Ground ivy is a small, creeping ground cover which roots at the joints, with oval, scalloped leaves and small blue mint flowers. It forms large patches in waste places or in damp meadows. It is naturalized from Europe.
ILLUSTRATION 40 Ground ivy
Ground ivy tea: gather the vine in summer and fall. Make the tea by boiling six or seven leaves in a pint of water. Strain and sweeten to taste. Ethel Corn said, “Ground ivy does make a pleasant tea for anybody t’drink, and old people was bad t’give it to babies for colic.” Jake Waldroop says it was given to babies with hives to break the hives up. Another recipe for tea is to use ¼ cup fresh-picked, chopped leaves with one cup water. Boil and strain, sweeten with syrup or honey. Use hot or cold to reduce fever.
Catnip (Nepeta cataria) (family Labiatae)
(owl eyes)
Catnip grows from one to three feet high in waste places. It has pale green, woolly, very odorous leaves, and a dense whorl of velvety, lavender-white flowers. It is a native of Europe which was brought over to this country by the first settlers, and became a naturalized weed.
Catnip has a very strange effect upon most cats—they find it exhilarating. When catnip is brewed into tea it has just the opposite effect upon humans, for it acts as a sedative, calming nerves and inducing sleep. Catnip tea would prevent nightmares and lighten nervous disorders. The leaves were often chewed to relieve the pain of toothache. Catnip was given for colds with boneset or mint. The leaves have a high content of vitamins A and C. It is best to gather catnip when it is flowering. Jake Waldroop says catnip was also called rabbit tobacco. “Lots of people would smoke it.”
ILLUSTRATION 41 Catnip
Catnip tea: pour a pint of boiling water over a half cup of broken stems and leaves. Let stand several minutes, then strain. Combine catnip leaves with peppermint and chamomile for a good-tasting tea.
Oswego tea (Monarda didyma) (family Labiatae)
(red bee balm, red horsemint)
Bee balm grows in rich, wet places in the mountains. It has ribbed stems to three feet high, with dark green, opposite leaves that are very aromatic. The flower heads are bright scarlet and attract hummingbirds. The flowers are sometimes floated in lemonade or iced teas for flavor or color. Leaves are gathered and used fresh or dried for an invigorating tea. Oswego tea is supposed to stimulate the appetite and induce sleep.
ILLUSTRATION 42 Oswego tea
Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
(purple bee balm)
The lavender bee balm has opposite green leaves, often purple-tinged, and purplish stems. It grows in colonies in open woodlands and along roadsides. The leaves are aromatic. Flowers vary from pale lavender to a deep magenta or purple. Leaves have been used as flavoring in sausage, and it is a favorite for mint tea.
Pale bergamot (Monarda clinopodia)
Pale bergamot grows in mountain woods. It has flowers of a pale greenish-white, less showy than those of the other species. The narrow green leaves have a mint-camphor odor.
Mountain mint (Pycnanthemum incanun) (family Labiatae)
(calamint, little fish flower, white mint, white horsemint)
Mountain mint is common on hillsides, in open woods, and along trails and roadsides. It is a tall plant, and its leaves have a frosted appearance. The flowers are white and very aromatic.
The leaves make a very pleasing tea, and are especially good combined with lemons or oranges in a cool drink. They may also be used for candied mint leaves or as flavorings in candies or frostings. Gather mint leaves in the summer when the plant is young, just before or after it blooms. Boil the leaves in water, strain, and sweeten with honey.
ILLUSTRATION 43 Mountain mint
Mrs. Hershel Keener said that she used to make it all the time. “Make a good strong tea out of it. It’s good for colds and it might keep you from having pneumonia if you took it in time.”
Pennyroyal (Hedeoma pulegioides)
(penny-rile, squaw-mint)
American pennyroyal is a small annual plant, with very odorous leaves and small lavender flowers. It grows in waste places, often appearing as a weedy garden plant. It has been called the best-tasting of the wild mints, making tea that was both potent and healthful, supposedly helpful in curing coughs and colds.
Mrs. Mann Norton described it as “a kind of springy little bush. Gather it when it’s green and tie it up in the house and keep it for tea. You can use it after it’s dried just the same as when it’s green.”
