WHITE PINE (Pinus strobus) ~ LuminEarth’s Guide to Wild Edible & Medicinal Plants

Names:  Eastern White Pine, Northern Pine, Northern White Pine, Pin Blanc, Pinus strobus, Soft Pine, Weymouth Pine, Weymouths Keifer, Weymouthtall, White Pine Appearance:  The White Pine (Pinus strobus) is a coniferous evergreen tree.  It’s trunk is tall and stright and the needles are blue-green.  Young trees are conical shaped, but as the trees age they develop [...]

Bull Thistle (Cirsium vulgare) ~ LuminEarth’s Guide to Wild Edible & Medicinal Plants

Names: Bull Thistle (Cirsium vulgare), Common Thistle, Spear Thistle, Fuller’s Thistle Appearance: Thistles are easy to spot because the leaves and stems are prickly and hurt when you touch them. There are no poisonous look-alikes to thistles. None of the true thistles are known to be toxic, but the flavor varies from plant to plant. [...]

Goldenrod (Solidago) ~ LuminEarth’s Guide to Wild Edible & Medicinal Plants

Names:  Goldenrod, Aaron’s Rod, Canadian Goldenrod, Early Goldenrod, European Goldenrod, Solidago canadensis, Solidago gigantea, Solidago Glomerata, Solidago longifolia, Solidago serotina, Solidago virgaurea, Woundwort. Visit Our FREE Online Guide to Wild Edible & Medicinal Plants Appearance: There are more than 20 species in our area (Tennessee) and many of the species hybridize, increasing the diversity of [...]

White Dutch Clover (Trifolium repens) ~ LuminEarth’s How to Identify Wild Edible & Medicinal Plants

Names:  White Dutch Clover (Trifolium repens) , White Clover, Ladino Clover, Clover, White Shamrock, Shamrock Appearance:  Clovers have leaves in sets of three with a flower head ranging in color from white, cream to pinkish tinged. Harvesting:  White Dutch Clover is found in lawns, fields, pastures, and disturbed areas. The young leaves are best harvested [...]

Lady’s Thumb (Polygonum persicaria) ~ LuminEarth’s Guide to Wild Edible & Medicinal Plants

Names:   Lady’s Thumb (Polygonum persicaria), Smartweed, Knotweed, Spotted Ladysthumb, Fedshank, Floh-Knöterich, Renouée persicaire, Persicaria, Duraznillo, Arsesmart, La Liao, Water Pepper, Polygonum Hydropiper, Red leg, Knotweed, Tear-thumb, Pennsylvania Smartweed Lady’s Thumb (Polygonum persicaria) Appearance: Lady’s Thumb is an annual plant and a member of the buckwheat family. It has narrow, pointed lance shaped leaves ranging in [...]

Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea) ~ LuminEarth’s Guide to Wild Edible & Medicinal Plants

GROUND IVY (Glechoma hederacea) Other Names: Alehoof, Cat’s Foot, Cat’s Paw,  Creeping Charlie, Gill-Go-By-The Hedge,  Gill-Over-The-Ground, Gillrun, Hay Maids, Hedge Maids, Lian Qian Cao, Lizzy-Run-Up-The-Hedge, Nepeta Hederacea, Robin-Run-In-The-Hedge, Tun-Hoof, Turnhoof.   Appearance: Ground Ivy leaves are heart shaped, opposite, scalloped, and dark green, sometimes tinted purple. The main root is thick and matted it sends out [...]

Make Herbal Tinctures from Any Loose Herb

WHAT IS AN HERBAL TINCTURE?  In Medicine  a tincture is an alcohol based extract of leaves or other plant material, or solution of a non-volatile substance (like iodine).  In Herbology, tinctures are potent, alcohol based, liquid extracts made using fresh plant material in liquid base such as vodka, brandy, vegetable glycerin, or even apple cider vinegar (all of which [...]