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1 | Circle Garden: Solastalgia, plant research by Melissa Potter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | Common Name | Latin Name | Other Uses (specific to women) | Other Uses (not specific to women) | Part of plant used medicinally | Historical References | Climate change issues | Native to | |||||||||||||||||||
3 | Cleft Phlox | Phlox bifida | None currently identified | Limited medicinal uses. | This beautiful prairie plant is an attractive nectar source for a range of butterflies, skippers and moths. It stays 8 inches high or less and makes a good groundcover. It does not like competition from taller plants, so consider it for a garden border. | Erosion control. Water levels rise and fall naturally throughout the years. However, today’s water levels in the Great Lakes are more than record-breaking. Climate change is causing extreme changes to the lakes and revealing that many people have built far too close to the water. Erosion control methods can only go so far. | Central United States | ||||||||||||||||||||
4 | Cream Gentian | Gentiana flavida | None currently identified | Gentiana flavida has a long history of medicinal use by various Indigenous groups. The plant is known for its bitter taste, which is due to the presence of bitter compounds called iridoids. These compounds are believed to have various health benefits, including stimulating digestion and appetite. In modern times, the plant is sometimes used in herbal medicine as a digestive aid and to treat liver and gallbladder problems. | Closely related to Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) which can sometimes be white. Tubular flowers are white, greenish white, or yellowish white, depending on the local population. The seed capsules split into 2 sections, releasing numerous small seeds that can be dispersed by wind or water. The root system consists of a long, stout taproot. Easier to transplant than start from seed, this is a fairly rare plant that deserves extra care. | Endangered in several states. The population is threatened by exotic invasive taxa (mainly the grasses Arthraxon, Microstegium, and Schedonorus), encroachment of woody plants from the forest edge, and potential herbicide-spraying along a powerline corridor that passes through the macroplot. | Mesic black soil prairies, edges of upland forests, sandy oak savannas, limestone glades, and rocky bluffs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Culver's Root | Veronicastrum virginicum | The Meswuakies use Culver's root (Black Snake Root) as a remedy for constipation and to dissolve gravel in the kidneys. It could also be drunk by women in labor for strength. | Named for Dr. Coulvert of the late 1800s to early 1900s who used it as a laxative. The Cherokee drank a root tea for treating backache, fever, hepatitis, and typhus. For the Menominee, the root was used as a strong physic, reviver, and purification. | Root | Tall, graceful white flowers open from the center of the spike and overall resemble a candelabra. The contrast of these flowers against the dark green foliage is stunning. It is easy to grow and good background plant in a perennial bed, attractive to many types of native bees as well as butterflies. | Drought resistant zones 3 - 8 flexible for changing plant zones. | Open forests, meadows, grassy mountain slopes and prairies from Ontariosouth to Georgia and Louisiana. | |||||||||||||||||||
6 | Mountain Mint | Pycnanthemum virginianum | Mountain mint is also useful for menstrual disorders. | Used in herbalism to treat digestive tract disorders like mouth sores, bleeding gums, indigestion, colic, and flatulence. | Leaves | Scented foliage with a delicate look. The numerous small white blooms will be covered by many different types of pollinators. Deer resistant. | Dense roots provide soil stabilization; long blooming times help insects adapt to climate change shifts in zones. | Eastern North America from Maine to Michigan to Illinois and south to Florida and Texas. | |||||||||||||||||||
7 | Nodding Wild Onion | Allium cernuum | None currently identified | Nodding Onion can be dried and combined with hot water to make a poultice to treat respiratory issues. This poultice can also be applied onto areas that are sore and swelling such as the throat or the chest (3). The juice can be used to treat kidney stones, sore throats, colds, and croup. The plant is delicious and tastes strongly of onion. The bulb (raw or cooked) can be used for flavoring food. The leaves and flowers (raw or cooked) can be eaten as well. Dogs should not eat large amounts of this or they will experience poisoning (2). | Leaves, bulb | Many claim the city of Chicago’s name originates from the plant. Chicago used to be a marsh land full of many onions, Nodding Onion being one of them (3). This caused Chicago to smell of onions. Many Native American tribes had different names and phrases for the scent of their land and the causes of the scent. Nodding Onion dawned the name Chigagou given by the Miami and Algonquin(4). | Loss of pigmentation: Anthocyanin pigments are those chemicals in a flower or leaf