Friend or Foe and How Do You Know?

A simple spice has reminded me that calling things by their proper names according to their actual properties is important and helpful.  It reminded me of the value of looking into subjects more deeply and unearthing distinctions that might otherwise be blurred.  It made me think about how substances can be related but different, or how even the same substances or actions  can be used to different effects.  I thought about how some consequences are unintended, but there they are anyway and  how much choices can  matter,  and how and why things happen and what can be learned from mistakes.  But for now I'll  just tell you about my botanical investigation and leave you to your own applications in other domains.

There's a Middle Eastern spice combination  that a local restaurant floats in olive oil as a bread dip.  Za'atar is a combination of ingredients mostly very familiar to me, salt, thyme, sesame seeds and oregano,  and one that surprised me, sumac.

Sumac in my mind always has the word poison in front of it; poison sumac, poison ivy and poison oak  are all bushes whose oils can cause  welts of pain and itching to the skin of many people. Unfortunately, as a native  Californian, I have been intimately familiar with poison oak, but I learned quickly as child, how to spot my enemy in all its seasonal guises.  

 Although  I've read that some Native Americans of California nibbled at young poison oak shoots and I know that currently there are homeopathic preparations of titrated poison oak to teach the body to  defend itself against the plant irritants, I wasn't so sure that I wanted to eat sumac on my bread. But then I reminded myself that  I didn't really know for a fact what exactly it was I was eating.  

 I found a small commercially  packaged box of sumac at a store  but the supplier did not identify the substance beyond its common name. The ingredients simply read "ground sumac berries." At least I had learned what part of sumac I'd been eating,  but of what kind of sumac ?  The trees and plants I know by name I know mostly by their common names.  In most realms in life, I often  know just enough to know  that if I would pay a little closer attention, I might actually know just enough to keep myself out of trouble.   I realized I needed the botanical scientific descriptors to find out anymore about  "Sumac."  Latin isn't really,  as some like to say, a dead language, it's just that for the most part it's no longer spoken and therefore doesn't tend to change.  Speakers of all languages the world over can refer to species with the same name by using the Latin botanical descriptors.  

I found help in my  Guide to Field Identification of TREES of North America that I keep handy  in the door pocket of my car.   SUMAC is quite a big family and as I read about the clan I was in for a few surprises.  My tree book reminded me that members of a family  are then grouped into Genus and then further grouped into species.  So Family, Genus ( always capitalized) and then species ( lower case).

"CASHEW (SUMAC) FAMILY  (Anacardiaceae)   This family, represented in temperate and tropical regions, comprises about 600 species of trees, shrubs and vines, with resinous, acrid or caustic juices."  page 202

The Family includes, to name only a few using their common names: 

 Mangos in Florida, 
California Pepper trees, 
Texas Pistachios, Cashews, 
Florida Poisontree,  
Staghorn Sumac, 
Shining Sumac 
and yes, 
Poison-Sumac.

So while  poison sumac is indeed in the same family  as  the sumac used as a spice, it is in a different Genus.  The scientific botanical name of the poison oak that  had caused me so much itching after childhood jaunts in the hills is  Toxicodendron diversilobum, although it used to be referred to as  Rhus toxicodendron.   Poison-sumac is Toxicodendron vernix  and the sumacs that are used  to spice food are Rhus coriaria.

So they are different, but they are related...and I did find some minor cautions and lots of other possible health benefits  when I searched on the internet using the botanical name, Rhus coriaria.   I also learned its common name, Sicillian sumac. 

Parables of poison plants and spices tease my mind as I think about local, national and global stages...but I'll keep my promise and let you apply any analogies you might think of,  and as always,  let me know what you think if you like.

 best wishes!

Jeannette

A moment of silence in the noisy world

Along the Stream

~~~

Along the stream

where no one lives

the silence speaks

in voice of birds,

the rocks command 

the water's song,

the quiet sings here

all day long.

The winds talk in 

the tallest trees,

and leaves give answer

 to the breeze

along the stream

where no one lives .

~~~

May 1, 2013  

(c) Jeannette @ breadonthewater 

Lavendula who knows who?