Rev. Morgan told us that “they would sell pennyroyal in the apothecaries. People would boil the pennyroyal plant, the whole plant, and then catch the fumes from it and condense the fumes through a wormlike still. Then they bottled the fumes. I don’t know what it was used for, but the druggists used it in medicines.”
ILLUSTRATION 44 Pennyroyal
Cora Ledbetter said that her family used to boil it and “just pour a person who was snake-bitten full of that to make him vomit.”
Pennyroyal tea: use fresh or dried leaves. Do not boil. Merely pour hot water over it and let stand for a few minutes. Flavor with syrup or honey.
Pennyroyal shoots can also be added to fruit salad. A few sprigs of pennyroyal rubbed on your face or hands will keep gnats and other insects away.
Curled mint (Mentha crispa) (family Labiatae)
Curled mint persists around old homesites and is sparingly naturalized along streams. It has very woolly, gray-green leaves, and a pleasing mint odor. It is good to use in iced tea, or to make mint tea.
ILLUSTRATION 45 Curled mint
Spearmint (Mentha viridis)
(green mint, roman mint, lamb mint)
Spearmint is a one to two foot perennial growing in old garden sites or along streams. It has dark green, very pleasant-smelling leaves, and pale purple flowers. It can be dried for winter use as flavoring or for tea. It is favored for lamb sauce, or cooked with English peas.
Spearmint tea: steep mint in water to desired strength. Sweeten with honey.
ILLUSTRATION 46 Spearmint
Peppermint (Mentha piperata)
Peppermint grows in wet places, and is naturalized around springs and streams. It has very strong-smelling dark green foliage and pale purple flowers. Peppermint tea is a remedy for colic, and is considered a sleep-inducing sedative.
Ethel Corn told us that people used to drink it for a sick stomach. The leaves and stems are gathered, boiling water is poured over them, and the tea is allowed to steep for a few minutes, then strained and sweetened. Either spearmint or peppermint can be used in the following mint recipes.
ILLUSTRATION 47 Kenny Runion with peppermint.
Mint with new peas: tear young mint leaves in pieces and cook with very young peas.
Mint syrup: two cups sugar; one cup water; one tablespoon fresh or dried mint leaves chopped fine. Stir together and simmer until sugar is completely dissolved. Cover and let stand one hour. Strain and use over fresh fruit or puddings.
Mint-carrot salad: add chopped mint leaves to carrot slaw or to fruit salad.
Mint jelly: do not boil leaves, but pour boiling water over them and let steep. Strain, add sugar and pectin, and cook until it jells.
Mint vinegar: two cups tender mint leaves; one cup sugar; one quart cider vinegar. Let mint stand covered by sugar for five minutes. Bring vinegar to a boil. Add mint and sugar to vinegar and boil three minutes. Strain through cheesecloth and bottle. Let stand several weeks to ripen.
Mint sauce: one bunch mint; ¾ tablespoon sugar; ¾ cup vinegar. Chop mint very fine. Dissolve sugar in vinegar. Add mint and let stand one hour. Then strain.
Mint frosting: chop young mint leaves fine, mix with powdered sugar, soft butter, and drops of cream.
Blue-mountain tea (Solidago odora) (family Compositae)
Blue-mountain tea, so-called because it grows in the Blue Ridge Mountains, is really a goldenrod, but the only one that has fragrant, anise-scented foliage. It is a slender plant with narrow, shining whole leaves, and a curving head of pale yellow-green f
lowers. The odor of the foliage is distinctive and it is impossible to mistake the licorice taste and odor for any other plant. It is common in open oak-pine woods, and along trails and roads.
ILLUSTRATION 48 Blue-mountain tea
The leaves make a delicious tea, either hot or cold. Steep green or dry leaves in hot water until the tea is a pale golden color. Add sugar, honey, or lemon.
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) (family Compositae)
(woundwort, nosebleed weed, bloodwort)
Yarrow is a colonial plant, with finely cut gray-green foliage and heads of small white flowers. Both leaves and flowers are strong-smelling. Yarrow grows along roadsides and in old fields. It is a native of Europe naturalized and common in this country.
