School's Out For Summer

Sorry for my lack of blogs lately, but life gets busy for us all at times!  Over the last few weeks, I have been blessed with some great outdoor experiences and wanted to share a few of them with you. 

My last class of the school year was certainly ready for summer, or at least for school to be out.  Lucky for them, we have school outside every day at Nature's Classroom, rain or shine,  Our summer weather pattern in Tampa, FL  is sunshine most of the day, until mid afternoon, when the thunderstorms roll in to cool it off. 

These two next two pretty pink flowers are in bloom in the Hydric Hammock (wet and shady area slightly above the swamps in elevation). 

Maryland Meadow Beauty (Rhexia mariana) (above) is considered edible and someone once told me that I could to eat the flowers.  However, according to Peterson's "Field Guide to Wild Plants" it's the leaves that can be eaten raw or steamed.  There is no mention of the edibility of the flower. I am not a big fan of teaching wild edibles for this reason.  I do love wild edibles, but not in my 6th grade classroom.  

This flower (above) is called Marsh Pink or Rose-of-Plymouth (Sabatia stellaris). Though similar in color, is not as common in the area we hike and I was so thrilled to find something new after walking through this area for many years now. This flower, by the way, is named for Plymouth, Massachusetts, were it has historically grown in abundance.  There is no mention of it in the Peterson Guide to Edibles.   

Here is white flower that is blooming in the upland, drier areas. Although many people refer to it as Stinging Nettle, it is actually called "Tread Softly". Either way, DON'T TOUCH this with your bare hands.  Trust me on this one!  Ouch!  According to the Peterson Edible Guide, the stinging hairs of the Tread Softly are "more virulent (harmful) than those of nettles." The tubers can be used like potatoes according to the guide, but it is so difficult to harvest, that I have not tried it yet. 

My daughter once grabbed onto a similar plant (possibly a nettle) when she was little many years ago just above Omaha Beach in France.  By the time I determined that the nearest pharmacy was a long drive away, the burning had subsided and we continued our self-guided tour of the Normandy coastline.  

This next plant fascinated my students, who likened it to the berries in the first "Hunger Games " movie.  It's called "American Pokeweed", "Pokeweed" or simply "Poke" and the ripe berries are extremely toxic to humans. (Songbirds and mammals eat them readily, however.)  In reference to the movie, my students called it the "Nightlock of Florida".  Nightlock are the fictional berries in the Hunger Games movie that allow the main characters to start the rebellion.

According to  thehungergames.wikia.com, "the name "nightlock" was derived from two real poisonous plants. Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna) (source of Atropine) and Hemlock (Conium maculatum)...both extremely poisonous plants."  While some parts of the American Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana), shown here above, are highly toxic, it was used in the 1800's as a food source as well as a dye and an ink. "Many letters were written with "poke" juice during the Civil War" writes Jaret Daniel's in "Wildflowers of Florida".  While it has some edible qualities as a young plant, the mature berries and other parts of the plant are very poisonous.  I just avoid it as an edible altogether.  

Lastly, I had a chance to paddle the Withlacoochee this week after school let out and loved the primordial (ancient) looking forest it runs through.  There was so much to see there that it will require a whole 'nother blog!  It was a great day to Go Play Outside. Thank you, Carlene, Bruce and Cindy!