WARNING ⚠️ STRAWBERRY BUSH IS LISTED AS A TOXIC PLANT IN ALL OF MY REFERENCES.
Please remember that Forage Friday is presented as trivia and not to be mistaken for medical advice.
The first time I found a strawberry bush I thought it looked like something out of a science fiction movie. A pinkish spiked husk encasing bright redish orange berries had my reaching for a tri-corder. But it is native to earth and specifically the Appalachian Mountains. It’s actually in the bittersweet family and the berries are eaten by wildlife however it’s toxic to humans. The side effects that are listed in the medicinal values include “strongly laxative” which means that it’s capable of making any survival situation even worse. Nevertheless the history includes using the plant for several common conditions and includes that it was once given to treat malaria. The powdered bark was applied externally to treat dandruff.
Image Titled Strawberry Bush 992920b.
In my opinion, the plant is best used as an ornamental in place of a imported invasive species.
Image Titled Strawberry Bush Flowers 60520
The flowers themselves are not very showy but the plant makes up the difference in late Summer and Fall with it’s bright fruit and deep red leaves. Plus, it’s listed in association with several native Butterfly species. And the berries are readily eaten by turkeys, Yellow Rumped Warblers, Eastern Bluebird and the Northern Mockingbird. So, even though you might not want to eat the berries yourself the fact that they attract turkeys means that you might use it to bring the big birds in. And of course the songbirds are a way of dealing with stress when they sing and I count that as being a medicinal value all on it’s own.
Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.
Announcement 2.0
For those who have been following me on Facebook and know of the struggle content providers have to get circulation from big tech I’ve been recommending for people to adopt MeWe as a social media platform. One of the problems I’ve run into on MeWe is that people don’t know how to navigate the platform. So to help with that I’ve created a permanent page on my website as a basic Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe I’ve tried to anticipate all basic questions there and You can bookmark the page to have as a reference and if you have any questions or suggestions don’t hesitate to contact me. I do still have a day job and I help admin several pages on both platforms so replies might be a little slow but I will answer you.
We also have the Lloyd’s Lens Photography Discussion Group on MeWe that is set up as a fully functional community. There you’ll not only be able to see and connect with me but you can also make your own posts and interact with each other.
I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup
Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.
https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/
Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!
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