Diario de hannahbanana05

For my species this week, I found the Yarrow; they look like a bunch of white flowers and reminded me of Cow Parsnip. I always see these Yarrows around my neighborhood, and I've always wondered what they are. They always looked like Cow Parsnip from afar, so I never got close to them. I hate Cow Parsnip because I had an accident where I brushed up against one, and it hurt a lot, but luckily, I didn't brush up against it that hard, so it wasn't that bad. But every year, I see more and more Cow Parsnips popping up around the neighborhood, and Yarrow just keeps reminding me of that fact. I figured I should give Yarrows a shot and see what they're really about.

Tribes in North America used yarrows for a variety of ailments (Vizgirdas 4). They would crush the plant and apply it to wounds and burns (Vizgirdas 4). They would also dry the leaves and use them in tea to help with colds, fevers, and headaches (Vizgirdas 4). It has also been used in Europe to brew beer (Vizgirdas 4). Finally, the Chinese consider the Yarrow to be good luck (Vizgirdas 4). I didn't realize the Yarrow had such a rich history to it. This makes me wonder what else there is to explore and find in my neighborhood.

The Yarrow, or milfoil as it is sometimes called, is a member of the aster or composite family (Asteraceae) (Vizgirdas 1). The Yarrow "has flat-topped or dome-shaped clusters of small white flowers that bloom from April to October. An attractive, hardy perennial, yarrow can reach about 3 feet in height" (Vizgirdas 1). The Yarrow is found throughout North America and in selective parts of Europe and Asia (Vizgirdas 2). "The name milfoil comes from its Latin name 'millefolium' meaning 'a thousand leaves'" (Vizgirdas 2).

Overall, the Yarrow turned out to be a lot more interesting than I thought; I was actually debating whether or not to do a different species this week. I really thought that I wouldn't get that much information out of this plant, but I was pleasantly shocked. It goes to show me never to judge a plant by its appearance.

Source:
Vizgirdas, Edna. “U.S. Forest Service.” Plant of the Week, United States Department of Agriculture, www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/achillea_millefolium.shtml. Accessed 2 Oct. 2023.

I was walking around my neighbors and my house when I found what looked like red berries on this plant, so I took pictures of it (My neighbor gave me permission to look for plants in their yard). I then started looking up the plant to see if I could Identify it, and I couldn't find anything. I looked at all the different kinds of berries it could be, but I found nothing. After that I remembered something, I'd seen this plant before, there were also flowers here before. Then it hit me: this plant was that prickly flower plant I saw during summertime. It turns out that the species was a Pricky Wild Rose, and the red things are actually rose hips. My experience with Prickly Wild Rose is I just thought it was a flower with pricks on it.

First, I want to talk about rose hips; they are actually an accessory fruit that is made after being pollinated (Rose Hip). "Rose hips are used in bread and pies, jam, jelly, marmalade, syrup, soup, tea, wine, and other beverages" (Rose Hip). They can also be eaten raw, like fruit, but avoid the hairs because that can be made into itching powder (Rose Hip).

The native Americans used Prickly Wild Rose to make tea and would make salads out of the leaves (Rosa Acicularis). The inner bark was used to smoke tobacco, and perfume can be made using this plant (Rosa Acicularis).

The biology of Prickly Wild Rose, or "Rosa acicularis" is a deciduous shrub that can grow one to three meters tall (Rosa Acicularis). The flowers are pink and rarely white, and the hips are red and pair-shaped or oval (Rosa Acicularis). "Its native habitats include thickets, stream banks, rocky bluffs, and wooded hillsides" (Rosa Acicularis). "It is commonly known as the prickly wild rose, prickly rose, bristly rose, wild rose or Arctic rose" (Rosa Acicularis).

This was a fun species to research this week, and I never knew that rose plants produced hips until I now.

Works Cited:

“Rosa Acicularis.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 June 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_acicularis. Accessed 10 Oct. 2023.

“Rose Hip.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 6 Oct. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_hip. Accessed 10 Oct. 2023.

