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Calycanthaceae / Strawberry-shrub |
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Lore: The entire plant is aromatic and thus has been used for it's fragrance and to flavor foods dispite the possibility of toxicity
Medical Uses: The fruits (other parts ?) are widely reported to be toxic to ruminants such
as cows and sheep perhaps due to the alkaloid calycanthine. (See:
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Calycanthus+floridus+glaucus)
The Cherokee used the roots as an emetic and made eye drops from cold bark tea. They used the "bark ooze for children's
sores". (Hamel/Chiltoskey)
| More Info: |
One of the best general guides to wildflowers of the North Eastern and North Central United States. Newcomb's key is an excellent, simple method for identifying plants. Newcomb has drawings for almost every plant mentioned that are excellent aids to identifying the species. Though only the more common plants are covered this is often the first book I pick up when trying to identify a wildflower.
This is perhaps the best of many field guides covering this region. Featuring 446 excellent color photographs (located with the text) and mentioning as similar to those illustrated are another 800 or so species for a total coverage of over 1,200 species. The start of each family section includes line drawings of some of the species showing important features. The text includes the usual description, bloom season, range, habitat and additionally includes information such as medical uses and lore and how the species was named. This is the official field guide of the Tennessee Native Plant Society.
| Classification: |
| Kingdom | | | Division Magnoliophyta Angiosperms / Flowering Plants | | | Class Magnoliopsida Dicots / Two Seed Leaves | | | Subclass Magnoliidae | | | | | Family Calycanthaceae Strawberry- shrub | | | Subfamily | | | Tribe | | | Genus Calycanthus Sweetshrub |