Clintonia ( Clintonia borealis )

1. Clintonia(Clintonia borealis) Family: Liliaceae (lil-ee-AY-see-ee) – In the Lily family. Genus: Clintonia (klin-TOH-nee-uh) – It was named for De Witt Clinton, 19th century naturalist and governor of New York State. Species: borealis (bor-ee-AL-is) – Borealis is from the Greek, boreios, which means from the quarter of the North wind or northern. Alternative Pronunciation: bor-ee-AY-lis

2. Clintonia Clintonia is a perennial, herbaceous, native plant in the lily family. It can reach 33cm in height. Other names for clintonia include: cow's tongue, blue-bead, bluebead, bluebead lily, yellow beadlily, yellow bluebeadlily, yellow corn-lily, wood lily, blue bead lily, yellow clintonia, dogberry, clinton’s lily and corn-lily. The common names which include “bead” come from the round, bright blue fruit. The tongue common names comes from the tongue shaped leaves.

3. Clintonia As mentioned, Clintonia is named after DeWitt Clinton (1769-1828). He was an early naturalist, educator and historian. He is often referred to as the "Father of the Erie Canal," because he was one of the prime movers for the construction of the canal, which connects Albany to Lake Erie at Buffalo. He served in the New York State Legislature and the U.S. Senate, and was Mayor of New York City and Governor of New York State. As a naturalist, he discovered a native American wheat and a new fish, the Salma Otsego. He authored the "Introductory Discourse" about the state of scientific knowledge in United States in 1814 and a book on New York history as well as numerous scientific papers.

4. Clintonia This plant has 2 to 5 (usually 3) basal leaves only. They are large, erect, shiny, bright green, basal leaves with parallel veins typical of the lily family. The leaves are somewhat stiff and leathery and entire, finely hairy on the margins and veins; elliptic or tongue-shaped, abruptly pointed at the tip, 8 to 24 cm long. It grows up to 30 cm high It grows from 18 to 42 cm high.

5. Clintonia The pale yellowish flowers, 3 to 8 are arranged in a loose cluster of two or three at the tip of an erect leafless stalk. The flowers are nodding, bell-shaped, about 1.5 to 2 cm long, with three petals and three sepals (appear to be 6 petals.) The flowers appear in May and often last well into June or early July. Future location of photo. Replace with other picture.

6. Clintonia Clintonia reproduces by seed and vegetatively by rhizomes. The fruit are mildly poisonous to humans. They are bright, round, porcelain, blue berries which ripening by midsummer. In Altona Forest, the clintonia is found in moist, cool areas usually in the shade of pine and spruce. Other plants which share its areas include wild sarsaparilla, aster, bedstraws, bracken fern, rose twisted stalk and violets.

7. Clintonia Some interesting facts include: • Hunters said to have rubbed their traps with the roots because bears are attracted to the odour. • The berries are said to be mildly toxic but the young leaves can be added to a salad. • Some herbalists claim that young leaves taste like cucumber and can be chopped and added to salads while boiling the leaves for 10 minutes allows them to be served with butter and seasonings. Older leaves become bitter. • Some 1st Nations tribes thought that dogs used the plant to poison there teeth making there bite lethal. If bitten by such a dog, a person would have to find the same root to extract the poison. • The plant contains diosgenin from which the chemical progesterone is manufactured. It is anti-inflammatory. 1st Nations people used it to treat bruises, burns and infections. The root was made into a tonic tea and used for various ailments including an aid in childbirth. Herbalists have used a poultice, made from the leaves, on open wounds, burns, ulcers, sores and infections. 1st Nations and pioneers were thought to have crushed the leaves and used them on the face and hands as a protection from mosquitoes.

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