Twinflower - Linnaea borealis L.
Al Schneider @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database
Plants: 8-15cm tall; evergreen; form sprawling mats; stems become woody with age; too rare to harvest
Flowers: nodding, bell-shaped, ~12mm long; 5 pink to pinkish white petals, 5 green sepals; in pairs on “Y” shaped stalk
Fruits: small one-seeded capsule
Leaves: opposite; small (~2cm), egg-shaped to rounded; glossy; persisting for 2 years
Availability: June–July
Habitat: swamps, boreal forests
History of Use: Algonquins used the plant tea as a tonic for pregnancy and in difficult or painful menstruation; it was also used for children’s cramps and fevers.
Flowers: nodding, bell-shaped, ~12mm long; 5 pink to pinkish white petals, 5 green sepals; in pairs on “Y” shaped stalk
Fruits: small one-seeded capsule
Leaves: opposite; small (~2cm), egg-shaped to rounded; glossy; persisting for 2 years
Availability: June–July
Habitat: swamps, boreal forests
History of Use: Algonquins used the plant tea as a tonic for pregnancy and in difficult or painful menstruation; it was also used for children’s cramps and fevers.
Buckbean - Menyanthes trifoliata L.
Susan McDougall @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database
Plants: emergent with leaves and flower above water; arising from creeping rootstalk; protect species
Flowers: clustered at top of stalk; 5-parted, star-shaped, ~15mm across; white to pink, petals are fringed with long white hairs
Fruits: ellipsoid capsule, 8-10mm long
Leaves: alternate; compound with 3 leaflets; leaflets oblong to elliptical, 5-10cm long and 2.5 to 5cm wide, toothless, not hairy; clover-like
Availability: April–July
Habitat: shallow water of bogs and ponds
Uses: Dried leaf or root tea are traditionally used as a digestive tonic, fevers, rheumatism, liver ailments, dropsy, worms, skin diseases, and stops bleeding. Science confirms phenolic acids may be responsible for bile-secreting, digestive tonic, and bitter qualities.
Warning: Fresh plant causes vomiting.
Flowers: clustered at top of stalk; 5-parted, star-shaped, ~15mm across; white to pink, petals are fringed with long white hairs
Fruits: ellipsoid capsule, 8-10mm long
Leaves: alternate; compound with 3 leaflets; leaflets oblong to elliptical, 5-10cm long and 2.5 to 5cm wide, toothless, not hairy; clover-like
Availability: April–July
Habitat: shallow water of bogs and ponds
Uses: Dried leaf or root tea are traditionally used as a digestive tonic, fevers, rheumatism, liver ailments, dropsy, worms, skin diseases, and stops bleeding. Science confirms phenolic acids may be responsible for bile-secreting, digestive tonic, and bitter qualities.
Warning: Fresh plant causes vomiting.