Ornamental Cabbages

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:49:42 +0000

This was a fine display in the Dorothy Harvie Garden at the Calgary Zoo. These Ornamental Cabbages always fascinate me, especially the white ones because they seem to have a sprinkling of tiny green hearts around the edges of the leaves. Taken on 25 September 2012.

Balsamroot heaven

nobody@ipernity.com (Anne Elliott) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:03:27 +0000

Anne Elliott has posted:

On 6th June, a few of us did a day's hike to see the northernmost limit recorded for Balsamroot , Balsamorhiza sagittata. Then, on 11th June, we went down south towards the US border to just west of the Head-Smashed-in Buffalo Jump area and were delighted to see hillsides covered in these bright yellow flowers. We could see them from the car - we didn't have to take one single step to find them - so much easier than our long day of hiking to see them, LOL. When we pulled into one ranch driveway to see if we had the right address, we saw these two Mule Deer amongst the Balsamroot. Just looked so pretty.

"Balsamroots are native to western North America. There are about twelve species plus many common hybrids.... Native Americans used the sticky sap of this plant as a topical antiseptic for minor wounds. The large taproots produced by Balsamorhiza sagittata are edible and were harvested, dried, and ground into a starchy flour by Native Americans when other food plants were scarce. The entire plant is edible and nutritious, but not necessarily enjoyable because it contains a bitter, strongly pine-scented sap. The plants large taproots are reported to be very palatable and far less bitter than the above ground parts of the plant. The plant grows on dry hillsides and dry open meadows throughout the Mountain West of North America."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balsamorhiza

Photos, videos and docs of Anne Elliott, with the keywords: "bitter"

Ornamental Cabbages

Balsamroot heaven