that show the blue/purple/pink spectrum of color. These pigments are responsible for protection from the sun and other abiotic stressors such as dessication and heat regulation. Additionally anthocyanic pigmentation may play a role in the ecological relationships between pollinator and pollination as well as herbivory. | Nodding Onion is native to North America, primarily in slopes and open woods in Mexico, Canada, and the midwest region of the United States. | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | Quinine | Cinchona officinalis | Can block ovulation. Emmenagogue | Used to treat malaria. It has traditionally been used as an herbal remedy to treat debility, fatigue, respiratory infection, gastrointestinal infection, and venereal disease. | Stem bark | Also known as wild feverfew, wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium) has a long history of medicinal use by Native Americans and the US Army. During World War I, wild quinine was used as a substitute for the bark of the Cinchona tree—as the active ingredient of quinine used to treat malaria. | Discouraged by the city of Chicago as an invasive plant competing with other more delicate pollinators. Was endangered in Minnesota by agriculture. | Midwestern US | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | Spotted Bee Balm | Monarda punctata | Leaves can be used as emenagogue. | A cold tea of the leaves has been used to ease backache, fever and inflammation. An infusion of the leaves is used in the treatment of flatulence, nausea, indigestion, catarrh in the upper respiratory tract, and to induce sweating and promote urination. The herb is principally used externally as a rubefacient, applied as a poultice it helps to lessen the pain of arthritic joints by increasing the flow of blood in the area and thereby hastening the flushing out of toxins. | Leaves | The unusually shaped flowers of this native perennial shade from beige and green to maroon and pinkish-purple. It is the host plant for the Gray Marvel moth and the Raspberry Pyrausta butterfly. It also attracts the Karner blue (not a hostplant for its caterpillars, but Wild Lupine is!) and other butterflies as well honey and bumble bees and Ruby-throated hummingbirds. The fragrance of this very aromatic plant (the leaves smell like oregano) is repellent to mammals so may help to ward away those cute neighborhood bunnies. Preferring sandy soil, it propagates via self seeding. | Wide zone range capability, drought resistant. Good pollinator. Larval host plant for the pyralid moth and the gray marvel moth. | Eastern United States, prairies | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | White Goldenrod | Oligoneuron album | Leaf extracts can be used for urinary tract problems. | Native Americans used the root to treat burns. They made a tea from the flowers to treat fevers, chewed the flowers for sore throats. | Root | This goldenrod is very unusual because it looks like an aster, and it was even classified as an aster, Aster ptarmicoides, for many years. | Drought, deer and poor soil resistant. Provides lots of nectar to butterflies, bees, and parasitic wasps. Used extensively in prairie and shoreline restoration. | North America | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | White Snakeroot | Ageratina altissima | The root is diaphoretic, diuretic, febrifuge, stimulant and tonic. It has been used in the treatment of diarrhoea, gravel and urinary diseases. It has also been used in herbal sweat baths to encourage sweating[257]. A decoction or infusion of the root has been taken to treat a fallen or inflamed womb. | Root tea used for ague, diarrhea, kidney stones, and fever. Root poultice used to treat snakebites. Leaves: Smoke from burning green leaves used to revive unconscious people. | Leaves, Roots | This plant is responsible for the deaths of many early settlers who drank milk from cows that had consumed the plant. It is estimated that in the early 1800s in parts of Ohio and Indiana, up to half of all fatalities were caused by “milk sickness.” | Provides food for late summer and early fall. Woodlland ground layer serving purpose of forest nutrient productivity.Spreads by rhizome. | North America | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | Wild Strawberry | Fragaria virginiana | Wild strawberry leaves can be harvested for medicine all summer long and are excellent fresh or dried. For a milder taste, pick the greens in the early spring before the strawberry flowers bloom. Rich in vitamin C, the leaves also contain iron and minerals such as magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and sodium. Leaves have a subtle fruity flavor when brewed as a tea. The tea made from strawberry leaves is a gentle and nourishing blood tonic. Diuretic and gently depurative, the leaves can help cleanse the body. | Strawberries contain salicylic acid, and therefore, help treat liver, stomach, and kidney issues, as well as rheumatism and gout. Mildly laxative, this fruit can also cleanse the body. Fresh, mashed strawberries can be used for brushing teeth and can even remove stains if swished around in your mouth for five minutes. Doing