Originally a “woundwort,” the bitter-tasting and aromatic yarrow was said to cure almost any internal or external human ill. Leaves placed on the brow would relieve headache, placed in one’s shoe they would help ease sore or blistered feet, and they were often used to bind up wounds.
Leaves are brewed into a bracing, not unpleasant tea, good and warming in cold weather. Yarrow is also used as a flavoring or as a potherb.
ILLUSTRATION 49 Yarrow
Yarrow tea: place dry or green leaves in a cup, pour hot water over them, steep only until color shows. Drink without sweetening.
Fried yarrow: fry in butter until brown and serve hot, sprinkled with sugar and the juice of an orange.
Yarrow salad: use very young leaves; mix sparingly with cress, sorrel, or violet leaves. Add oil and vinegar, salt and pepper.
Chamomile (Anthemis nobilis) (family Compositae)
Chamomile is a low-growing annual, with finely cut, very pleasantly scented foliage, and topped by small white, daisylike flowers with bright gold centers. It is a native of Europe that persists around old gardens. Flower heads are gathered and make very pleasant-tasting tea. They should be gathered at noon, when the sun is shining, for then the dried blooms will have the most flavor.
Chamomile tea: gently steep a teaspoon of leaves in hot water until it is a pale golden color. Add sugar, honey, syrup, or a dash of ginger.
FLAVORINGS
Some wild plants are used mainly as accents, or seasoning, in salads or with other potherbs.
Wood sorrel (Oxalis filipes, Oxalis corniculata)
(sour grass, shamrock)
Wood sorrels are delicate small plants, with clover-like tri-divided leaves. They have small, bright yellow flowers. They are found in open woodlands, on damp trails, and as a weed in gardens or cropland. The leaves have a deliciously tart taste, but must be used sparingly, for they contain oxalic acid. Sometimes they are called “sweet and sour” for the leaf stems are sweet and the leaves themselves are sour.
ILLUSTRATION 50 Sour grass or wood sorrel
Wood sorrel lemonade: boil leaves 15 minutes, cool, strain, add honey and lemons.
Fish sauce: one cup of chopped leaves mixed with a spoonful of flour, melted margarine, and a tablespoon of vinegar. Spoon over fried fish. OR: chop leaves into melted butter or margarine, add salt and pepper, and use over fish.
Wood sorrel cream sauce: two cups of finely chopped sorrel, water, sugar, salt, pepper, and one cup of sour cream. Cook and drain sorrel, add sour cream and seasonings. Mix well and use over other greens.
Dill (Anethum graveolens) (family Umbelliferae)
(dilly weed)
Dill is an annual which grows to four feet, with striped, hollow stems, and finely cut, very odorous leaves. Flowers appear in rather good-looking, large, flat, yellow-green umbels. Dill will naturalize as a garden weed, and grow in waste places.
The leaves are the main flavoring ingredient in dill pickles. Dill water was used for stomach troubles. It is also used to flavor vinegar, beans, and salads. The seeds are also edible and used as flavoring in salads and cooked vegetables.
ILLUSTRATION 51 Dill weed
Fish sauce: chop dill fine, blend with melted butter, pour over fish, OR: mix together ¼ cup butter or margarine, half teaspoon salt, dash pepper, half teaspoon dill weed (or seeds), one teaspoon parsley. Spread over fish and broil.
Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) (family Compositae)
(bitter buttons)
Tansy is a tall herb, with dark green stems, and very strong-smelling, deeply cut leaves. The stalks are topped by a cluster of yellow button flowers. This European plant has naturalized along roadsides and is found around old gardens. It was planted in orchards in the belief it would keep pests away from the fruit. Leaves were rubbed on new beehives to make the bees feel at home. People used to gather tansy to flavor puddings, omelets, salads and cheeses, and special cakes called “tansies.”
ILLUSTRATION 52 Tansy
NUTS
There is a tremendous variety of nuts which grow on trees in the mountains. White and black walnuts, hickory nuts, and hazelnuts are usually eaten plain or used in baking. Chinquapins, beechnuts and wild chestnuts are sometimes eaten plain, but more often they are roasted or boiled in water for twenty to thirty minutes. Chestnuts are sometimes used in stuffing for turkey. Any kind of nut can be stored for the winter. Take the hull off the nuts, except beechnuts, before storing.
