Black Locust – Robinia pseudoacacia

Black Locust Flowers

The tall black locust on the hill
    Broke into bloom the night you came;
Its lonesome fragrance haunts me still,
    And though I seldom speak your name
I know that now life never will
    Be quite the same- not quite the same.

Bertha Lee Hempstead

 

This plant is tonic, emetic, and purgative in its bark and root, but due to its toxicity it is rarely if ever used in herbal medicine. Every part of the tree is toxic, except the flowers! The leaves and seedpods are poisonous to horses also; although it is choice browse for white tailed deer.

The wood is extremely hard and long lasting making it highly prized as fence posts. In fact a former president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, spent a lot of his time splitting rails and fence posts of black locust wood.

The long racemes of flowers appear in May and June and carry a lovely fragrance. An essential oil, which is highly valued in aromatherapy, is obtained from the flowers and is utilized in perfumery. The essential oil has also been used as a spice in sherbets and toilet waters.

Sensitive Partridge Pea – Chamaecrista nictitans

Sensitive Partfidge Pea taken at Cape May, New Jersey

Recoiling from the touch
Of him who seeks too much,
A dainty thing thou art,
Whose sweetness seems a part
Of all that round thee grows;
More subtle than the rose,
Thy faint perfume scarce fills
The lambent air, yet thrills
Like nectar, till one feels
Thy shyness half conceals
A deeper ecstacy
Than e’er he dreamed to be…

W. C. Campbell

 

This sensitive plant is native to North America, from Arizona to Maine south to Florida and Texas. It is found on disturbed ground. The flowers are irregular in shape, yellow and have reddish-orange stamens. They bloom from spring through fall. In New Hampshire they are considered Endangered. Like the pink sensitive plant of South America, the leaves are sensitive to touch, closing at the slightest motion.

This plant was used historically by the Shakers; Cherokee and Seminole Indians also utilized it for medicine. It was used as a tonic to prevent tiring (root), plant infusion to treat nausea and vomiting, as a decoction to treat urinary tract infections, and the leaves were used to treat topical infections.

This plant was not used for food, but several tribal peoples used to line a pit with the plants. They then placed persimmons in between layers of plant material, and then allowed the persimmons to ripen in the pit.