Do You Know What it is?

 

A creek plunges down a hillside and under the road halfway up the hill to our house.  The place has a hint of magic even from the car.  And, if you stop and explore, there is a palpable sense of enchantment.  Malachi, my eight year old, immediately stepped back under the large hanging ferns and gasped, “Mom, this spot is the most beautiful place on earth.”  Then a few seconds later, “Mom, I just saw raccoons!”

Some other people have felt the magic, too.  The entrance to the culvert under the road has been carefully stacked with rocks that fit together like a stonemason laid them. But mostly the place feels outside of human touch.  Even the edge of the asphalt is encroached upon by unusual plants.  This is a flower that is blooming there. It is just starting to open.  Below is a look at it before it unfurls.  There are 40 or 50 of these pushing up right next to a human road as if fairyland were intent on taking back the world with an army of flowering plants.

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21 Comments
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tom MORELAND
Guest
tom MORELAND
13 years ago

my guess is coltsfoot?

Staff
Member
13 years ago

A friend on facebook told me it was Coltsfoot. I looked it up and found it on the Herald’s site.

Staff
Member
13 years ago

A friend on facebook told me it was Coltsfoot. I looked it up and found it on the Herald’s site.

Staff
Member
13 years ago

Tom, you came in while I was writing my comment. But you are right! Thank you!

Staff
Member
13 years ago

Tom, you came in while I was writing my comment. But you are right! Thank you!

Ernie's Place
Guest
13 years ago

Kym
The Salmon Creek area is well known for unique species, some being the only ones in the world. Your “Colts Foot” is even diferent than other Colts Foot. There is even a unique specie of “Loco Weed” that grows there. (This is not a joke and has nothing to do with Marijuana) Enjoy your special place.

Harry
Guest
Harry
13 years ago
Reply to  Ernie's Place

Beautiful picture! A wash/poultice made of Coltsfoot is good for skin rashes. Mashed up and steeped in hot water like tea (don’t boil) and applied to skin rashes is very healing. A very good medicine plant for sure.

Ernie's Place
Guest
13 years ago

Kym
The Salmon Creek area is well known for unique species, some being the only ones in the world. Your “Colts Foot” is even diferent than other Colts Foot. There is even a unique specie of “Loco Weed” that grows there. (This is not a joke and has nothing to do with Marijuana) Enjoy your special place.

Harry
Guest
Harry
13 years ago
Reply to  Ernie's Place

Beautiful picture! A wash/poultice made of Coltsfoot is good for skin rashes. Mashed up and steeped in hot water like tea (don’t boil) and applied to skin rashes is very healing. A very good medicine plant for sure.

Staff
Member
13 years ago

I understand that Salmon Creek was known among the Native Americans as being a place with a diverse number of plants.

And now I not only know the name of one more but I know what it can be used for. Thanks you guys.

Staff
Member
13 years ago

I understand that Salmon Creek was known among the Native Americans as being a place with a diverse number of plants.

And now I not only know the name of one more but I know what it can be used for. Thanks you guys.

tom MORELAND
Guest
tom MORELAND
13 years ago

other wise know as ponytoes. Sometimes I wish we didn’t kill off the locals native americans so we would know more about these plants.

Harry
Guest
Harry
13 years ago
Reply to  tom MORELAND

There’s more power for well being and healing in plants than in all the chemically based pharmaceuticals in all of our drug stores, in my opinion. Genocide damaged the past, present and future. The knowledge lost through genocide is affecting our ability to heal our world today. Maybe we have to learn how to relate to our natural world again. Starting from near scratch is a challenge, but there are some local knowledgeable people in our communities and some good ethno-botanical books out there. So many plants and so much power.

tom MORELAND
Guest
tom MORELAND
13 years ago

other wise know as ponytoes. Sometimes I wish we didn’t kill off the locals native americans so we would know more about these plants.

Harry
Guest
Harry
13 years ago
Reply to  tom MORELAND

There’s more power for well being and healing in plants than in all the chemically based pharmaceuticals in all of our drug stores, in my opinion. Genocide damaged the past, present and future. The knowledge lost through genocide is affecting our ability to heal our world today. Maybe we have to learn how to relate to our natural world again. Starting from near scratch is a challenge, but there are some local knowledgeable people in our communities and some good ethno-botanical books out there. So many plants and so much power.

Staff
Member
13 years ago

Sadly, because it is hard for pharmaceutical companies to patent plants and make money on the patent, plant research isn’t getting much funding.

Harry
Guest
Harry
13 years ago
Reply to  Staff

Sometimes I think knowledge is more valuable than the dollar? Been finding black trumpet (aka black chanterelle) and orange chanterelle (kinda late but still finding them) mushrooms. I like them better than the store bought button type. Finding better food in the hills of Salmon Creek, our home, than in the grocery store and saving gas and money by not buying them at the grocery store. On a positive note; about a month ago I did see the local store selling wild orange chaterelle mushrooms that someone is picking and getting paid for so people can enjoy wild mushrooms and make some pocket change too. 🙂

Staff
Member
13 years ago

Sadly, because it is hard for pharmaceutical companies to patent plants and make money on the patent, plant research isn’t getting much funding.

Harry
Guest
Harry
13 years ago
Reply to  Staff

Sometimes I think knowledge is more valuable than the dollar? Been finding black trumpet (aka black chanterelle) and orange chanterelle (kinda late but still finding them) mushrooms. I like them better than the store bought button type. Finding better food in the hills of Salmon Creek, our home, than in the grocery store and saving gas and money by not buying them at the grocery store. On a positive note; about a month ago I did see the local store selling wild orange chaterelle mushrooms that someone is picking and getting paid for so people can enjoy wild mushrooms and make some pocket change too. 🙂

K at the bookstore
Guest
K at the bookstore
13 years ago

Harry’s a man after my own heart. The use I know for Western Coltsfoot (and I’ve just been reading Michael Moore–no, not that Michael Moore–on medicinal plants of the pacific west, who says Western Coltsfoot hybridizes readily, so that would maybe explain the differing early flower bud color. Maybe)…anyway, the use I know is for coughs and colds and scratchy throat. A tea of the dried leaves is what you use–you pick and dry the leaves in the summertime. The root is the part best used for poultices, for skin sores and such.
The plant is also antispasmodic. But…of course, consult with a real doctor or trusted healer if you are sick.
I am daily amazed, however, by how we live surrounded by amazing, healing plants.

K at the bookstore
Guest
K at the bookstore
13 years ago

Harry’s a man after my own heart. The use I know for Western Coltsfoot (and I’ve just been reading Michael Moore–no, not that Michael Moore–on medicinal plants of the pacific west, who says Western Coltsfoot hybridizes readily, so that would maybe explain the differing early flower bud color. Maybe)…anyway, the use I know is for coughs and colds and scratchy throat. A tea of the dried leaves is what you use–you pick and dry the leaves in the summertime. The root is the part best used for poultices, for skin sores and such.
The plant is also antispasmodic. But…of course, consult with a real doctor or trusted healer if you are sick.
I am daily amazed, however, by how we live surrounded by amazing, healing plants.