This week, I bring the Chamomile plant. This is another species that I see during the summertime, but in a different form. I called them spider weed (I've heard other people call the plant pineapple weed) because I would walk through the plant, and spiders would always crawl on my legs. So, my relationship with this plant didn't start out on the right leg, if you know what I mean. Bad jokes aside, I never cared for the plant; it reminded me of spiders, which I hate, and it wasn't all that appealing to look at. Frankly, it looked like some alien plant sprouted in my yard, and it wouldn't leave. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't get rid of the weeds, and I saw them sprouting all over my neighborhood in the gravel. They are also extremely resilient, like dandelions. I never realized that they turned into flowers or were actually an herb.

"The Tanainas boil the whole above-ground portion of the plant in water, strain the tea, and give it to a new mother and her baby to drink. They say it cleans them out and helps the mother's milk start"(Viereck). Tea from the whole plant is bitter, and tea made from the flowers is fragrant and sweet (Viereck). "The Kenai Tanainas give the tea to anyone who needs a laxative and use it as a wash for the eyes and skin" (Viereck). The tea was used as a cure-all for the Aleuts and Russians (Viereck). The commercial chamomile called Anthemis is used to treat all kinds of things, from colds, fevers, headaches, sores, coughs, and the list goes on (Viereck). Anthemis is so versatile that it makes me wonder why I haven't heard of it before.

Anthemis is a subspecies of the Chamomile plant, and the family they belong to is actually the daisy (Singh et al.). "chamomile is an annual plant with thin spindle-shaped roots only penetrating flatly into the soil. The branched stem is erect, heavily ramified, and grows to a height of 10–80 cm" (Singh et al.). The flower heads are arranged separately and are white in color. The yellow-to-brown center part is considered a fruit or achene (Singh et al.). They get the name pineapple weed because they smell like pineapples (Viereck).

All the spices I've learned about have taught me to look at things closely because you might discover something new.

Sources:

Viereck, Eleanor. “Chamomile.” Alaska’s Wilderness Medicines, Alaska Northwest Books, 1995, www.ankn.uaf.edu/curriculum/books/Viereck/viereckchamomile.html. Accessed 16 Oct. 2023.

Singh, Ompal, et al. "Chamomile (Matricaria Chamomilla L.): An Overview." Pharmacognosy Reviews, vol. 5, no. 9, 2011, pp. 82-95, https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-7847.79103. Accessed 16 Oct. 2023.

I found this pine squirrel on my way to class, and it was running around on the sidewalk and rocks. It was climbing trees and looked like a Loony Tunes character running all over the place. I haven't met that many squirrels, but the ones I have give me the stare like it's watching me. I found myself staring right back like I won't let you get me. I always found it amazing to see them climb trees really fast or when they jump from tree to tree, and you know the branches bend due to the weight. They also make a rustling sound when jumping through the leaves.

The pine squirrel was mainly used for food and fur by humans (Red Squirrel). The meat is small, but it was really good for hunting for hunters (Red Squirrel). In Canada and Alaska, pine squirrel pets were sold for their fur, making them valuable to hunters at the time (Red Squirrel). Pelts helped craft items, so they were valuable (Red Squirrel). Pine squirrels were also "helpful because they distribute and plant seeds of spruce and other trees" (Red Squirrel).

The pine squirrel, also known as "The Abert’s squirrel (Sciurus aberti) is associated almost solely with the montane (8,000-10,000 foot) forest ecosystem. They are quite distinct because of their tufted, or tasseled, ears and black coat" (Platten 1). Their colors range from black to gray, and they use taste to determine the value of a tree (Platten 1). "They are not known to defend territories, perhaps because their home range is quite large, averaging nearly 20 acres" (Platten 1). They like getting seeds as their preferred meal, but in the summer, their diet has a high proportion of fungi (Platten 1). "Generally, pine squirrels have a favorite feeding tree where it eats and drops leftover cone pieces" (Platten 2). They also only live fire years and breed once pure year in February or March (Red Squirrel). Their main predators are Hawks, owls, and martens (Red Squirrel).

I had difficulty determining whether the squirrel was a pine or red squirrel. But apparently, Pine squirrels is just another name for red squirrel, so they are the same squirrel with two different names.

Sources:

Platten, Mark. “The Nature of Teller.” Aberts and Pine Squirrels, 2018, teller.extension.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2018/12/Aberts-and-Pine-Squirrels.pdf. Accessed 23 Oct. 2023.

“Red Squirrel.” The Great State of Alaska, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=redsquirrel.main. Accessed 23 Oct. 2023.