If you eat fruits or vegetables, you're eating foods that come from plants. ... As you
explore the garden, you will discover where the plants live and how they are ...
Winter
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The Eiteljorg Gardens* What is Ethnobotany? Ethnobotany is the study of how people use and relate to plants. Plants are used around the world. Plants can be used for > Medicine > Clothing > Food > Much, much more
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Housing
If you have on jeans or a t-shirt, you’re wearing something made from a plant. If you eat fruits or vegetables, you’re eating foods that come from plants. If you put aloe on a cut or sunburn, you’re using medicine that comes from a plant. As you explore the garden, you will discover where the plants live and how they are used. Most of them are native to Indiana. They were growing here before Europeans came to America. Become an Ethnobotanist as you use these cards. Each card will guide you on your exploration. Learn about past and present Native American uses of plants and then think about how you use plants every day.
Let the adventure begin! (Be sure to come back each season for a new set of adventures.)
Remember that you should never taste, touch, or pick a plant without permission. Some plants can make you very, very sick. Please don’t pick or damage the plants. We want future visitors to enjoy the garden, too.
Support for garden programming is provided by the Indianapolis Garden Club.
*Ron and Susie Dollens Discovery Garden; Christel DeHaan Family Terrace; Kincannon Family Learning Circle
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Blue Wild Indigo Baptisia australis Native Indiana Plant Where do I live? In a grassy land with lots of sun Look for: Dark black puffy seed pods that are present in winter. Our garden has two types of wild indigo—blue and white. Can you tell them apart by looking at the seed pods? The pods of the blue wild indigo are longer and skinnier than the pods of the white. Plant Use: Dyes can be made from many parts of a plant. Tree bark, nuts, leaves, roots and flowers of certain plants are used to make colored dyes. Can you guess what color dye is made from blue wild indigo?
Listen! If you listen carefully on a windy day, you might be able to hear the seeds rattling in the pod.
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Winter King Green Hawthorn Crataegus viridis ‘Winter King’ Native Indiana Plant Where do I live? In the woods Look for: A tree with bright red fruit. Be careful! Spiky thorns stick out from the twigs in all directions. Plant Use: One plant can often be used for many different things. The Thompson River, a Plateau tribe, gathered the fruit, called haws, from a variety of this plant native to the northwest. They ate the fruits fresh, mashed and dried them for winter or made them into jam; a stomach medicine was made from boiling the sapwood, bark and roots of the plant; the thorns were used for fishhooks; and the strong wood was used for digging sticks and ax handles. One tree could provide food, medicine and tools for people. Did Some animals like to eat plants or chew on the bark of you know? trees. Plants cannot move, but they can still protect themselves from being eaten. Some plants have chemicals that make them taste bad to animals. Other plants are poisonous and will make an animal very sick. What does this tree use to protect itself?
11 Winter
Oakleaf Hydrangea Hydrangea quercifolia Native to Mississippi and Alabama Where do I live? In the woods Look for: A shrub with clusters of brown flowers on the tip of each branch. Some of the flowers are small but some are large with four paper-thin petals. The bark on the lower trunks is starting to come off. Plant Use: The Cherokee used the scraped bark from a variety of this plant as a burn dressing. What would you put on a burn?
TRY Things in nature are always changing. The seasons THIS! change from spring to summer to fall to winter. Buds change into flowers, fruits, and then seeds. Which of these do you see now?
14 Winter
Nodding Wild Onion Allium cernuum Native Indiana Plant Where do I live? In a grassy land with lots of sun Look for: The dried, drooping flower heads. They look like they are resting for the winter. Even though the top of the plant is dead, the part under the ground is still alive. In the spring, a new stem and flower will grow. Plant Use: If you’ve ever had an onion, you’ve eaten a variety of this plant. Native Americans dug up onion bulbs in the spring or early summer. The bulbs were cooked in soups or eaten raw. Many people still use these plants for food. The Miami, Blackfeet (Montana) and Cherokee also used juice from a variety of this plant as a medicine for earaches. Did When you eat an onion you, you are eating a bulb. The you know? bulb is the part of the onion plant that grows beneath the ground. It stores nutrients and food the plant will use to grow in the spring. Can you name other foods that grow underground?
