Just as in spring we watch the plants grow, during the colder seasons we can watch their “bones” slowly break down and disappear.
If you were keeping an eye on the weeds in your yard during the summer and fall, you may have watched the transition from green to brown, and sequential observation is certainly the easiest way to learn the plant skeletons. Of course, it’s possible to appreciate their subtle beauty without knowing their names, but it’s also pleasing to be intimate enough with the plants to be able to identify them.
For our ancestors who lived off the land and for modern-day herbalists, identifying skeletons had/has a practical application as well. Exploring an unfamiliar place and finding a stand of dried edible or medicinal plants in the winter, the forager would be sure to make a note and return in the spring or summer, when the plants might be ready to harvest. An herbalist would be especially interested in the fragrant weeds, since the odor often indicates a component that has a powerful medicinal effect on the body.
Ancient plant gatherers and modern wild edible lovers might be interested in seeds still clinging to a plant skeleton. Seeds of the wild mustards can be harvested as a condiment to spice up a meal, while any edible seeds would serve to supplement protein, especially when food was meager in winter.
For me, it’s a joy to see the graceful brown silhouettes and varied textures in a meadow and think of the new plants to come, succeeding the old.
Answer to last week’s Plant ID Quiz: Queen Anne’s lace, Daucus carota, also known as wild carrot
