Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) is a perennial native plant that grows 24 to 36 inches tall. Leaves are oppositely arranged on the stems and are slightly toothed and hairy. Flowers bloom in summer and are showy having individual pink to lavender blossoms emanating from center seed head.
Wild Bergamot is in the mint family (Lamiaceae). Generally speaking, this means that the plant has a square stem, and usually has very aromatic leaves and edible flowers.
Actually, the leaves, stems and flowers of Wild Bergamot are all edible. They can be used as a garnish or in salads raw or cooked. Leaves may also be used to make tea and as a garnish. But stems, flowers, and leaves can be used as a seasoning herb in soups and stews.
When crushed or bruised, the leaves give off a strong aroma of oregano and thyme, due to the presence of the essential oil thymol in the plant. The thymol, and the aroma it brings, is the biggest reason Wild Bergamot is a good culinary herb.
For the largest harvest of high quality leaves, you’ll want to gather them before the plant goes to flower. As the flowers bloom, the plant gets taller, the stems get more rigid, and the leaves become less concentrated on the plant. Simply look for large colonies of plants about a 1-2 feet tall, and, using a scissors, cut the top 6 inches or so off and put them in a paper bag.
When you return home, transfer the plants to a plastic bag and store in the fridge. You must cool down the plants after harvesting within a few hours or they will wilt and discolor, which diminishes the flavor. Freshly picked and quickly cooled, fresh Wild Bergamot leaves will keep in the fridge for at least a week.
The fresh leaves add a wonderful addition when scattered into a salad. Mixed with a hot cup of water, the dried flower petals make a nice tea. However, this is an incredibly versatile wild herb with many more uses than simply tea. The thymol means that it’s a great substitute anywhere you’d use oregano or thyme; it pairs very nicely with tomatoes, especially tomato sauce.
There’s two ways you can use Wild Bergamot leaves and flowers in cooking: fresh or dried.
The fresh green leaves of the plant add a great flavor to sauces, especially tomato sauces, soups, marinades, and vinaigrettes, and basically anywhere you’d use fresh oregano or thyme.
To dry the plant for use as an herb, harvest the whole stems of the plant, typically the tender tops. You can harvest Wild Bergamot greens when the plant is older and taller too, tying them up and hanging them upside down to dry.
Once the leaves and stems are dried, you may put them in a spice jar. Finished, dried Wild Bergamot leaves can be stored in a pantry like any other herb.
It’s good to not crumble the leaves up too much before storing. Just like dried oregano, crumbling the dried herb between your fingers helps to release the thymol when you cook with it.
The first Pollinator Week was observed in 2007 in America after the Senate’s unanimous approval of a resolution that acknowledged the week as a necessary step in recognizing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations. Pollinator Week is an annual event celebrated all over the world in the last full week in June. The event is organized and conducted in support of pollinator health by the Pollinator Partnership.
The week is observed as an international celebration to protect the ecosystems that sustain all pollinators – be they bees, flies, wasps, beetles, moths, butterflies or hummingbirds.
As we conclude this weeklong event, let’s focus on one that most of us probably do not think of as a pollinator of flowering plants – hummingbirds.
Hummingbirds (family Trochilidae) are only found in the western hemisphere. Most of the more than 300 species of hummers live in Central and South America. About 26 species visit the United States during part of the year and 17 breed here. In North America, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) populate the eastern United States; common species in the west include Broad-tailed (Selasphorus platycercus), Rufous (Selasphorus rufus), and Black-chinned (Archilochus alexandri). About 8,000 plants in North and South America depend on hummingbirds’ pollination services.
Hummingbirds are most attracted to red, pink, yellow, and orange flowers with tubular blooms as long and skinny as the birds’ beaks. Hummingbirds drink up to two times their body weight per day. The tube-like shape of preferred flowers can hold a greater reservoir of nectar to accommodate these birds’ appetites and keep them interacting with pollen for longer periods. Pollen that sticks to a hummingbird’s feathers and bill gets carried to the next flower it visits.
