A Tale Of Two Plants

This is a tale of two plants that plague the madman. One is invasive, one is native, and both are aggressive, bordering on noxious. And, they both show up where the madman would rather not have them. Their names are quite attractive: Queen Anne’s Lace and Jewelweed.

An Invasive Queen

Colonists brought Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota) to America as a medicinal plant. But, it’s story goes way back. It is native to Eurasia and was thought to be domesticated in central Asia around the 11^th Century. However, archeologists found prehistoric seeds of D. carota in digs in the area suggesting a much earlier use.

Almost everyone knows what Queen Anne’s Lace looks like. Its white umbel flowers resemble a finely tatted piece of lace. In fact, that’s pretty much how it got one of its common names. As legend goes, it was named after England’s Queen Anne, not sure if that was Queen Anne or Queen Anne II, but you know how stories go: never let the truth get in the way of a good one. So here’s the story we like.

Living Lace

Often ladies of the court used the white flower heads of D. carota as living lace. On a whim, the Queen challenged her Ladies in Waiting to produce a piece of lace as beautiful as the flower. Who do you think won? Another piece of the story says she pricked her finger with a tatting needle leaving a spot of blood in the center of her lace.  Look closely at the real flower – yep, there’s a purple spot in the center of many of these blooms. Scientists think that’s actually an attractor to pollinators who see it as another pollinator and figure, hey, that must be good.

As we said before, colonists brought it to the New World where it quickly escaped captivity. Its barbed seeds readily adhere to fabric, feathers and fur making it easy to disperse. Seeds germinate readily throughout the growing season and the plant is not fussy about its soil. So, we find it everywhere, including cracks in pavement and rows of the madman’s garden.

Foragers Beware

Also known as Wild Carrot, this plant is the parent of today’s edible carrot. The wild plant has a white taproot that is sometimes used as a vegetable. Its flower can be battered and fried as a side dish. There’s actually a group of naturalists who pride themselves on foraging and using wild plants such as wild carrot. If you’re considering joining them, the madman says be extra careful with this plant. There are some pretty dangerous look-alikes. Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculate) and Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) are two such plants.

Avoid Hemlocks

Water Hemlock is one of the most deadly plants native to the U.S. – pretty much guaranteed to kill within 6 hours of ingestion. Similar to Queen Anne’s Lace, it has a white umbel flower. Unlike Queen Anne’s Lace, it has no purple in the center of its flower. And, it’s smooth stems have purple blotches. This perennial plant prefers wetland soils.

More closely related to Queen Anne’s Lace, Poison Hemlock is a non-native killer. Like Queen Anne’s Lace, it has white umbel flowers. Interestingly, horticulturists introduced it in the 1800s as a garden plant because of its fern-like leaves. It quickly naturalized – we’ve all heard this story before. The best way to differentiate these plants from Queen Anne’s Lace is to look at the stems – they are smooth with purple blotches. The madman says, remember Queen Anne has hairy legs. The madman also suggests that if you are new to foraging, you might want to avoid wild carrot completely. If you prefer to ignore him, check out this link from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services before you go.

A Native Jewel

On to Jewelweed, the other part of the tale. Impatiens capensis is a native plant that is quite the efficient self-seeder. That’s basically what the madman doesn’t like about it. Seeds of this annual plant are contained in delicate pods that can spit the seeds a great distance when slightly touched. The madman claims they all aim at his garden.

But let’s back up a minute and talk about the plant. As we said, Jewelweed is a native plant. It readily grows in moist semi-shaded areas. This aggressive annual can also colonize disturbed areas such as ditches and can successfully outcompete the invasive Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata). It usually grows in groups, rarely alone, 3-5 feet tall. The shallow roots support hollow watery stems that host hundreds of interestingly shaped orange flowers. Take a moment to look at one – you’ll see what we mean. The pouch-like sepal at the bottom of the flower is inviting to pollinators, explaining the large number of seeds produced by each plant.

Treat Poison Ivy

Although eaten by Native Americans and foragers alike, care must be taken to avoid its high oxalic acid content. The madman says he’ll pass on this one. However, the sap from Jewelweed is used in herbal medicine to treat contact dermatitis. In fact, the madman once heard from a friend that a poultice of Jewelweed would stop the itching from poison ivy. Since the madman had no clue how to create this poultice, he decided to just avoid poison ivy: it was much easier.

Since this is a tale of two plants, it has to have a happy ending, right?  So, here goes. Both of these plants are beneficial to some of the madman’s favorite garden creatures.

Finding the Good

Queen Anne’s Lace plays host to the beautiful Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly. Its nectar attracts a variety of native bees and native insects. Besides, it has a pretty little purple dot in the center of its flower.

Jewelweed nectar is high in sugar content and right about now, the hummingbirds are bulking up for their journey south. It’s no coincidence that Jewelweed is in peak bloom around now. And the hummingbirds are busy working at the Jewelweed. So, although these two plants are noxious, the madman is learning to live with them – in moderation, he says. He still won’t let them crowd into his garden space, but a few of them can hang around the edges for the time being.      

No lemonade for them, but since the heat is turning up again, we could sure use some.