Missouri Study and New Plant Ids

The week before last we read a lot about the state in which we live, Missouri.  We learned about many of the cities, Missouri history, folklore, fun facts, well-known plants and animals (flora and fauna), and more.  I also made fruit-juice-sweetened gelatin for the kids.  It was the first time I have ever done this for them.  I do not buy Jell-O or other similar brands, because they contain pork gelatin and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives, as well as GM corn syrup.  I used my Missouri-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the gelatin into Missouri shapes, which the kids really loved.

Missouri-shaped gelatin treat and the boys' fabric U.S. map

Up-to-date information about Missouri

Missouri legends and lore, including the story about Jesse James

Some Missouri flora and fauna

Missouri farming

St. Louis history and facts

More about Missouri

Trusten placing the arch sticker on the state of Missouri

We used American Heritage New Pictorial Encyclopedic Guide to the United States, Vol. 8, which is outdated but still had much useful information.  We also used the up-to-date The Young People's Atlas of the United States. And for Trusten's better participation, I used Sticker Atlas of the United States.

Youtube videos watched:

MO Conservation Playlist: Wildlife of Missouri

Our Playlist: History of Mark Twain and History of St. Louis Arch

Our Playlist:  History of Jesse James

We also read some about the caves and springs in Missouri. Missouri is known as "the cave state" and has more caves than any other U.S. state, except for Tennessee.  I'm currently planning our week for the Feast of Tabernacles, which we'll be keeping here, and we're planning to visit at least one cave around here (not yet chosen) that we've not yet visited.  Jaden still remembers the caves we visited during the FOT in the year of 2009 when we visited the Lake of the Ozarks area in Missouri.  We'll also be doing some fun things in Arkansas during the FOT this year, and I'll talk about our Arkansas study in my next blog post.

We id'ed two more plants that grow around here.  One morning I went out to see our garden (which is now non-existent), and I noticed some vines and white flowers on the ground adjacent to the garden spot.  The flowers instantly reminded me of morning glories.  I picked one and went inside to see whether I could get a positive identification on it.  Sure enough, it is in the morning glory family.  It's called wild potato vine, and it's an edible.  I've since seen a lot of it around here, and it seems to be flourishing despite the drought conditions.  This plant has not been so abundant around our property and the surrounding area in the past few years, as I would have surely noticed it.  I've noticed this same thing about a lot of species.  Some so scarce, some so abundant.

To the right is the flower I picked that morning when I came inside to research it on my iPad; to the left is Trusten in front of another wild potato vine plant along the roadside during one of our walks.

Wild potato vine (Ipomoea pandurata):

In dry soils, in fields or on roadsides, look for the large white morning-glory (up to three inches long and about as wide) with a reddish-purple “eye” in the center. Arising from a deep vertical root, this perennial vine with alternate leaves, entwines itself over other vegetation.
The leaf-blades are thin, heart-shaped, occasionally fiddle-shaped (pandurate), three to six inches long. The sepals are ridged, which distinguishes it from other morning-glories.
Another distinguishing characteristic is its root. Sometimes called Man-of-the-Earth, this morning-glory has an enlarged starchy root that can be several feet long and weigh up to thirty pounds. It is said that American Indians roasted pieces of the root for food–but be wary about trying that, because the fresh root is a purgative.
Wild Potato Vine is widely distributed and blooms from May through September. It is a host for the sweet potato weevil, and can be a troublesome weed. It is a member of the Morning-glory Family, Convolvulaceae.

Edible Parts

    • Root

Uses
The root can be cooked. The young ones are best, they become very acrid as they get old.
The roots can be up to 75cm long and 12cm in diameter and can weigh 7 kilos.
Roots weighing 10 kilos or more are not unknown. They are best if given a long roasting. Roasted roots taste like sweet potato but with some bitterness.
The tuber can be baked or boiled like a potato. The taste can be described as a sweet potato that is somewhat bitter. Caution should be taken as some roots have more of a bitter taste than others and ought to be boiled in “several changes of water.”

Native Uses
American Indians poulticed root for rheumatism, “hard tumors”. Root tea used as a diuretic, laxative, and expectorant, for coughs, asthma, beginning stages of tuberculosis; “blood purifier”; powdered plant used in tea for headaches, indigestion.

Warning: The roots when left uncooked have purgative (laxative) properties

Bug Repellant
An infusion of the plant has been used for soaking sweet potatoes in order to keep away bugs and moles.

(Source: Emergency Outdoors: http://blog.emergencyoutdoors.com/edible-wild-plants-wild-potato-vine-ipomoea-pandurata/)

Another plant we id'ed is spearmint, which grows wild all over the place in this area:

Brown-eyed Susan on the left; spearmint in middle and on right

That was a gorgeous brown-eyed Susan plant that was near all spearmint I photographed, so I just had to share it, too!  We have both black-eyed Susan and brown-eyed Susan around here.  The latter has smaller flowers but is much taller in stature.  These plants were photographed near the bank of Roaring River near Eagle Rock, MO.

Spearmint (Mentha spicata):

Spearmint is an aromatic herb found in European cuisine since Roman times. It is native to Central Europe but it is now found throughout North America, where it was introduced by North America's earliest immigrants in the late 1500's. In those dangerous times it was used to prevent and treat scurvy, due to its high vitamin C content.
Mint has an interesting history in Europe. Roman legend has it that the wife of Pluto was jealous of a young nymph named Minthes and so turned her into a plant. Although Pluto was unable to transform her back, he gave her a delightful aroma that we now recognize as Mint.

Medicinal uses:
 
When made into a tea or infusion, Spearmint can relieve a wide range of ailments, including nausea, hiccups, flatulence and motion sickness. It has also been found to help with the more severe symptoms of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and to act as a diuretic for sufferers of urinary complaints.
Spearmint has long been used for a variety of stomach and bowel complaints, as it tends to increase bile production in the stomach and aid digestion. This is the historical reason for the after-dinner mint!
Another popular use for Spearmint is for expectant mothers, as a mild remedy for nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. It has also been used to treat hirsutism in women – an imbalance of testosterone that manifests in an abnormal, masculine hair growth.

[Food flavoring:]

Spearmint is a very popular world wide flavor of chewing gum, across all brands. The flavor is extracted directly from the spearmint plants. It is also used as a flavoring in all sorts of toothpaste, candy, and shaving creams.
Spearmint appears in cuisine all around the world. Various types of mint are found in Asian and European cuisine, as well as a host of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.


The leaves of the spearmint plant are where the flavor and the herbal ingredients reside. They must be cut before the plant flowers, at which point they will lose their flavor. For medicinal purposes an oil is made from the leaves, but many herbologists also recommend making a tea.

(Source: Herbal Remedies:  http://www.herbalremedypro.com/spearmint.htm)

In my next post I'll talk about our Arkansas study, chickens, and raccoons.

Until next time...