Examples of native American plants that are pollinated primarily by hummingbirds include:
Hummingbirds pollinate individual flowers, flowering shrubs, and blooming trees in different ways. Because these birds feed about five to eight times per hour and may visit dozens or hundreds of different flowers daily, there is ample opportunity for a single bird to pollinate multiple flowers by any of these methods:
Simple Disruption: Just knocking pollen grains around inside a single flower may lead to successful pollination. When a hummingbird nudges a flower with its bill, that disruption may be enough for pollination to occur. Their rapid wing beats (~20-80 times per second) create a breeze that also helps to spread pollen from one flower to the next.
Bill Transfer: Pollen is sticky and can easily adhere to a hummingbird’s bill as it sips nectar from a flower. When the bird visits a different flower, that pollen is transferred to a new bloom for pollination.
Head Transfer: Very deep blooms often have tall anthers, which are the parts of a flower covered with pollen. When a hummingbird inadvertently brushes against the anther, the pollen may stick to the bird’s head to be transferred to the next bloom the bird visits.
A recent study concluded that hummingbirds are more likely to pollinate those plants that do not self-pollinate much more effectively than bees. Bees often visit all open flowers on one plant before flying to the next. Therefore, bees mainly encourage self-pollination. Compared to hummingbirds, bees have another disadvantage: they groom intensively during flight and deposit the combed-out pollen in their pollen baskets to feed it to their larvae. As a result, only a small portion of the pollen reaches the stigma and can fertilize the ovules. Hummingbirds, on the other hand, are not interested in pollen. (SOURCE: Stefan Abrahamczyk et al, “Influence of plant reproductive systems on the evolution of hummingbird pollination,” Ecology and Evolution (2022). DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8621)
Hummingbirds that breed in North America overwinter in Mexico, though migration corridors vary by species. Hummingbirds take epic flights that follow the coasts, the spine of the Rockies, or, for the Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds of the northeastern U.S., even across the Gulf of Mexico in a long-distance 18-to 22-hour, non-stop flight. Their migration flights to the north in the spring correspond to flowering times of native plants at their destination.
Today, take a moment to stop and watch these amazingly acrobatic and precise floral visitors and appreciate not only their aerial maneuvers, but also acknowledge their unique contribution in pollinating some of the plants that we humans rely upon for food. Please check out Pollinator Week and Pollinator Partnership for brochures, resources, and suggested activities to learn how each of us can help ensure that these unique pollinators will forever be part of our world.
World Baking Day is a day that is all about celebrating the glory that is baked goods.
People have been baking for thousands of years. Bread baking goes all the way back to 600 BC in Ancient Greece. The Egyptians were the first to use yeast when baking bread. During the 16th and 17th centuries, baking was transformed by access to an abundance of syrups, spices, and currants discovered through globalized trade. Watch a brief history of baking throughout the world.
For a truly homemade baking endeavor, I encourage you to forage for some, perhaps all, of the ingredients you’ll need for your selected recipe. For a great resource regarding wildcrafted baking ingredients, I encourage you to thoroughly read How to Make Cookies after the Apocalypse (Wild Foraged Cookies) from the Practical Self Reliance blog. Ashley’s excellent post covers all topics associated with baking: flour alternatives and supplements, sweeteners, fat sources, binders, spices, and leavening sources. The comprehensive post also provides a list of foraged cookie recipes that you may need to consider should an actual zombie apocalypse ever occur.
Foraging Calendar: (Click on table to enlarge for viewing)
Looking for helpful information regarding foraging for those essential ingredients? Read on!
Always be certain that the species you collect is edible and that what you collect is indeed the species you were seeking.
