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Spring Wildflowers and Herbs
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This page may be printed for use in public education. Photos taken by Karen
Shelton.
All rights reserved. Herb Photos March 25, 2002.
Common flowers and yard weeds often have
medicinal uses. If you look close to the ground in early spring you will see a
variety of small wildflowers you may never have noticed before. I have seen as
many as 5 to 10 varieties of tiny wildflowers within a square foot. To learn how
some of these plants are used in herbal medicine and remedies, see Alternative
Nature Online Herbal.
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This is the flower of a
common yard 'pest' called chickweed. The plant is a few inches tall and
sprawls along the ground in early spring. The flowers are actually only
about 1/4 inch across. I have run across two other varieties of chickweed.
Giant Chickweed has much larger flowers and is often found near woods.
Mouse-ear chickweed is also a common yard weed, but it did not survive
last weeks hard freeze.
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| Cleavers.
Sticky little plants with an interesting
shape. It is a sprawling plant that you may see crawling up
the side of your house. The flowers are hardly noticeable and will bloom
when the plant spreads out next month. Cleavers are used for skin
conditions and cleansing of the lymph nodes. To use as a remedy, it is
best to tincture the fresh herb. |
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These are tiny field
pansies, only about 4 inches tall.
James Lust mentions the use of pansies as an anodyne in his book, The Herb
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| St. Johnswort plants
huddled close to the ground since late winter. If you look close you can
see the pinhole marks on the leaves that are a trademark of the medicinal
qualities of this plant. |
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Wild Onions.
Not real tasty in my book, but could use
as flavoring in a pinch. This is what stinks when you mow your yard in
spring. |
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Stay Tuned for More! |
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Amazing
Jewelweed Remedies for 
