Fort Liberty Series – Roundleaf Boneset

 Note from the Author: New wild plant!

 

Common Name: Roundleaf Boneset

 

Other Common Names: Roundleaf Eupatorium, False Horehound, Roundleaf boneset, Roundleaf Thoroughwort

 

Botanical Family: Asteraeae (The Aster Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Eupatorium rotundifolium

 

Description & Habitat:

          Roundleaf Boneset is a native perennial found in the eastern and central United States, it’s commonly found in savannas and boggy locations but the one I noticed was found by the side of a path in pretty dry conditions. The soil under it was sandy with a noticeable amount of reddish color due to Iron Oxide suggesting some clay was mixed in somewhere. It’s most identifying feature is the opposite and clasping leaf arrangement, as you can see in the picture it was so perfect I almost thought it was a plastic plant. I only saw one of these plants in the entire hike and none of them were in bloom or had residual seed heads suggesting that these plants are herbaceous and that their stems and whatnot break down quickly once they bloom and produce seed.  According to some references this plant can have an alternate leaf arrangement too, so always use more than one identification feature if you’re trying to identify this plant in the wild. This variation is because Roundleaf Boneset can freely hybridize with similar species of Eupatorium producing hybrids with slightly differing visual characteristics. The strong Points of this plant are that it supports native pollinators and is a food source for the larvae of several species of moth. The seeds of this plant may be eaten by a few species of bird too so by allowing it to grow somewhere you are supporting the wild life. The flowers of this plant are white and arranged in a Corymb, which is in this case a loose head of tiny flowers sort of like what you see in the Carrot family except they have more tightly packed Umbel flower heads.

 

Special Toxicity Note:  

          Most credible references regarding this native plant indicate that it is not safe to consume or use as medicine.

 

When & What to Harvest:

          This plant is not considered safe to eat.

 

Related Plants:

          Hardy Ageratum (Conoclinum/Eupatorium coelestinum) Annual Ageratum (Ageratum houstonianum) and the ornamental Joe Pye weeds such as (Eutrochium dubium ‘Baby Joe’) and Queen of the Meadow (Eutrochium fistulosum).

 

Recipe:

          Unfortunately, there are no recipes for this one.

 

 

Additional Information: (If applicable)

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/eupatorium-rotundifolium/

 

Where to get Seed or Bare Root Plants:

None known.

 

 

With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but my booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.

 

Spring Plants

Basil, Sweet Genovese

Onion, Yellow Salad

Pepper, Carolina Wonder Bell (mild)

Pepper, Ancho/Poblano (spicy 1-2k SHU)

Pepper, Jalafuego (spicy, 4-6k SHU)

Pepper, Ghost (hot!!, 1-1.2 million SHU)

Pepper, Carolina Reaper (hot!!! 1.5-2.2 million SHU)

Tomato, Lemon Cherry

Tomato, Chocolate Cherry

Tomato, Midnight Snack

Tomato, Black Krim

Tomato, Lemon Boy

 

Summer Plants

-TBA-

 

Garden Supply

Live Mushroom Compost, 1 Gallon

Live Mushroom Compost, 3 Gallon

 

Plants Coming Soon:

Spineless Prickly Pear

-Others TBA-

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (1): ‘Phenomenal’ Lavender

 

Meetings are still going on! Our next (unofficial) meeting is May 16^th  at the Fayetteville City Market at 325 Franklin Street between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm. If you can’t make it to the City Market come on down to the North South Brewery Market which is at 304 Williams Street (Right off West Russel Street), between 1pm and 5pm every Saturday.

 

Hair of the Dog Fennel...no thanks!

 

Welcome back to the Lost In the Farmer’s Market Blog. At the current time we have a long-running series that covers useful, edible and medicinal ‘weeds’ that you can commonly find in the southeastern states of the United States. While our survey area is just within Cumberland County North Carolina it’ is possible you can find some of these forage plants in other places. This series was begun to give folks a detailed look into the resources they might not have known were right there in their lawn. Given that the world situation is not that great and there are already shortages of critical grains and fertilizers forage foods may be the most useful answer on a local level. LITFM will keep this series going as long as we keep finding wild resources to photograph and write about. If you have any questions or comments about our articles please leave a comment either here or on our YouTube Channel (The link is at the end of the article). Thank you for reading, and remember just one thing, you can’t eat lawn grass.

 

This is what Dog Fennel looks like early on.

Oh Myy! A Dog Fennel Frond gets a little frisky. Note the white fuzz on the stems.

In the field this is what Dog Fennel looks like. It is not hard to see how it might be mistaken for actual Fennel.

 

 

Common Name: Dog Fennel

 

Other Common Names: Summer Cedar

 

Botanical Family: Asteraceae (The Aster Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Eupatorium capillifolium

 

Season to Harvest: Sparingly harvest young foliage only whenever you need to use it.

 

Habitat: Dog Fennel is a tall growing perennial that will is commonly found on roadsides, areas that have recently had a fire or where the soil has seen significant disturbance. This is a native plant that can easily be found across the eastern coast states and into the Midwestern states.

 

Parts to Harvest: Sparingly harvest the foliage.

 

Poisonous Lookalikes: None.

 

Related Edible Species: None.

 

Description: Dog Fennel is a tall perennial that is best identified by it’s densely hairy stems that come from a woody crown. Its leaves are very finely lobed and resemble Dill, Fennel and a few other members of the Carrot Family. Individual stalks of Dog Fennel can reach heights of up to seven feet high.

 

How to Harvest: Picking a small amount of the delicate leaves can be done by hand.

 

Recipe: There is no recipe for this weed because it is known to harbor a compound called pyrrolizidine which is an alkaloid that with long term or heavy use causes veno-occulusive disease. Basically the compound clogs up the small veins in the liver causing fluid retention and eventually liver failure. Very small amounts can be used as a seasoning in a vinaigrette for a salad, and as a spice in mashed potatoes to add flavor but this should only be done in small amounts.

 

 

 

With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but by booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the Hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.

 

 

 

For those of you wondering what plants are going to be at the market this weekend here is the list.

 

Fresh Produce:

Pepper, Lemon Drop

Figs, Assortment (Magnolia,)

 

Garden Stuff: ($3.00)

Cilantro – Vietnamese

Cuban Oregano – Cervesa & Lime

Fennel – Black

Hoan Ngoc

Sage – Pineapple

Sage – Common

 

 

Coming Soon:

Thai Mint (Next Week)

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

 

Our group’s online presence has migrated to Nextdoor.com. All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the Youtube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (2): Sticky Germander, Wax Begonias.

 

Our meetings are still going on! We now meet at LeClair’s General Store on the First and Third Thursday of every month. Our next meeting is on September 1^st between 5:30pm and 7:00pm. We are in the back room so come on in and join us for a fun garden chat.