At The Intersection

by Connie Handscomb

Title

At The Intersection

Artist

Connie Handscomb

Medium

Photograph - Photography - Fine Art

Description

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.
~ William Shakespeare

We stand now where two roads diverge ..... they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road - the one less traveled by - offers our ... chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth.
~ Rachel Carson

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The scientific name in the broad family kingdom of True Ferns is "Polypodiophyta" - its phylum synonym is "Filicinophyta" or "Pteridophyta": plants which have a vascular system, and which produce spores, rather than seeds or flowers. Commonly, we know them as ferns and its relations (clubmosses and horsetails). They number about 9,000 species. [Recent modern classifications have changed the naming of the fern kingdom].

Back, back, back - over 300 million years ago, before the dinosaurs - ferns existed, making them amongst the oldest plants in the world. Their remains turned to compost, the compost to peat, the peat to coal; while in earlier times, Romans used this to heat their baths, later it fostered the Industrial Revolution.

But they have more than industrial uses. Indigenous people worldwide used them for a variety of ailments and conditions. In North America, the stems, leaves, and roots of various ferns -- Evergreen, Maidenhair, Bracken, Rock Cap, many others - for a variety of ailments and conditions. Concoctions and decoctions were made for sores, infections, ulcers, pleurisy, hives, toothaches, cholera, stomach ailments, pneumonia, blood ailments, heart problems, bronchitis, sore throats, intestinal worms (oleoresin in fern rhizome paralyzes intestinal worms) and parasites; tuberculosis [rock cap, rattlesnake, and bracken ferns]; teas for headaches; poultices for rheumatism; gynecological problems, hair washes to keep hair shiny; antihistamine [licorice fern].

As a food, the curled, new shoots (the fiddleheads) of the Ostrich Fern - available only in the springtime - are edible although they must never be eaten raw or undercooked, or food poisoning can occur. They are cleansing, high in antioxidents, an appetite suppressant, and have a role in preventing some kinds of cancer. The Sweet Fern has a licorice flavor in its root, used as an 'exotic' flavor in fine restaurants.

Note 1 : Caution - the substance in stems can disturb thiamine metabolism, and has three known carcinogens. Know what you are doing if you are going to ingest ferns.

Note 2: Some plants are called ferns - such as the asperagus fern - but they are not really ferns. Air ferns, for expample, are actually animals related to corals and jellyfish.

Some sources:
Complete Book of Health Plants- Atlas of Medicinal Plants [Francesco Bianchini & Corbetta]
Medicinal Plant and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America [Peterson Field Guide]
Fifty Plants That Changed The Course Of History [Bill Laws]
Nathaniel Whitmore , Herbalist [website]

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While I am not inclined to be pessimistic about things, nor averse to necessary change, I cringe when I walk on poured cement (in our local parks) and despair when I see entire blocks of old trees cut down for development and profit. And while I was never too pleased that my youthful summertime activities involved getting scratched by the thorns picking raspberries from the garden, or shelling bowlfuls of peas during the canning season before I was allowed to carry on with my own leisure activities, I cherish those memories today.

Birdsong has dwindled in the mornings, and in the woods, and as someone who grew up walking freely on soft moss among greenery dappled with sunshine hearing birdsong overhead, Rachel Carson does comes to mind. I am so pleased that it has become 'fashionable' to grow one's own vegetables again, to see green walls framing the freeways, and vegetation crowning formerly flat, dull, concrete rooftops. May this all continue ... and proliferate.

This image captured in natural sunlight; unedited; uncropped ....Nature in all its splendour.
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♥ Heartfelt Gratitude to FAA groups for featuring this image :

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copyright � Connie Handscomb
Thank you for for respecting the copyright.
� All Rights Reserved

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September 15th, 2016

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