so can also help remove tartar buildup. The fruits are excellent for skincare. | Berries, Leaves | Makes a great groundcover, with small white flowers in spring that attract skippers and other butterflies, and small, sweet strawberries later in the summer. Great for eating if the squirrels don't get them first. | We predict that the absence of detectable scent emissions from strawberry plants grown under heat stress will reduce the attractiveness of the flowers to the bee pollinators. Our study raises important ecological and agricultural questions, as decreased attractiveness of flowers to pollinators might potentially lead to insufficient bee pollination, with potential negative consequences for ecosystem functioning and crop yields, particularly in regions reliant on bees as primary pollinators. Given that our study centered on bee pollinators, it is needed to conduct further research to evaluate the impact on hoverflies. | Europe and Asia | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | Circle Garden: Parkway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | Common Name | Latin Name | Other Uses (specific to women) | Other Uses (not specific to women) | Part of plant used medicinally | Historical References | Climate change issues | Native to | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | Coneflower | Echinacea | Studied natural cure for breast, ovarian and reproductive cancers. | Purple coneflower roots mixed with puffball (Lycoperdon species) spores and skunk oil were used in the treatment of boils. The smoke from burning purple coneflower was used as a treatment for distemper in horses by the Ponca, Dakota, Pawnee, and Winnebago. | Roots, Flowers, Leaves | The plant originates from North America and was employed by the indigenous Indians. The first archaeological evidence dates from the 18th century. Included in the name Echinacea or purple coneflower are several species of the Asteraceae family: Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench, Echinacea angustifolia DC. | Being studied in Illinois "Growing for Change" to see how plants might or might not evolve with climate change for proactive climate change preparation. | Illinois | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | Culver's Root | Veronicastrum virginicum | The Meswuakies use Culver's root (Black Snake Root) as a remedy for constipation and to dissolve gravel in the kidneys. It could also be drunk by women in labor for strength. | Named for Dr. Coulvert of the late 1800s to early 1900s who used it as a laxative. The Cherokee drank a root tea for treating backache, fever, hepatitis, and typhus. For the Menominee, the root was used as a strong physic, reviver, and purification. | Root | Tall, graceful white flowers open from the center of the spike and overall resemble a candelabra. The contrast of these flowers against the dark green foliage is stunning. It is easy to grow and good background plant in a perennial bed, attractive to many types of native bees as well as butterflies. | Drought resistant zones 3 - 8 flexible for changing plant zones. | Open forests, meadows, grassy mountain slopes and prairies from Ontariosouth to Georgia and Louisiana. | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | Flowering Spurge | Euphorbia corollata | Euphorbia hirta is often used traditionally for female disorders | Several medicinal uses by the Cherokee are reported including a treatment for cancer, a purgative, an ointment for sores, and numerous uses of the root: a physic, a treatment for pin worms, and treatment of urinary tract diseases. | Root, Sap | Countless tiny white flowers cover this long-blooming prairie plant, earning it the nickname 'Native Baby's Breath'. Foliage turns yellow to provide fall color. Attracts a range of insects, including cute tiny bees and large black wasps that are freaky to see but don't sting! | Considered an invasive plant by the city of Chicago as it self-seeds widely. Naturally resistant to forest and wild fires. | Texas north to South Dakota and east through all of the states to the Atlantic. It is also known from Ontario. | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | Hairy Wood Mint | Blephilia hirsuta | None currently identified | The leaves have both a minty and earthy taste. They can be steeped in hot water for five to ten minutes to make a tea. Or, they can be used to add flavor to sauces, jams, jellies and beverages. Medicinally, they could possibly be used in place of Blephilia ciliata as a remedy for headaches. | Leaves | The German-American botanist Frederick Pursh described the hairy wood mint as Monarda hirsuta in his 1814 work Flora americae septentrionalis, before George Bentham gave it its current binomial name. | Endangered in several states. Attractive to many pollinators. | Eastern North America | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | Mountain Mint | Pycnanthemum virginianum | Mountain mint is also useful for menstrual disorders. | Used in herbalism to treat digestive tract disorders like mouth sores, bleeding gums, indigestion, colic, and flatulence. | Leaves | Scented foliage with a delicate look. The numerous