Birds Foot Trefoil

Birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) is a moderately long-lived herbaceous perennial legume. Also known as birdfoot deervetch, broadleaf birdsfoot trefoil, Dutchman’s clogs, and lady’s slippers. Uses include Erosion control: used along roadsides to control wind and water erosion. For Wildlife: Birdsfoot trefoil is a choice food for Canada goose, deer, and elk. As ground cover, it provides green cover most of the year and blooms profusely. It is a beneficial wildflower for bees.

Considered both edible and medicinal but be aware that all parts of this plant are poisonous. The seeds can be nibbled and it has been used medicinally as a antispasmodic, sedative, to remove gas and reduce fever.

Medicinal use of Bird's Foot Trefoil:

Carminative, febrifuge, hypoglycaemic, restorative, vermifuge. The flowers are antispasmodic, cardiotonic and sedative. The root is carminative, febrifuge, restorative and tonic. The plant is used externally as a local anti-inflammatory compress in all cases of skin inflammation.

An orange-yellow dye is obtained from the flowers.

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Disclaimer

My blog is meant to inform and I strive to be totally accurate. It is solely up to the reader to ensure proper plant identification. Some wild plants are poisonous or can have serious adverse health effects.

Black Crowned Night Heron

Black Crowned Night Herons 

usually forage by standing still or walking slowly at edge of shallow water. They may perch above water on pilings, stumps, small boats. They forage mostly from late evening through the night, avoiding competition with other heron species that use the same habitat during the day. They may feed during the day in the breeding season, when they need extra energy for nesting, or in unusual weather.

Black-crowned Night-Herons are common in wetlands across North America, including saltmarshes, freshwater marshes, swamps, streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, lagoons, tidal mudflats, canals, reservoirs, and wet agricultural fields. They require aquatic habitat for foraging and terrestrial vegetation for cover. They spend the winter in southern and coastal portions of their breeding range as well as across Mexico and Central America, where they use mangroves, marshes, swamps, lagoons, and flooded rice fields. They Nest in groves of trees, in thickets, or on ground, usually on islands or above water, perhaps to avoid predators.

Their Diet is quite variable, freshwater, and marine animals, mostly fish, but also squid, crustaceans, aquatic insects, frogs, snakes, clams, mussels, rodents, carrion, eggs and young birds, leeches, earthworms, crayfish, amphibians, lizards, and turtles.

The male chooses a nest site in a tree or in cattails, usually in a habitat safe from predators such as on an island, in a swamp, or over water. The male advertises for a mate with displays that involve bowing and raising the long plume on his head.
Black-crowned Night-Herons nest colonially, often with a dozen nests in a single tree. Colonies sometimes last for 50 years or more.

My photographs are available for purchase through EliseCreations.net

Thanks for your visits, favs and comments. As always, appreciated very much!

© all rights reserved by Elise T. Marks. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.

Dahlia Delight

Dahlias

The Dahlia Flower’s Message Is…Celebrate what makes you different. Seek out the new pleasures in life and keep moving through the challenges instead of letting them hold you back. Discover what the world holds for you, and watch out for pitfalls along the way. Pink symbolizes kindness and grace.

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© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY ELISE T. MARKS. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS IMAGE ON WEBSITES, BLOGS OR ANY OTHER MEDIA WITHOUT MY EXPLICIT WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Vermont Country Yard

Things You See While Riding Through The Countryside. An Inviting Yard With A Red Barn And A Hammock.

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Globe Allium

Globe Allium Seed Heads
As interesting or more interesting looking than the flowers. 

Photographed by @elisecreations

Purple Sensation' Allium, sometimes called Persian Onion

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Honeysuckle vine

 Honeysuckle Vine

This a Honeysuckle vine, I found growing in the woods, near water, in Vermont. 

Honeysuckle vine, Lonicera.

Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the Northern Hemisphere. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified.

Sometimes called “woodbine.” The flower, seed, and leaves are used for medicine. The honeysuckle flower is commonly used to help ease the flu, colds and sore throat. Honeysuckle is also used for urinary disorders, headache, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. Some people use it to promote sweating, as a laxative, to counteract poisoning, and for birth control.

Honeysuckle essential oil is one of the most popular products derived from this plant, for medicinal uses as well as hair and skin care.

MY PHOTOGRAPHS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE THROUGH ELISECREATIONS.ARTFIRE.COM

THANKS FOR YOUR VISITS, FAVS AND COMMENTS. AS ALWAYS, APPRECIATED VERY MUCH!

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY ELISE T. MARKS. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS IMAGE ON WEBSITES, BLOGS OR ANY OTHER MEDIA WITHOUT MY EXPLICIT WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Disclaimer

My blog is meant to inform and I strive to be totally accurate. It is solely up to the reader to ensure proper plant identification. Some wild plants are poisonous or can have serious adverse health effects.

Starflower

Lysimachia borealis

Starflower is a perennial herb that grows from slender, creeping rhizomes. Starflower is one of the more common spring, forest, wildflowers in eastern North America, and is also distributed in the Midwest and the higher elevations of the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Starflowers generally bloom from mid to late spring into early summer. Their habitat preference is open to dappled shade in moist woods but they may be found dry, sandy, acidic soils as well. Star flowers are pollinated by native bees. Starflower generally goes dormant in mid-summer with the leaves yellowing and then falling to the ground so that all that is left is the stem with 1 to 2 tiny seed capsules ripening at the tip. Seeds do not germinate before undergoing a cold stratification and do not germinate until the fall of the second year allowing seeds to be disseminated by insects.

MY PHOTOGRAPHS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE THROUGH ELISECREATIONS.ARTFIRE.COM

THANKS FOR YOUR VISITS, FAVS AND COMMENTS. AS ALWAYS, APPRECIATED VERY MUCH!

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY ELISE T. MARKS. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS IMAGE ON WEBSITES, BLOGS OR ANY OTHER MEDIA WITHOUT MY EXPLICIT WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Disclaimer

My blog is meant to inform and I strive to be totally accurate. It is solely up to the reader to ensure proper plant identification. Some wild plants are poisonous or can have serious adverse health effects.