                                           
                   

                                                              Lavendula stoechas


 This type of lavender is not my favorite, in fact  I am not even sure I like this variety.  I think of it as the stinky lavender and never want to bring it inside...but it is in its prime right now and glowing in the light of the setting sun it made me look and reconsider how I begrudge it its spot in the garden.

 April 15,2013 UPDATE! Thanks to friend, Harmony, who set me onto the right botanical name and an excellent web site, Mountain Valley Growers,  in her comment below, I  now know not only the name of this particular lavender, but a bit about the confusion about its identity.

 Spanish Lavender is probably what the ancient Greeks and Romans used to scent their bath water. Indeed the word Lavender is from Latin lavare (to wash). Spanish Lavender is often referred to in older publications as French Lavender (which, today, is how we refer to L. dentata). 

Once you know a botanical name  it is much easier to learn about uses and contraindications for plants as well.  I also learned it is more resinous in oils and does not tolerate harsh winters.

  According to The Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Herbs and Their Uses,  L. stoechas is used commercially in air fresheners and insecticides. Flower spikes have been used internally for headaches, irritability, feverish colds and nausea, and externally for wounds, rheumatic pain and as an insect repellent

As I said above on my picture, I know the bees like it but other insects do not and it does not surprise me that it is used in insecticides.  There are places in Australia where it has been declared a noxious weed, apparently given the right conditions, hot, dry, sunny and alkaline soils, it can really take off.
 
Well it is Monday and time to move along...but I appreciate the help I get learning and I find if I explore something in a little more depth I am much more likely to hang onto at least some of the particulars.  We live in a world that is worthy of being known and appreciated and properly cared for and I am frequently reminded of how easy it is to take things for granted.

Bumblebee Blue

And to know this love that surpasses knowledge...

Hristos voskrese   ( Macedonian )

Xristos voskres (Russian ) 

Buona Pasqua ( Italian) 

fukkatsu-sai omedetō gozaimasu  ( Japanese)

Feliices Pascuas!  ( Spanish)

 

                                                      

Of course these are the English equivalents...not using the beautiful scripts of these languages...and there are so many other languages in which these joyous proclamations are being made.     Happy  Easter!

Spring on the California Coast 2013

Flowers are blooming and the otters are having pups.

 The calendar says that it is spring,  but I hear from many people that their  landscape isn't quite  singing that song  yet...

     Here on the the coast it is getting quite springy, so
               I've  shared a little of it with you.

                                                 

                                                                          ~~~~~

Winter Storms and Springtime Beckons

The mustard is blooming in California's fields...

Long ago in my previous post on the last day of 2012,  I shared bay leaves as a symbol of  consistency, rosemary for remembrance and thyme associated with activity, thriftiness and energy, and since then all manner of work demands and other calls of duty have kept me busy. 

The phrase that it is "more blessed to give than to receive" comes to  mind, for although I gave those herbs to others with those hopes for them, I'm grateful to peek back at the last  two months and see that I am myself remembering to pursue activities with renewed intention, remembering my first love, and reining in some of the seemingly insignificant and yet wasteful ways in which I wander.  

Helping a senior member of the family downsize has helped my husband and me to be more energized about cleaning up our own paper trails and examining shelves and drawers for objects that we can toss, give away or sell now, at our seeming leisure. 

Challenges faced by loved ones reminds us how important investing in one's health is...and if others face rehabilitation after injury, illness or surgeries, what can the same application of effort do to a basically healthy body that does not often enough fight against the forces of inertia?

This week we planted five trees up north at the house where we raised our family. Huge neighboring trees had smashed through the back garden and taken out most of the mature fruit trees. There are tenants in the house and it is a long drive for us get there, but we were able to mobilize, get trees, get ourselves there and dig those holes and situate new trees just in time for the rain to water them. It is already rewarding, whether or not we ever eat of the fruit is not really the question.

  

I am grateful for the reminders I have received to be consistent, to remember those who have gone before us and to remember those who will come after us.  I am glad to be reminded to be active and to apply my energy in purposeful thrift with hope.

The storms of winter are not yet over, but it isn't too early to get ready for springtime, is it?

Jeannette