Little Surprises Growing in My Yard

BY: ANITA C. WRIGHT, GROUP FOR THE EAST END ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Purple dead nettle

My backyard has two small patches of grass that, besides the occasional mowing, is largely ignored.  As a result, there are plants other than grasses that flourish. These patches are starting to grow out of their winter slumber and I’ve noticed a few small plants in bloom, so I decided to try and identify them using Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide.   

The largest and showiest one, (in my opinion), is purple dead nettle, Lamiun purpureum. This common plant can be seen blooming in early spring along roadsides and edges of lawns, and is considered an important food source for bees. Purple dead nettle is a member of the mint family and is not related to true nettles, as its common name suggests. The leaves, however, resemble those of nettles but they don’t sting, hence the name “dead” nettles. In his book, The Joy of Foraging, Gary Lincoff describes dead nettle and its close cousin, henbit dead nettle, Lamium amplexicaule, as edible plants whose young leaves that “some people like to steam and season them as a spring green.”

One little plant I found in these patches looks like the thyme growing in my herb pots! Sure enough, it is named thyme-leaved speedwell, Veronica serpyllifolia! This species is native to Europe, but according to Newcomb’s, its close cousin purslane speedwell, Veronica peregrine, is native to North America. Thyme-leaved speedwell’s leaves are rounder and more egg-shaped than the native purslane speedwell. The flower of the thyme-leaved speedwell is mostly white with blue veins, and in my opinion, is very delicate and pretty. The species Veronica, has a long list of uses in European folk medicine.

Thyme-leaved speedwell

I also discovered whitlow grass, Draba verna, which has tiny deeply cleft white petals, and is not a grass at all, but instead belongs to the mustard family. I was curious about its name, so after poking around the Internet, I learned that its leaves were used as a folk remedy for treating skin infections, particularly viral lesions called “whitlows.”

Whitlow grass

Next time you are wandering around your yard, take a closer look at what’s growing along the edges of your lawn or garden, or even popping up between rocks and bricks on pathways.  You might be surprised at what you find. I was!

Want to get your own copies of the field guides mentioned? Call your favorite bookstore and support local small businesses!