This is a planted specimen at the top of Cloverlea, but there are some "wild" or escapees along Rolandvue and occasionally around Lake Roland.
Foraging is mainly for the flowers, but selected species are "only slightly poisonous". Remember to boil it.
Update: Both samples, along the Cloverlea fence and "wild" along Rolandvue are the asiatic species, entire leaf margin and stronger fragrance.
Some of the English ivy(Hedera helix) is also flowering this week. The photo is from the top of Rolandvue hill. Another ambivalent plant. It grows well, is evergreen and Victoria claims that sheep or goats can get through the winter browsing ivy if there is no other forage. Some states rate it invasive, others encourage it as a wall cover to moderate temperature and weather damage. But on buildings it can invade gutters and roof tiles. The berries ripen in winter, useful for birds, but moderately toxic to humans. In some parts of the neighborhood it seems to be a nice ground cover and in others invading and choking trees.
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| alternate leaves vary with species and age of plant |
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| flowering common ivy |
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| younger leaf common ivy |
The kudzu photo is from the west side of Cloverlea about halfway down the hill. It seems possible that the vine that ate the South is less dangerous than its press would suggest. Rather than spreading by the square mile it is spreading by the acre. It kills other plants by smothering, lowers biodiversity, and outcompetes local species. On the other hand it is a world champion nitrogen fixer (500 pounds per hectare) and has relatively large nutritious roots. The vine lifestyle allows it to concentrate more energy in the root and less in the woody stems. It can spread by growing from nodes along the vine or by seed after insect pollination.
Kudzu was one of those, beware of unintended consequences, cautionary tales. It was actively supported by the government as a shade plant, erosion control and cover crop. Then quickly put on the invasive list and spending ten times the promotion investment to control it. Control could be by wild goats, can eat an acre a day.
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| trifoliate leaves with 2 or 3 lobes,long stem |
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| seed pods a member of the pea family,nitrogen fixer |
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| kudzu vine with purple stain prominent hairs |
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| close-up of three part leaf with lobed leaflets |
The bind weed has been in a previous post but has been impressive in its persistence. It also grows quickly, is easily removed by hand but seems to come back overnight. Controlling some of the vines with hand pulling, some suggest leaving the debris on the bed as fertilizer. But some vines grow back even from cut fragments. I am bagging the bindweed.
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| The arrow shaped leaves of bindweed growing among pachysandra |
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