Symphytum Officinale, Common Comfrey

Day 229: Let's get one thing straight right here at the onset. I don't give a flying ding-dong how useful Comfrey is as a medicinal herb. The fact is, Symphytum officinale is a mettlesome and persistent invasive, and the property next door to mine is full of it. I have been fighting its spread into my yard for over thirty years, but because the owner of the land does nothing to control it, it continues to spring up on my side of the fence. Unfortunately, the county does not mandate treatment of it. From a distance, it could be mistaken for our native "bluebell" Mertensia paniculata, but closer examination of or contact with the stems will quickly demonstrate otherwise. The fine, stiff hairs (inset) are very prickly and irritating to the skin as anyone who has tried to pull it will attest. It has a long taproot which must be dug out entirely to prevent the plant from coming back. I can only hope to keep my yard free of it. As for its likely incursion into adjacent properties, the other neighbour and the county are on their own.

Goldenseal Berry

Day 303: The Goldenseal plant (Hydrastis canadensis) puts all its energies into producing two leaves and one clustered, berry-like fruit. It takes four to five years for it to reach this stage, so its increasing rarity is easy to understand when you think of greedy collectors and gatherers trampling through northern forests in search of its golden roots. Thirty years ago, Goldenseal was more common, and in fact, there were a few small-scale growers who made starts available to the general public. I was fortunate to be able to score two which I gave a loving home in a shady cool location where previously, buttercups had grown in profusion. The two have the same habitat preferences. With years of care and continued buttercup removal, I now have a narrow bed of Goldenseal measuring roughly 15 square feet from which I judiciously harvest only the tips of the leaves to brew for three or four pots of healthful tea each year. The berries, with their promise of future seedlings and Goldenseal generations to come, are too precious to pick.

Goldenseal, Hydrastis Canadensis

Day 238: Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) is reputed to offer a number of health benefits and as a medicinal plant is at risk from over-collecting despite the fact that collection of wild Goldenseal is prohibited by law. I purchased two nursery-raised starts thirty years ago, and today my Goldenseal patch looks the best it has ever done. Until it was listed as endangered, it was commonly dug for the saffron-yellow roots which give it its common name, but even if collection was confined to gathering the leaves, the species would still be in jeopardy. You see, each root produces a single stem which bears a pair of leaves, and that's it. That's all you get: two leaves on each plant, period. I am very judicious with regard to harvesting from my specimens, taking only a few tips from the lobes of any given leaf. Later, as the berries ripen and the photosynthetic process is drawing to a close, I may go back and again take tips from the remaining lobes, but never from every lobe of one leaf. This procedure has allowed my plants to flourish and multiply to the lush bed you see in the photo. Hydrastis belongs to the same family as buttercups and exhibits many of the same habitat preferences. Even though I dug out a thick patch of buttercups to give it a nice home in my garden, they still pop up from time to time to keep it company.