Need-to-Know Information regarding the Targeted Plants:
Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) = ripened fruit; good source of vitamins A, C, and E, contain high levels of flavonoids and essential fatty acids, a rich source of lycopene, and it has strong antioxidant activity
Autumn-olive ripened fruit
Where found: Open areas: successional fields, pastures, hedge rows, utility rights-of-way, thickets
Tall shrub (generally 10-20 feet) that branches frequently; it is usually a little taller than wide
Young branches are silvery green to brown and covered with small scales
Alternate leaves are up to 3″ long and 1¼” across, and are elliptical, oblong or ovate with smooth margins, blunt tips, and wedge-shaped to rounded bottoms
Lower surface of leaf is whitish green to white and densely covered with small silvery scales
Drupe-like fleshy fruits are silvery bright red (when fully ripened), about 1/3″ long, and ovoid in shape – View Foraging for Wild Edibles: Autumnberries for info about foraging for ripened fruit
Canes are green where there is new growth at the tips, otherwise they are brown or reddish brown and have visible ridges and stout thorns
Alternate leaves are usually trifoliate or palmately compound with long petioles
Berries are ready for picking when they are dark black in color and look quite plump – View Foraging for Wild Edibles: Blackberries for info about foraging for ripened fruit.
Where Found: Moist rich woodlands; Low woodland borders, swamps or soggy thickets
Fiddleheads emerge in clusters
Stem is smooth (no “wool”) and bright green with a deep groove inside
Feathery-brown, paper-like material covers the sides of each “fiddlehead” coil
Will remain tightly coiled until they reach a height of about 4-6”
American Hazelnut (Corylus americana) and Beaked Hazelnut (Corylus cornuta) = nuts; Fully ripened when shell (not outside husk) is brown in color; each hazelnut kernel is 50-75% oil and a rich source of mono- and polyunsaturated fats that contain a good amount of omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids, such as oleic acid – View Foraging for Wild Edibles: Hazelnuts for info about foraging for these nuts.
Hazelnut harvest (American on left, Beaked on right)
American Hazelnut:
Where Found: Woods borders and thickets
Deciduous, rounded, multi-stemmed, thicket-forming shrub that typically grows 6-16′ tall
Tips of twigs are hairy and leaves have double-toothed margins
Nut enclosed in a pair of hairy leaf-like bracts (involucres) with ragged edges
Beaked Hazelnut:
Where Found: Woods borders and thickets
Deciduous, rounded, multi-stemmed, thicket-forming shrub that typically grows 6-16′ tall
Tips of twigs are hairless or few hairs and leaves have double-toothed margins
Nut enclosed in a pair of hairy bracts (involucres) that join together to form a long narrow beak
Fully ripened when shell is brown in color – do not wait for husk to turn brown; Excellent source of dietary fiber, protein, manganese, copper, magnesium, zinc, and Thiamin; nutmeat is a high-energy food because it contains 66% oil that is rich source of mono- and polyunsaturated fats and contains good amount of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids – View Foraging for Wild Edibles: Hickory Nuts for info about foraging for these nuts.
First harvest of 2022 – mix of Pignut Hickory (Carya glabra) and Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata) nuts
Pignut Hickory:
Where Found: Dry woods
60-80′ tall tree with single long straight trunk
Ascending to spreading alternate branches with pinnately compound leaves
Trunk bark is gray to gray-brown and somewhat rough with elongated ridges that have flattened tops and shallow furrows
Husks are thin, smooth and hairless and comprised of four segments; tan shell of the nut is ovoid and slightly flattened in shape
Shagbark Hickory:
Where Found: Mature woods and fencerows
60-80′ tall tree with single long straight trunk
Upper branches ascending, middle branches widely spreading, and lower branches descending with pinnately compound leaves
Trunk bark is light to medium gray, rough textured, fissured, and shaggy from narrow plates that peel away from the trunk at their tips and/or bottoms
Husk divided into 4 segments that are indented at their margins, providing the fruit with a ribbed appearance; nut of each fruit is light tan and slightly 4-angled
Jerusalem Artichoke (AKA Sunchokes) (Helianthus tuberosus) = root; Unlike most root vegetables, these tubers consist mainly of inulin (7 to 30% by weight) instead of starch and sucrose – Inulin is converted to fructose when pickled; Sunchokes also have a number of vitamins and minerals including niacine, thiamine, vitamin B6, and vitamin C
Where Found: Roadside ditches, stream banks, and wet fields
Dig the roots with a digging fork, shovel or hori hori knife; be sure to go deep, as you may find tubers as much as a foot or so down in the dirt – View Jerusalem Artichoke Harvest (beginning @ 3:30) for info on how to dig up the roots.