32 Winter
Prairie Dropseed Sporobolus heterolepis Native Indiana Plant Where do I live? In a grassy land with lots of sun Look for: Fine, feathery seed heads floating on grassy stems. This grass grows in circular clumps. The leaves have dried and turned brown. Plant Use: The seeds from this plant provide food for animals and people. The seeds can be crushed into flour and used for baking. Birds and small animals also eat the seeds.
Did Many plants in prairie habitats are adapted to survive you know? fires. Fire burns away the dead plant material, allowing the sun to warm the earth more quickly, which helps seeds to sprout. The Pawnee and other prairie tribes burned tall-grass prairie in the fall so plenty of grass would grow for their horses to eat in the spring.
23 Winter
Purple Coneflower Echinacea purpurea Native Indiana Plant Where do I live? In a grassy land with lots of sun Look for: The spiky, round head where the flowers used to be. The colorful petals are gone now. Plant Use: Some Native Americans, including the Cheyenne and Lakota, chewed on the purple coneflower root to relieve sore throats and coughs. Purple coneflower root was also used by early settlers to treat a wide variety of ailments and was even administered to animals. People are still interested in this plant’s ability to help your body fight diseases. Did Scientists have given this plant the name Echinacea you know? (Eh-kih-NAY-Shuh). It comes from a Latin word for hedgehog. Can you see why?
10 Winter
Red Twig Dogwood Cornus sericea Native Indiana Plant Where do I live? Near marshes and swamps Look for: Bright red twigs. Plant Use: The Miami and numerous other tribes, including the Abanaki, Cree, and Potawatomi used the shredded, dried inner bark for smoking. It was often mixed with other plants, such as tobacco, chokecherry or bearberry. All parts of the Red Twig Dogwood can be toxic to humans.
TRY Even if there are no flowers, you can still see a beautiful THIS! color on this plant. Look around at other plants in the garden. How many shades of red do you see?
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Redbud Cercis canadensis Native Indiana Plant Where do I live? In the woods Look for: Seed pods that stay on the tree during the winter. They might look like dried-up snow peas. Plant Use: A variety of this plant is highly valued by Native American basket weavers in California. The young branches are collected in the early winter to create a reddish design on baskets. At other times of the year, shades vary from orange to brown. After they are collected, the shoots are de-barked, split, soaked and dried before they are ready for use in baskets. Did Plants have families too! Brothers and you know? sisters often have similar looking eyes, noses, or hair. Plants in the same families have similarities too. The Redbud is in the pea family, Fabaceae (Fab-A-suh-EE). Look at the seed pods and see if you can guess why.
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Heritage River Birch Betula nigra ‘Heritage’ Native Indiana Plant Where do I live? Near rivers and streams Look for: A tree with papery, peeling bark. As the new bark grows, the old layers die and peel away. Plant Use: Because the peeling bark of this tree is waterproof, many Native Americans in the Eastern Woodlands, including the Ojibwa (Chippewa), Potawatomi and Woodlands Cree used it to make containers for gathering and storing food. Scraps of bark were also used to kindle or light fires. Can Visit the Mihtohseenionki gallery on the 2nd floor. you find it? Can you find something made from birch bark?
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Green Mountain Sugar Maple Acer saccharum ‘Green Mountain’ Native Indiana Plant Where do I live? In the woods Look for: A tree with a few seeds still hanging from the tips of branches. They look like propellers. Plant Use: If you have ever put maple syrup on your pancakes, you have used a food that comes from a tree. Native Americans in the Eastern Woodlands knew how to make maple syrup by boiling sap and condensing it into a thick syrup. European settlers learned this process from Native Americans. Did Maple syrup comes from a liquid in the tree called sap. you know? The tree makes sap in the summer and stores it in the roots during the winter. When the days start getting warmer, the sap begins to flow up through the trunk to provide nutrients for making leaves. Native Americans drilled holes in the tree and removed sap to make a sweet sugar used to flavor foods. In late winter, when the days are above freezing, but the nights are cold, it’s time to tap for the sap.
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Flowering Dogwood Cornus florida Native Indiana Plant Where do I live? In the woods Look for: A tree with buds on the ends of the twigs that are shaped like flying saucers. The buds will turn into flowers in the spring. Plant Use: Brrrr! Winter can be very cold, but a woven blanket can help you stay warm. Cherokee Indians sometimes used wood from this tree to make loom parts called shuttles. Shuttles are passed over and under the warp threads and store the yarn as you weave.
TRY Visit the Resource Center to see a Navajo loom and THIS! weaving. Then, explore the weaving discovery box and try weaving on a small loom.