small white blooms will be covered by many different types of pollinators. Deer resistant. | Low maintenance and drought tolerant. Important late season support for pollinators. | Eastern North America from Maine to Michigan to Illinois and south to Florida and Texas. | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | Rattlesnake Master | Eryngium yuccifolium | None currently identified | The best documented use, made by John Adair during the 1700s, describes the use of the plant's sap as a preventative to snakebite, used during ceremonial handling of rattlesnakes. The sap and roots were also used to treat a wide variety of maladies, and as a diuretic. | Sap, Roots | Adair and others reported many medical and ceremonial uses of this plant by Native Americans ranging from the treating of venereal disease, snake bite, worms and impotence (3-4). According to these same sources, the Mesquakies used the plant in their ceremonial rattlesnake dance and the roots to treat rattlesnake bites. | Host plant to the endangered Black Swallowtail butterfly. Larval host to the once-believed extinct (Eryngium) Stem Borer. Deep taproot, drought resistant, wind erosion tolerant. | East and Midwest North America | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | Wild Clover | Trifolium repens L | May have some medicinal use for bone health. | was traditionally used to purify and cleanse the blood. Take advantage of this by making refreshing cups of white clover tea or by making a tincture. A tincture made of the leaves can be a treatment for gout. It is a cooling plant making it ideal for treating fevers and colds. Again do this by drinking tea or making a tincture. White clover is high in vitamins and minerals making it a nourishing health tonic as well. | Leaves, Flowers | White clover is a true breeding species that arose from the mating of two clover species sometime during the last European glaciation; probably 15,000 to 28,000 years ago (see Figure 1). One of the species, Trifolium pallescens, is found naturally in high alpine areas. | Anewly published global study of white clover, Trifolium repens, shows how the plant has repeatedly adapted to environmental changes in 160 cities around the world. The study was published March 17 in Science. | North America | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | Wild Hyacinth | Camassia scilloides | People take hyacinth beans by mouth to prevent pregnancy. | Diarrhea and stomach disorders. | Seeds, Pods, Leaves, Roots, | The bulb of wild hyacinth is edible, raw or cooked. Having a sweet nut-like flavor, they can be used like potatoes. They are said by some people to be the tastiest of the North American edible bulbs, and are at their best when slow roasted for an hour when they become rather sweet. They were collected for food or medicine by the Thompson tribes among others. They were dug in the spring, along with the bulbs of yellowbells, just before the shoots appeared above ground. The young seedpods can be cooked as a potherb, and is an excellent green. | Endangered in Illinois. Prescribed spring burns and urban construction projects studied for lower seed yield. | Illinois | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | Wild Leek | Allium tricoccum | One wild leek contains 10 percent of your RDA of iron for women for the day. Iron transports oxygen to the cells, supports healthy immune function and increases energy levels. Iron replenishment is especially important for women because they experience loss of iron during the menstrual cycle. | Wild leeks contain choline, which is a used as a chemical messenger in the brain (neurotransmitter). Adequate amounts of choline in the diet have been shown to support proper cognitive function and facilitate learning in adults and children. | Leaves | This is edible member of the onion family that grows in moist woodlands and like its relatives. It has been used in cooking by Native Americans and early European settlers. It has the widest leaves of any Allium species. The leaves develop in spring but whither away by the time it blooms.The flowers attract many native bees. After flowering, the white flower clusters leave 3-seeded capsules, which gives its Latin name. These are grown by a responsible nursery and should never be foraged in the wild without the land owner's permission. | Needs moisture and is slow to reproduce. With hotter climates, has difficulty reproducing effectively. Scientists are exploring the use of ramps as a tool for monitoring air and water pollution in forested areas. | Midwest to Northeast United States | |||||||||||||||||||
24 | North Fence | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
25 | Common Name | Latin Name | Other Uses (specific to women) | Other Uses (not specific to women) | Part of plant used medicinally | Historical References | Climate change issues | Native to | |||||||||||||||||||