After harvest, Jerusalem Artichokes may be kept in a paper bag in your fridge’s crisper drawer for a week or two
After cutting or peeling, the tuber flesh will darken, so pickle them as soon as possible.
Where Found: Forests, orchards, yards, and gardens
“Head” or brown chambered top of the fungus resembles a pine cone and is the spore-bearing surface
“Head” is comprised of chambers formed by distinct ridges and pits (unlike false morels, which lack the pits) and is attached directly to the stalk (unlike false morels, which attach to the top of the stalk as if a separate piece)
Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago) = ripened fruit; Fruit are high in fiber and contain various substances and micro-nutrients, such as: alkaloids, alkaline salts, proteins and flavonoids (powerful antioxidants with anti-inflammatory and immune system benefits)
Ripe fruit of Nannyberry
Where Found: Swamps, marshes, roadside ditches, and wet successional fields
Multi-stemmed shrub generally 9-18’ tall with ascending branches that have a tendency to arch
Pairs of opposite leaves serrated along their margins; leaf bases rounded to broadly wedge-shaped, while leaf tips taper abruptly, becoming long and slender
Mature drupes ovoid in shape, dark blue-violet color, and each containing single flattened ovoid seed; fleshy interior somewhat juicy and sweet, tasting like a date – View Foraging for Wild Edibles: Nannyberry for info about foraging.
Where Found: Moist bottomland woodlands, upland woodlands, and savannas
Tree grows 80-120′ tall at maturity, forming an ovoid to globoid crown whose branches are ascending to widely spreading and somewhat crooked, and a tall stout trunk (up to 5′ across) whose thick trunk bark is gray to gray-brown with flat corky ridges and deep irregular furrows
Alternate obovate or broadly elliptic leaves about 4-10″ long and 2½–5″ across with rounded lobes that extend moderately to deeply into the leaf blade and the deepest lobes usually occur along the lower one-half of the blade; upper leaf surface is dark green and smooth, while lower surface is pale gray-green and covered with dense short fine hairs
Nuts are either solitary or occur in pairs on short stalks up to 1″ long and 1½–2½” long and similarly across, becoming brown to grayish brown when ripe; distinctive cups extend at least one-half the length of the nuts, sometimes nearly enclosing them and they are rather knobby in appearance with soft awns up to 1/3″ (8 mm.) in length along the rim of each cup, forming a conspicuous fringe around the nut
Where Found: Swamps (often on ridges and hill tops therein), wet depressions, and thickets
Tree grows 60-80′ tall at maturity, forming ovoid to obovoid crown, and a straight trunk about 2-3½’ across whose trunk bark is brown, gray-brown, or gray, rough-textured, and developing either irregular furrows with flat ridges or large flaky scales
Alternate leathery and stiff leaves about 4-7″ long and 2½-4½” are usually obovate with 4-8 pairs of shallow to moderately deep lobes along their margins that are either rounded or taper to blunt tips; upper leaf surface is medium to dark green and smooth, while the lower surface is whitish green to white and densely covered with short white fine hairs
Nuts are either solitary or occur in pairs on long stalks that are are ¾-1″ long and ½-¾” across, becoming brown when ripe; tan-colored or light gray cup extends to about one-third of the length of an acorn whose scales are somewhat recurved and pointed
Tree grows 60-100′ tall at maturity, forming a globoid to subgloboid crown with widely spreading lower branches and ascending upper branches and a straight trunk whose bark is light gray, shallowly furrowed, and divided into flat narrow plates
Alternate leaves are 4-7″ long and 2-4½” across and broadly elliptic or obovate with 3-5 pairs of deep to medium lobes that have round tips and round sinuses; upper leaf surface is medium green and smooth, while the lower surface is dull light green or gray-green and hairless (or nearly so)
Mature acorns are ½-1″ long, ovoid, greenish brown to light brown; light tan or light gray shallow cap with warty scales extends downward to about one-fourth the length of the acorn
Small tree (typically 10-25′ at maturity) with short trunk and a crown with an ovoid or broadly ovoid outline and whose trunk bark is gray and rough-textured
Usually thorny spur-twigs along the branches and, to a lesser extent, on the trunk; these thorn-like twigs are up to 4″ long and relatively straight
