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Keystone Plants: Flowering Perennials in Ecoregion Five
Explore the vital role of keystone flowering perennials in supplying food to native bee species and supporting butterfly and moth populations in Ecoregion Five.
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Photo:
Photo by Lisa Summerour on Unsplash
Author: Dale Odorizzi, Master Gardeners of Lanark County; published with permission
One of my favourite vegetables is the carrot. They are easy to grow and store well in the fall and winter, and most importantly, they taste delicious, especially when pulled straight out of the ground, wiped off, and eaten.
As I learned more and more about gardening and the various plant families, I was even more impressed with this humble vegetable and its relatives.
Carrots are a member of the Apiaceae family. Worldwide, this family contains about 434 genera and 3,700 species. About 75 genera are native to North America. The flat umbels or multiple flowerheads are the best pattern for identification. Each umbel is made up of several inflorescences, or flower clusters, that spring from a common centre and form a flat surface.
While many members of the family are edible, others are very dangerous. Some, too, are extremely invasive.
Now, you might think that there are no flowers on a carrot, but carrots are biennial plants that we eat in their first year. If you have ever left a carrot in the ground over the winter and let it go to seed the following year, you will see the familiar umbel as it gets ready to produce seeds.
Most of the edible members of the Apiaceae family are herbs rich with spicy, aromatic, and volatile oils we enjoy in our cooking. They also have many health benefits. Some edible members are:
Many members of the Apiaceae family are easily confused with other members. Be very careful if you are foraging for food; you do indeed have an edible member.
Cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum) is a native plant that grows to 2.5 metres. At first glance, it appears very similar to giant hogweed. Some people may get dermatitis from it, but it is not as strong as giant hogweed. In fact, when I was a kid, it grew in great abundance near the river beside our house. In the fall and spring, we loved to get the dried hollow stems to use as swords or peashooters. This is a good source for native pollinators and food for moose and deer. It is a perennial. This is just a small sampling of the diverse members of the Apiaceae family. Many of them are delicious, and many others are deadly. Be sure you know which is which before trying one.
Explore the vital role of keystone flowering perennials in supplying food to native bee species and supporting butterfly and moth populations in Ecoregion Five.
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