Featured Plant of the Week SILENE REGIA | Royal Catchfly

SILENE REGIA | Royal Catchfly

Royal catchfly can reach 4 feet tall and with brilliant scarlet flowers blooming from June to September it can be spotted from a long way off. Stems are usually unbranched below the flowers and feels hairy and slightly clammy to the touch. Becoming less frequent but locally abundant in some mesic prairies and oak savannas. Very scattered in the southern ranges of the Tallgrass prairie region.

Sun Exposure: Prairie, Savanna
Soil Moisture: Mesic, Dry Mesic
Bloom Time: Summer (July, August)
Bloom Color: Red
Max Height: 4 Feet
Wetland Code: UPL
Germ Code: C(60)
Seeds Per Ounce: 23,000

To Purchase This Native Wildflower Please Visit Our Website At Native Wildflowers & Seeds from Ion Exchange, Inc.

 

Plant of the Week from Ion Exchange, Inc. ECHINACEA PALLIDA | Pale Purple Coneflower

Echinacea from the Greek word for “sea urchin” or “hedgehog” referring to the spiny chaff at the center of these flowers. Pallida is from the latin word for “pale”.

Perennial; reaches 2 to 3 feet; leaves are mostly basal and elongated ovals up to 7 inches long. Single, pale purple flowers top a stem with a few stiff hairs and few leaves. Favors open prairies and dry open woods of the Tallgrass region; occasionally found along undisturbed roadsides. Blooms from May to July.

Native Americans of the Plains are said to have used Echinacea for more medicinal purposes than any other plant group. The root (chewed or brewed in a tea) was used for snakebites, spider bites, cancers, toothaches, burns, hard-to-heal sores, colds and flu. Current science confirms a cortisone-like activity as well as insecticidal, bactericidal and immuno-stimulant activites. It is still considered a nonspecific immune system stimulant. There are over 300 pharmaceutical preparations made in Germany including extracts, salves and tinctures used for wounds, herpes, sores, canker sores and throat infections. It’s also a preventative for colds and flu. An old folk remedy claims success as a treatment for brown recluse spider bites, but it is not known how the plant was prepared for this remedy.

Edible Uses: Unknown

Medicinal Uses: Plants in this genus were probably the most frequently used of N. American Indian herbal remedies, though this species is considered to be less active than E. angustifolim. They had a very wide range of applications and many of these uses have been confirmed by modern science. The plant has a general stimulatory effect on the immune system and is widely used in modern herbal treatments. There has been some doubt over the ability of the body to absorb the medicinally active ingredients orally (intravenous injections being considered the only effective way to administer the plant), but recent research has demonstrated significant absorption from orally administered applications. In Germany over 200 pharmaceutical preparations are made from Echinacea. The roots and the whole plant are considered particularly beneficial in the treatment of sores, wounds, burns etc, possessing cortisone-like and antibacterial activity. The plant was used by N. American Indians as a universal application to treat the bites and stings of all types of insects. An infusion of the plant was also used to treat snakebites.

The plant is adaptogen, alterative, antiseptic, depurative, diaphoretic, digestive, sialagogue. It is harvested in the autumn and dried for later use.

Herbal Uses: Unknown

To Purchase This Beautiful Wildflower Visit Us At Our Website Ion Exchange, Inc.

Plant of The Week ASTER AZUREUS | Sky Blue Aster

Product Description

Sky Blue Aster (Aster azureus) Also known as Symphyotrichum oolentangiensis. Found throughout the Tallgrass Prairie region in a dizzying array of habitats from marshes to woodlands. Aster colonies frequently cover large areas. Prefers full sun to mesic and dry conditions. Excellent border plant. Often quite striking in color, the asters bloom from July through the first hard frost. Butterflies, bees and wasps are attracted to Sky Blue Aster.

From the Greek, “Aster” in reference to the shape of the flower and its bracts. At least 200 species are found across North America with dozens in the Tallgrass Praire region alone.

Blooms In Summer & Fall

Several tribes used the smoke from burning aster plants to assist in reviving persons who had fainted. Some other Native American tribes brewed a tea from aster plants to relieve headaches. In our area, the Meskwaki would make a smudge from Aster laeteriflorus to treat insanity (we tried it here, but our seed department crew is still a little off).

To Purchase This Beautiful Native Wildflower Visit Us At http://ionxchange.com/products/ASTER-AZUREUS-%7C-Sky-Blue-Aster.html

 

 

Summer Blooming Yarrow (Achillea Millefolium) at Ion Exchange, Inc.

To Purchase Yarrow Visit Us At http://ionxchange.com/products/ACHILLEA-MILLEFOLIUM-%7C-Yarrow.html

Product Description

Yarrow, (Achillea Millefolium) is very common to fields, pastures, disturbed areas, roadsides, previously disturbed prairies and open sites throughout the Tallgrass biome. Tiny white flowers in umbels at the top of the plant bloom from June to September. Feathery, fern-like leaves up to 5 inches long. Generally reaches about 1 1/2 feet tall but does grow slightly taller in some places.

Achillea after Achilles of Greek mythology who is said to have used it medicinally and millifolia meaning “thousand-leaved”.Asteraceae Family – “Common Yarrow, Gordaldo, Gordoloba, Milfoil, Knight’s Milfoil, Milfoil Thousand-leaf, Bloodwort, Woundwort, Devil’s Plaything, Green Arrow, Thousand Leaf, Thousand-seal, Thousand-leaved clover, Cammock, Carpenter Grass, Dog Daisy, Wooly Yarrow, Nosebleed Weed, Old Man’s Pepper, Sanguinary, Soldier’s Woundwort”