Black & Yellow Orb Weaver Garden Spider, Argiope aurantia, amongst the Blue Lobelia in my garden. Even if you don't like spiders, this large female still looks amazing. Orb web means it spins a web in a circular shape, which can be up to 2 feet (60 cm) in diameter, with a dense zigzag of silk. They eat a wide range of flying prey including flies, moths, beetles, wasps, grasshoppers, aphids, mosquitoes, etc. They breed once a year. Adult males roam in search of potential mates. When they find a female, they build a small web with a white zigzag band across the middle either nearby or in an outlying part of the female's web. Potential males court by plucking and vibrating her web. They are not dangerous. They may bite when harassed but it is no worse or harmful than a bee sting to a healthy adult.
LOBELIA is a plant who's above ground parts, mainly the flowering parts and the seeds, are used to make medicine. Lobelia is used for breathing problems including asthma, bronchitis, whooping cough, and shortness of breath (apnea) in newborn infants. Some people take lobelia as a sedative to help them relax. Other people use it to increase sweating. Lobelia is applied to the skin for muscle pain, joint lumps associated with rheumatoid arthritis (rheumatic nodules), bruises, sprains, insect bites, poison ivy, and ringworm. Lobelia (Lobelia inflata) or Indian tobacco is an herbal remedy recommended for addressing acute asthma symptoms. It has a long history of use by Native Americans who smoked lobelia as treatment for asthma. The name Indian Tobacco was assigned because the Aboriginal people smoked dried leaves of the plant. Historically, the Aboriginal people were very creative and efficient in using the Lobelia plant for medicinal purposes. The Iroquois used the root to treat leg sores, venereal diseases and ulcers. The Cherokees used a poultice of the root for body aches. They also used the plant for boils, sores, bites and stings. Considered a plant to cure asthma, phthisic (lung disease), croup and a sore throat, it was also used to discourage the presence of gnats. The Crows made use of it in religious ceremonies. In the 19th century, American physicians used lobelia to provoke vomiting as a means of removing toxins from the body. For this reason, it has also been called "puke weed." The reason you've heard lobelia described as a toxic herb is that high doses cause serious effects: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, profuse sweating, tremors, rapid heartbeat, mental confusion, convulsions, hypothermia, coma, and possibly death.
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INDIAN HEMP (DOGBANE)
Apocynum cannabinum (dogbane, amy root, hemp dogbane, prairie dogbane, Indian hemp, rheumatism root, or wild cotton)
Hemp Dogbane stems have a tough, fibrous bark that can be used like hemp for making rope, nets, straps, and so on. Native Americans made nets and rope from the fibers of pounded stems and roots. People still use it for making rope and twine, and fabric for clothing.
The milky latex sap which can potentially be used for making rubber.
When bruised, all parts of the plant exude a toxic white juice; the plant has a long list of folkloric medicinal uses.
The toxic juices make this plant inedible to most mammals, but several types of moths eat this plant as caterpillars. They build up the toxin in their bodies and become unpalatable to predators. The delicate cycnia (Cycnia tenera), a tiger moth, is found wherever dogbane grows. Dogbane is also is a larval food plant for the snowberry and clearwings hummingbird, sphinx moths, as well as food for many other insects.
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.
All aerial parts, including the seeds, are edible. The young leaves are harvested before the plant comes into flower and are used in salads, soups etc. They can also be used as a vegetable, cooked like spinach. The leaves are best cooked. Flowers and seed pods are dried, ground into powder and used as a flour or sprinkled on cooked foods such as boiled rice. Very wholesome and nutritious. The young flowers can also be used in salads. Root - cooked. The dried leaves impart a vanilla flavour to cakes etc. Dried flowering heads are a tea substitute. However, it is highly advised if you have never eaten these before to start with a very small quantity. Clovers can cause mild or severe gas.
Medicinally an infusion has been used in the treatment of coughs, colds, fevers and leucorrhoea. A tincture of the leaves is applied as an ointment to gout. An infusion of the flowers has been used as an eyewash.