Black walnut (Juglans nigra) (family Juglandaceae)
Black walnuts are large trees up to 150 feet high, in rich mountain coves or along streams. They have frequently been planted and mark old homesites long after the dwellings are gone. Walnut wood has been prized for gunstocks and fine furniture, and as a result walnut trees have been almost completely eliminated in some areas. The bark is dark, often moss-covered. The black walnut has twigs with a light pith and very large leaves with many leaflets. Twigs and foliage have a characteristic odor. The flowers are green catkins that appear with the new leaves.
Walnuts are round and dark with a hard four-celled kernel, covered by a thick, greenish husk. The hulls yield a brown dye. Nut meats are prized for candies, cakes, and cookies.
ILLUSTRATION 53 Black walnut
Black walnut pudding: ½ cup finely chopped walnuts; one tablespoon butter; four teaspoons cornstarch; ½ cup milk; two egg yolks; three egg whites; ¼ teaspoon salt; tiny bit of cream of tartar; ¼ cup granulated sugar; one teaspoon maple flavoring. Butter a baking dish. Mix all ingredients except egg whites. Place in greased baking dish. Top with well-beaten egg whites. Bake at 350° about forty-five minutes.
Walnut pickle: Gather the nuts when they can be easily pierced with a needle. Soak in brine one week. Remove and sun for a few hours. Soak in cold water for twelve hours. Put in jars and pour over them boiling-hot vinegar to which has been added one teaspoonful each of ginger, cloves, mace, and pepper; two onions; a small quantity of horseradish; and two pods red pepper for each quart vinegar. Cover well. The pickles will be ready for use in a month or more.
Butternut (Juglans cinerea) (family Juglandaceae
(white walnut, oil nut)
The butternut is a rather uncommon tree, found in rich river bottoms and valleys in the mountain regions at lower altitudes. It is a medium-sized tree with smooth gray branches and dark bark. Green flowers appear with the leaves, which have eleven to seventeen leaflets with sticky petioles. Nuts are oval in a very thick, sticky hull and can be ground into flour or oil, or can be pickled when green. They can be substituted for black walnuts in any recipes calling for such nuts.
Jake Waldroop says that butternuts “are mostly just to eat. They’re sweet. You let them dry and crack them up and they’re good.”
ILLUSTRATION 54 Butternut hickory
Pecan (Carya illinoensis)
(king nut)
The pecan is not native to the mountain area, but often is found growing around old homesites, and sometimes in woods’ edges where the nuts have been planted by squirrels or bluejays. It is a large tree, fifty to one hundred feet high, with brown bark. Leaves have seven to nine slightly downy leaflets. Flowers occur with the young leaves. The oval nuts have very thin husks and shells and very sweet kernels.
Shagbark hickory (Cary
a ovata)
The shagbark is a tremendous tree found on mountain slopes and in rich coves. The shaggy bark separates in layers and is a distinctive feature of this hickory. Leaves are very large with eleven to seventeen leaflets. Nuts have thin shells and are very sweet and edible.
Shellbark hickory (Carya laciniosa)
The shellbark is more commonly found in the Mississippi River Valley or in the central heartlands. It is occasionally found in the mountains along streams. It has a flaky bark and one- to two-foot leaves, with seven leaflets. Nuts are in a thick, bony shell.
Mockernut (Carya tomentosa)
(white heart hickory)
Mockernut is a common tree found in oak-pine woods and on chestnut-oak ridges. It is a large tree with ridged gray bark, and leaves with seven large, rather smooth leaflets. The nuts are large, with thick shells and on individual trees vary in size and thickness of hulls and in edibility.
Pignut hickory (Carya glabra)
(sweet pignut)
The pignut hickory is a small or medium-sized tree found in oak-pine woods in dry, light soil. It has ridged bark and smooth leaves with three to seven (usually five) leaflets. Nuts are small and slightly flattened in a thin hull. Nuts on individual trees vary greatly—some are acrid and bitter, others sweet and edible.
Wild Summer and Fall Plant Foods: The Foxfire Americana Library (8) Page 7
