"Is This a Plant or a Weed?"

Being a plant person yourself, perhaps the title amuses you as much as it does me. A weed is a plant but some act as though it is something alien and very unplant like. There has been more than one post to GardenWeb's Name That Plant! Forum that has had a subject line similar to the title of this post. I giggle each time I see one of those subject lines. Humor for plant nerds, I guess!

Perhaps you're of a different mind, but I think a weed is merely a plant in the wrong place. A weed is neither good nor bad. It just is, albeit in the wrong place. This reminds me of a recent conversation about weeds with a 7-year old who was saying "Weeds are bad!" I went on to tell him about some of the "weeds" that I use for "plant medicine," i.e. herbalism. Plantain (Plantago major) was there and handy at the time so I told him about "nature's band-aid" and how mushed-up plantain leaves can help take the sting and itch out a bug bite. I've used it and it works. Besides being useful, weeds can have the most interesting nick-names, history, and traditions associated with them as well. Plantain, for example, is euphemistically called "White Man's Foot" because it seemed to follow in the white man's footsteps in the New World. A Mohawk herbalist I saw speak about medicinal plants said to use only the round, fat, "female" plantain leaves, never the thin, pointy, "male" leaves. The female were medicine while the male ones were poison. I know I prefer the round, fleshy ones myself.



One of my all time favorite weeds is the infamous dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). The word "dandelion" comes from the French dent de lion or "lion tooth" and it aptly describes the jagged, toothed leaves. Out of all the herbs I harvest for medicinal use, dandelion root and leaf top the list. I end up with pounds of dried root and leaf each year. One of the medicinal uses for dandelion is evidenced in some of its most colorful nick-names which concern themselves with "urinating in the bed." It is used as a diuretic. Besides its medicinal values, dandelion is a well-known and nutritional green that is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals including vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, and calcium. It is no wonder that our ancestors sought this food plant for their spring tonics and dinner plates! And let's not forget dandelion wine made from those pretty yellow early spring blooms. Mmmm...good stuff.



There are so many more wonderful weeds to learn more about. If this interests you at all, please consider joining us at RCGC's Your Backyard Herbal Medicine Chest class on August 9th. Arleen Oliver, program director at the historic Buckland House, will lead the class on a tour of the medicinal uses of your garden weeds. Please see our education page for more details and registration information. I hope to see you there!

-kim