Credit: Darrah Cloud
On Sunday, April 14, a group of eager wildflower enthusiasts joined Pine Plains-based herbalist and ecologist Hannah Smith Schiller at Thompson Pond Preserve to learn about the many species of plants that grow right at their feet as they walk by. It was a lesson in how much people don’t notice.
Schiller, who runs the herbal education business Foliage Botanics, pointed out flower after flower: spicebush (the bark smells like spice cake), coltsfoot, witch hazel, red elderberry, trillium, bloodroot, Solomon’s seal, black birches, striped maples (often called moosewood) and lacy purple hepatica.
When you get down at eye level with a hepatica, you see how easy it is not to see it — and what an extraordinary gift it is to have had it pointed out. Its delicate leaves and flowers are as lovely as petunias and violets, just in miniature.
At the vernal pool at the entrance to the trail, Schiller noted that the billowy clusters in the pond are the eggs of salamanders and frogs. Her excitement at being able to find them never waned as the group made its way through the preserve. “It’s fairyland,” Schiller said. Her head turned left and right to see what there was to identify.
Credit: Darrah cloud
Stopping often, Schiller explained the history and Latin names of each plant she identified and was careful to point out that a lot of the medicine found in the woods was first used by Indigenous peoples long ago. Their names for the plants are just as beautiful as the Latin ones, Schiller said.
Though many Indigenous names have been lost, the plants have not, especially around Thompson Pond. The preserve is managed and protected by The Nature Conservancy, which reports that 387 unique species of plants exist in and around the pond.
Careful not to go off-trail, Schiller stopped at a small clutch of green leaves and took a deep breath. “We need to talk about the elephant in the woods,” she said. “Ramps.”
Known as ramsons, ramps or wild leek, Allium tricoccum is endangered in New York. It propagates slowly and is easily decimated in any area where people pick it. Schiller’s question: Why eat them at all?
Credit: Darrah Cloud
People often think of ramps as a delicacy, when in reality they are just weak, oniony-flavored leaves, Schiller said, adding that onion grass is a better alternative.
Schiller tempered her lecture with one caveat: She understands that some people pick ramps and morel mushrooms because they have no better source of income. The market for ramps could be called hysterical, she said, with fresh ones selling for up to $30 per pound.
But that’s all hype, according to Schiller. She argued that people are better off saving their money and buying onions and shallots, which are more flavorful and can be grown by local farmers. By not picking them, people can help to ensure that ramps continue to thrive in the forests they help to enchant.
For more information about Hannah Smith Schiller’s series of wildflower walks, email her at foliagebotanicals@gmail.com.