Is there a skeleton in your garden? If your garden is a rain garden, two plants will make you think “skeletons” – mad dog skullcap and boneset. A member of the mint family, mad dog skull cap (Scutellaria lateriflora) blooms in mid to late summer. Early settlers believed that this plant cured rabies, hence the “mad dog” designation, while the flower’s helmet-like shape is reflected in the rest of the name – skull cap. Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) also blooms around the same time as the skull cap, but its claim to fame is an old belief that this plant could mend broken bones.
This is an excerpt from the Wild Ones Journal
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If you don’t have either of these plants, then maybe you have dead man’s fingers in your yard. There are two types, both caused by fungus. The first type can grow near the base of a dead tree or even from a compost pile. They are black mushroom-like fungal growths appearing as if they are reaching out of the ground. How’s that for creepy?
The second type of dead man’s fingers deforms the branches of cherry and plum trees. The branches develop hard, crusty black knots, which give it another name: Black knot galls. If that’s not enough, maybe caterpillars or beetles are “skeletonizing” tree leaves in your yard. A skeletonized leaf is completely devoured except for the veins and leaf edges.
Of course, skeletons need company. Ghosts and Jack-o’-lanterns fit the bill. In the deep, dark woods a tiny ghost roams the forest floor sucking life from below. If you pick up this “ghost,” it will turn into a black “corpse.” It has several otherworldly names – death plant, ice plant, and ghost plant.
Perhaps you know this “ghost”? Biologists know it as Monotropa uniflora, or Indian pipe. This unusual plant has no chlorophyll, so it depends upon soil fungus to help it acquire nutrients from nearby plants. The plant’s white waxy flower and stem resemble an upside-down clay pipe. It is said to be difficult to grow in gardens, so look for this flower in rich, shady woods in the summer.
What is orange, a common sight in October, smells good, and glows in the dark? Did you guess Omphalotus olearius– a mushroom? This mushroom is bright orange, just like a pumpkin, and can be found in October on rotting stumps of hardwood trees. If you are lucky enough to find one of these “Jack-o’lantern” mushrooms in your yard, you can take it into a dark room in your house to see it glow. Your eyes must adjust to the darkness to see the eerie greenish glow of the gills on this mushroom. The glow is caused by the presence of luciferases, or waste products from metabolic processes in the mycelium.
Peonies can be ghoulish too. They are native to Asia, southern Europe, and western North America. Long ago, Greeks believed that peonies were magical plants that could shine during a full moon, and were powerful enough to drive away demons.
Because the gods wanted the peonies for themselves, they sent giant woodpeckers to guard these sacred flowers. If people tried to dig up the peonies, the woodpeckers would attack and gouge their eyes out. Although nighttime was a safer time to dig peonies, it still had its risks. When the plants were dug up, they groaned in a supernatural way that could kill a person.
To protect themselves, people would tie a dog to the plant, stuff its ears, and then move far away. They coaxed the animal toward them with a piece of meat, and when it lunged, it pulled the plant out of the ground.
Greeks and Romans used the peony to treat epilepsy and nightmares. In the past, people believed that illnesses, accidents, nightmares, and other bad events were caused by magical forces. Magical forces might be demons or even witches. Certain plants, often poisonous, were valued because it was believed that they could drive away evil or at least, alert you to it.
If witches were everywhere, what was a person to do? People long ago believed that some plants provided signs that a witch was nearby. If your hackberry tree (Celtis occidentalis) developed a bunch of sprouts growing out in one direction creating a shape oddly resembling a “witch’s broom,” that was a sure sign that a witch had flown over your tree. Maybe near your doorway, a strange mushroom started growing. The mushroom resembled a spoonful of orange marmalade smeared on wood. This mushroom is called “witch’s butter (Tremella mesenterica), and would mean that a witch had cast a spell on you. The only way to save yourself was to prick the witch’s butter with straight pins to kill the fungus.
A nice fall walk in the woods could turn scary when a nearby tree suddenly started ejecting seeds with a loud pop. A witch, of course, was the culprit in the case of the mysterious witch hazel tree (Hamamelis virginiana).
A number of other plants are also associated with witches. Look closely at the leaves of a witch hazel tree and you might see small conical-shaped galls made by aphids. These small red protrusions are known as “witch’s hat galls.” In the fall, bright orange “witch’s hat mushrooms” appear in mixed conifer/hardwood forests.
Honeysuckle has a connection with witches too. It is said that Scottish witches once used wreaths of honeysuckle vines to “cure” patients. A sickly patient would be passed nine times through the wreath, nine being a magical number.
Have you ever heard of “witch’s thimbles”? You might have it growing in your garden, but you probably know it as “foxgloves” (Digitalis spp.). Both names refer to the flower shape, similar to thimbles or small gloves. One legend says that fairies gave these flowers to foxes so they could raid chicken coops.
Finally, witches brewed up concoctions for various reasons using some very poisonous plants – henbane (Hyoscyamusniger), belladonna (Atropa belladonna), and mandrake (Mandragora officinarum). You probably don’t have these members of the nightshade family (Solanaceae) growing in your garden, but you might have one called “moon flower.” Moon flowers (Datura inoxia) are native to Central and South America. The plant produces beautiful white flowers, up to 8 inches long, for several weeks during the summer. The flowers open in the evening to be pollinated by moths at night. By the next morning they are wilting. The plant produces very prickly seed pods. This plant was also used in witch’s “brews.” It’s an interesting annual to grow, but because of its toxicity, it’s not a good choice with young children around.
The Salem witchcraft trials in the late 1600s may have a link to fungus. Researchers now believe that the fungus known as Claviceps purpurea was responsible for the hysteria and witchcraft accusations. This fungus can infect grain crops, such as rye and wheat, during damp weather. If the grain is harvested and then baked into a loaf of bread, the fungus can cause an illness known as “ergotism.” Symptoms associated with ergotism include hallucinations, vomiting, diarrhea, and a feeling like something is crawling on your skin.
Freaky flowers and creepy fungi are just the sort of plants that can help you get in the mood for a fun fall. If you like the idea of a garden full of “skeletons,” “ghosts,” “witches,” and other characters, there are even more ideas available.
I just purchased a weird plant called “peek a boo plant” (Spilanthes oleracea), also known as “eyeball plant.” It’s not native, but it looks like a bunch of little yellow eyeballs looking up at me from the ground. It’s kind of creepy, but in a cool halloween kind of way. Happy Halloween.
By Barb Bray