Family Gathering
by Connie Handscomb
Title
Family Gathering
Artist
Connie Handscomb
Medium
Photograph - Photography - Fine Art
Description
Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.
~ Jane Howard
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Oregon grape
Mahonia aquifolium
Mahonia nervosa (formerly Berberis nervosa)
Family = Barberry
This evergreen shrub, the leaves which resemble those of a holly with its sharp spines, is native to the Pacific Northwest and North America. It will be found in the open woodlands. In autumn, it turns shades of orange.
The Oregon Grape is really not a grape at all, but its fragrant yellow flowers, like berry bunches, do hang like miniature bunches of grapes. The flowers turn to midnight blue berries. The bitter berries can be eaten raw, but since they are very acidic, so they are best used in jellies and jams,as well as a meat seasoning.
The indigenous people used the yellow pigment of the inner bark & roots to dye baskets bright yellow.
The genus name Mahonia is a tribute to an Irish horticulturist named Bernard M'Mahon who moved to the United States in 1796 to start a nursery. The species name Nervosa means there are distinct veins (nerves) on the plant leaves.
Sources:
Fr. Food For Free (Richard Mabey)
Fragrance In Bloom [A.Lovejoy]
The Herbalist Almanac [C. & D. Meyer]
The Carefree Garden, Letting Nature Play Her Part [Bill Terry]
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Walking a short distance away from where my image Hanging Together was taken, I came upon another Oregon Grape evergreen. The lighting effects are therefore unique to each.
Captured in natural light; unedited; uncropped .. nature in all its splendour:)
Uploaded
April 22nd, 2016
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