Alternate leaves are 2½–4½” long and 1–2½” across, obovate in shape and tapering somewhat abruptly into long slender tips; upper surface is smooth and it is indented along the veins, while the lower surface is sometimes hairy along the central and primary veins
Fruits are about 1–1¼” across and globoid to broadly ovoid in shape and may be red, orange, or yellow when ripe; fruits are edible with a fleshy yellow interior (tart to slightly sweet or tart) and a large stone in the middle, which is broadly ellipsoid and somewhat flattened in shape with a narrow ridge on one side and a shallow narrow groove on the other
Where Found: Hedgerows, thickets, forest edges, young successional forests, and disturbed soils often in valley bottoms and floodplains
Small tree up to 25′ tall with stout short trunk and widely spreading to ascending branches; grey trunk bark
Smaller branches rather contorted in their growth habit with small stout twigs or spines
Alternate leaves are up to 4″ long and 1¾” across, medium to dark green, ovate to obovate, hairless, sharply toothed along their margins, and whose tip is somewhat elongated; upper surface is slightly wrinkled in appearance, rather than smooth
Fleshy fruits are globoid and about 1″ across, becoming yellow or red (usually the latter) when fully ripened; fruits are fleshy and juicy, becoming sweet when fully mature, and each has a single large stone, which is ovoid and somewhat flattened, tapering at both ends
Fruit of Wild Strawberry – leaves are above the blooms/fruits
Wild Strawberry:
Where Found: Successional fields, pastures, lawns, roadsides, young successional forests, forest openings, disturbed soils, and along the edge of paths
Herbaceous perennial plant is 4-7″ tall, consisting of several trifoliate basal leaves and one or more flower stalks; leaflets are up to 2½” long and 1½” across, obovate or oval in shape, coarsely toothed with rounded tips, smooth and medium to dark green upper surface with variably hairy lower surface, and conspicuous venation
Fruits are up to ½” long and across, globoid or globoid-ovoid in shape, bright red at maturity and whose small seeds are scattered across the surface in sunken pits; fleshy interior has a sweet-tart flavor
Where Found: Young successional forests, thickets, forest edges, edges of dirt roads and paths through forests, and disturbed soils
Herbaceous perennial plant with basal leaves and flowering stalks; Leaflets are 1 to 1½ inches long, ¾ to 1 inch wide, coarsely toothed, nearly hairless on upper surface, prominently veined, oval to egg-shaped, rounded towards the tip and tapered toward the base
Fruit is egg shaped to conic with tiny seeds (achenes) raised on the surface and typically rise above the leaves
Wild Thyme (Thymus pulegioides) = flowers and leaves
Wild Thyme (AKA Creeping Thyme)
Where Found: Dry, sandy soil where there’s plenty of sunlight
Reddish-brown, woody stems and small (¼″ – ½″ long), green, oval, opposite leaves
Develops dense clusters of tiny aromatic pink-purplish flowers at the top of each stem
Plants often found in dense colonies that carpet an area
Where Found: Cultivated ground, fields, pastures, disturbed soils in forests, stream banks, gravel and sand bars in streams, roadsides, and disturbed soils; becomes a weedy species of disturbed soils in open habitats
Herbaceous perennial plant typically 3-8″ tall that often branches abundantly, particularly toward its base
Alternate trifoliate leaves occur along the stems; in the absence of sunlight, the leaflets will droop downward and fold along their central veins – this process reverses itself when sunlight reappears
Individual leaflets are ¼-½” long and similarly across; both surfaces are pale green with the upper surface smooth or nearly so, while the lower surface is covered with short flattened hairs
Small umbels of 2-6 yellow flowers are produced from the axils of leaves, each about ¼” or a little more across
The first month of summer has been marked by very, very dry and hot weather. The stress on all plants (except trees) of both weather factors over the past several weeks has been readily apparent. Nevertheless, I have found these blooming beauties during my ongoing wildflower inventories along the Mohawk Hudson Bike-Hike Trail in the City of Cohoes and Town of Colonie and along the trails comprising the Swatling Falls Nature Trails in the Town of Halfmoon.