26 | Boneset | Eupatorium perfoliatum | None currently identified | Boneset is used to reduce fever, increase urine output, cause vomiting, and treat constipation. Boneset is also used to treat influenza, swine flu, acute bronchitis, nasal inflammation, joint pain (rheumatism), fluid retention, dengue fever, and pneumonia; as a stimulant; and to cause sweating. | Strong structure and bold leaves with beautiful flat-topped umbels of white flowers that attract many types of pollinators. Great late-season nectar source for migrating Monarchs! Supports moth caterpillars. Deer resistant. | Boneset is featured in Tracking phenology over 125 years among native flora of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, studying the changes to flowering times due to temperature rise and its effect on the biosphere. | Eastern USA and Canada and as far west as TX, NB and the Dakotas | ||||||||||||||||||||
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28 | Circle Garden 2 Interior | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
29 | Common Name | Latin Name | Other Uses (specific to women) | Other Uses (not specific to women) | Part of plant used medicinally | Historical References, Ecological Uses | Climate change issues | Native to | |||||||||||||||||||
30 | Blue False Indigo | Baptisia australis | None currently identified | Native Americans used it as as an antiseptic, anti-catarrhal, febrifuge and stimulant purgative, however it is dangerous internally. | Root used to make medicine. Not a plant to experiment without serious guidance. | Native Americans and early American settlers used false indigo to dye clothing and artwork a rich blue color. However, the color was not as vibrant as true indigo (Indigofera tinctoria), which was introduced to the United States from India in the mid-1700s. The name "false indigo" refers to the plant's role as a substitute for true indigo. The name "Baptisia" comes from the Greek word bapto, which means "to dip" or "to immerse", referring to the way people would dip cloth in the plant's juice extracts. | Threatened in Indiana, endangered in Ohio. Sensitive to standing water, which can be challenging with current IL summer weather storms and tornados. | Illinois | |||||||||||||||||||
31 | Gray's Sedge | Carex grayi | None currently identified | Limited information: Different parts of Carex plants have been used in traditional remedies and ethnomedical practices to treat a variety of conditions, including ulcers, fever, dysmenorrhea, wounds, and gastrointestinal disorders. | Limited information | Carex grayi, also known as Gray's Sedge, Bur Sedge, or Morning Star Sedge, was named after Asa Gray (1810-1888), a prominent American botanist and author of Gray's Manual of Botany (1848). Gray's botanical collection was the foundation of Harvard University's Gray Herbarium. Limited drought resistance. | May be sustainable for interchanging flood and drought conditions. Study: Rain Garden Sedges Tolerate Cyclical Flooding and Drought | Eastern US, Arkansas | |||||||||||||||||||
32 | Pearly Everlasting | Anaphalis margaritacea | None currently identified | Astringent, Antiseptic. Common uses by Native Americans for this species included ointments for sores, boiling in tea for rheumatism, or the smoke was utilized to treat colds. The plant is also among many native species used as a tobacco substitute. | Flowers, leaves, whole plant. | Excellent flower for drying and was commonly used for winter decorations and, according to Catherine Parr Strickland Traill in Studies of Plant Life in Canada (1885), the Canadian backwoods settlers used it in place of feathers to stuff pillows and mattresses. The flowers last so long that they have become a symbol of Immortality, and the plant has several other suggestive names including Live-ever, Life-everlasting, and Immortelle. It was traditionally used to decorate the graves of departed loved ones. | Important larval food source. Drought tolerant. Spreads quickly through roots, provides erosion control. | North America | |||||||||||||||||||
33 | Purple Love Grass | Eragrostis pectinacea | None currently identified | Lovegrass is often used as fodder for livestock. | Seeds (food) | Purple lovegrass can help control erosion on roadsides and hillsides. Drought tolerant. | Drought tolerant, deer resistant, soil stabilizer. Attracts songbirds, provides shelter for pollinators. | Central and Eastern North America | |||||||||||||||||||
34 | Woodland Stonecrop | Sedum ternatum | None currently identified | The bruised fresh plant is applied as a poultice to wounds and minor burns, though some care should be exercised because the plant can cause blisters or skin irritations. | Leaves, raw or cooked. Can be very irritating taken internally | Stonecrop's growth on cool, high, mountainous rocks has given it symbolic meanings of peace, perseverance, and calmness. | Highly drought resistant, provides erosion control and locks in moisture for soil. Pollution control, carbon capture plant. | Sedum ternatum is native to much of the eastern United States, as far west as Arkansas and Iowa, south down the Appalachian Mountains, and north to near the Canada–United States border. | |||||||||||||||||||
35 | See: Culver's Root | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
36 | See: Mountain Mint | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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