Botany - Blog Posts
Senescing Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis). This plant in the Poppy family produces a beautiful white flower in springtime and is rare in some areas. It's common name comes from the deep red chemicals found in it's rhizome which can be used as a dye. Medicinally it has sedative and painkilling properties but is simultaneously poisonous due to Sanguinarine. In colonial times this plant could be commonly found growing in one's backyard. Due to it's former use as an agent to induce abortions, the mere presence of this flower in one's yard could result in being labeled as a witch and persecution.
I picked some Lycopodium obscurum (Ground Pine) I found while hiking. The spores are extremely flammable due to a high fat content and were formerly used in flash photography and to make small explosions in circus shows. I picked the strobili off one, squeezed it rigorously to rupture the sporangia, collected the fine yellow flour-like spores on paper and dumped some on a flame to see how flammable the spores from only one plant would be.
Incredibly fragrant blooming Brugmansia tree at nighttime. Contains tropane alkaloids (Scopolamine, Atropine, Hyoscyamine) which act as powerful anticholinergics. These are used in medicine to stimulate the heart and treat motion sickness. When ingested in doses greater than those of therapeutic ones they are infamous for causing a prolonged state of amnesic delirium. On rare occasions they are used in high doses for intoxication. Low doses elicit vivid dreams.