Hope you find time soon to take a relaxing stroll along either of these trails or your own local favorite to view these and other blooming wildflowers.
This week, I’m featuring Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) as one of our local wildflowers that begins to bloom at this time.
PLEASE NOTE:Culturally Significant Plant = Ethnobotanic Uses: The plant has a wide variety of medicinal uses, especially to treat catarrh due to the aromatic nature of the volatile oil contained in the leaves of this plant. Read more about this plant.
The common name Bergamot comes from its fragrance resembling that of Italian bergamot orange (Citrus bergamia).
Identification Tips:
This herbaceous perennial plant is 2½–4′ tall, branching frequently in the upper half. The four-angled stem is somewhat hairy and its color may vary from light green to reddish-brown. The opposite leaves are broadly lancelike to ovate, and vary in color from light green greyish-green to dark green, sometimes with yellow or red tints. These color variations are in part a response to environmental conditions. Leaves are coarsely toothed, 1-4” long and up to 2” wide, rounded at the leaf base and tapering to a point at the tip, on leaf stalks up to 5/8 inch long. Leaves are always hairy underneath and smooth or hairy on the upper surface.
At the top of major stems are rounded heads of flowers about 1-3″ across. The flowers begin blooming in the center of the head, gradually moving toward its periphery, gradually forming a wreath of flowers with a bald spot in the center. Flower clusters look like ragged pompoms. Each flower is lavender or pink, and about 1″ long, with an irregular shape. The corolla divides into a tubular upper lip with projecting stamens, and three slender lower lips that function as landing pads for visiting insects. Each flower head is subtended by (rests upon) a whorl of showy, pinkish, leafy bracts.
Wild Bergamot
The plant is noted for its fragrance (minty-oregano aroma), which is caused by volatile oils that are on the hair-like trichomes. Read more about the source of this plant’s aromatic qualities.
The flowers drop off leaving the calyxes behind in which the seeds develop. The button-shaped flower head turns dark brown as the seed ripens and it persists through winter aiding in its winter identification.
In the language of flowers, Wild Bergamot’s pink flowers symbolize friendship.
Culinary and Medicinal Uses:
Wild Bergamot has been used as food seasoning and as a tea by American Indians and colonists.
Wild Bergamot is considered a medicinal plant by many American Indian Nations including the Menomini, the Ojibwe, and the Winnebago (Ho-Chunk). It is used most commonly to treat colds and is frequently made into a tea for such use. The tea may be sweetened with honey, as it tends to be quite strong.
In addition to treatment of colds, American Indians used leaf tea for colic, flatulence, fevers, stomach aches, nosebleeds, insomnia, and heart trouble. A poultice made from its leaves was used to treat for headaches and sore eyes as well as for acne. Oil extracted from the plant was inhaled with steam to relieve bronchial disorders and sore throats. Wild Bergamot is a source of thymol, the primary active ingredient in modern commercial mouthwash formulas. View a recipe for a homemade herbal mouthwash using Wild Bergamot – note: the author of the recipe suggests that for daily use, you should omit the salt.
Several bees specialize in the pollination of Monarda flowers, including Beebalm Shortface (Dufourea monardae), Perdita gerhardi, and Protandrena abdominalis.
In the late fall, the seed will be sought out by chickadees, sparrows and American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) pecking patiently at the tiny seeds in the spent flowerheads.
Mammalian herbivores usually avoid this plant as a food source, probably because of the oregano-mint flavor of the leaves and their capacity to cause indigestion.
Curious By Nature 