The Original Mystery Plant
By John Nelson

Photo by Linda Lee

The problem with spring is that it's so hard to figure out when it begins and when it ends. I suppose it is somewhat of a basic human trait to look for definite beginnings and endings, but my favorite part about this season is the arrival and departure are both so gradual.

Nevertheless, there seems to be a rather strict timing of spring events, especially in the botanical world. You can almost set your watch according to the order in which various plant species bloom. Here is one of the earliest native herbs.

It's also one of the showiest and most easily recognized. It is never confused with anything else and is remarkably uniform throughout its range. Because of this, it has had an extremely simple naming history.

Linnaeus gave us its scientific name in 1753. Other plant species, especially those that are variable, have rather thorny taxonomic histories with plenty of scientific synonyms to complicate things.

The little herb is widely known all over the eastern half of the U.S., occurring as far south as the Florida Panhandle, generally growing in rich, deciduous forests.

It arises from a stout, underground rhizome. Each flower appears at the end of a slender stalk, and its bud is protected on the way up through the leaf litter by a folded leaf, embracing the bud as a protective cylinder.

Once above the litter line, the flower opens and the chalky, green leaf expands, generally exhibiting five to seven lobes. The fully open flower is one of the most beautiful spring sights there is, eight to 12 delicate, snow- white petals surround a crown of golden- yellow anthers on slender filaments.

The flowers are designed for cross- pollination, such that the pistil of a flower can only receive pollen grains from a different flower, not its own. Bees like to visit the flowers in order to gather pollen; however, there isn't any nectar.

After pollination the petals fall away, and the pistil forms a pointed, green pod containing a number of seeds. The pod splits open before long, which scatters the seeds. The leaves don't last particularly long and will shrivel up and go away by the time summer rolls around. The plant basically disappears only to pop- up again on schedule early the next spring.

The rhizome is the source of a deep, red- orange juice, which has been used historically for dyeing by Native Americans and early settlers. This juice is somewhat toxic and quite bitter, but it has been used medicinally. This species is regarded as one of the most useful natural sources of medicines for treatments of stomach ailments to mouthwash and just about everything in between.

There is considerable potential for the development of new and useful drugs from the compounds in this plant. Unfortunately, over- harvesting of native populations is a threat to this species.

For more information on effective medicinal use of native plants, consider The Green Pharmacy by James A. Duke.

Answer to this week's mystery plant [Answer: "Bloodroot," Sanguinaria canadensis]

Dr. John Nelson is the curator of the USC Herbarium.

To learn more about the Herbarium, call 777-8196. The

department also offers free plant identification.

www.herbarium.org