Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
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Tuesday - July 07, 2009
From: Toronto, ON
Region: Canada
Topic: Edible Plants
Title: Who ate the Jack-in-the-Pulpit in Ontario?
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
Something has dug up my clump of Jack-in-the-pulpit at my parents' cottage in the Haliburtons (Ontario, Canada). Leaves, berries and roots are gone. We know we have a black bear who likes our composter. Would a bear dig up the whole plant? I thought they caused a burning sensation in the mouth when eaten.ANSWER:
Not being too personally familiar with either bears or Jack-in-the-Pulpits, since neither grow in Texas to any extent, we did a little research. On the kidcyber.com website Bear Facts, the question "What do bears eat?" was posed. The answer is, like humans, bears are omnivores and they will eat almost anything. Among the foods listed for the American black bear were nuts, berries, fruits, acorns, roots, plants, insects, baby deer and moose. Did the bear know the root would cause a burning sensation in the mouth if it wasn't cooked first? No, but it was a good-looking plant with a nice root, so he tried it. Maybe he knows now.More Edible Plants Questions
Smarty Plants on Texas cherry tomato
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Jelly made from local plums from Amarillo TX
July 29, 2011 - On Wednesday, August 5, 2009 you answered a question on native plants in the Austin area in which you wrote:"Two kinds of local plums have also been used to make jellies: Mexican Plum (Prunus mexican...
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Food and medicinal value of Parsley Hawthorn
March 01, 2013 - I have found several sites that talk about how the parsley hawthorn is edible and how the hawthorn berry in general is really great for the heart, but I did not find any mention of this on your info a...
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Information about Cedar Sage from Austin
March 11, 2011 - I am new to the Austin area and was wondering about cedar sage (salvia roemeriana). Is this plant considered aromatic, non-aromatic of chia? And, other than the edible flower are other parts of the ...
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Dead or Dormant Chile Pequins in Corpus Christi
November 12, 2010 - We have 4 chile pequin and 5 chiltepin plants growing our yard. All were thriving beautifully until we took a 12-day vacation in late July. There was little rain during that time but overall this y...
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