Looking for bush

What is it with this woman and bush, you may be wondering, but I love me some greenery! I love bush tea, I could eat bush rice everyday (seriously, I could), I study bush (herbology), I plant bush, I bathe with bush sometimes, a brother calls me Bushwoman as if it were my real name and I even call myself Wonderworld Bush for goodness sake! I am known to carry a camera and a plastic bag with me everywhere just in case the opportunity presents itself to take cuttings or at the very least to capture a pic of new plants for later research.
My "condition" is so well known, that last summer I was asked by the Nuwaubian members of my community to accompany them on a walk to identify wild plants in our area. We walked for a good hour or so and it was quite amazing to note the many things I myself discovered for the first time. In fact I was so impressed that I wanted to see what I would unearth a little closer to home. I literally went on a ten minute walk around my house and wow, so much to document. Hope this is as informative for you as it was for me.

Let's start with the ones we might all recognise......

Coralita

Do you remember Coralita? You would know you were approaching a vine because you heard the buzzing of bumble bees so clearly. Haven't had that happen since I was a child! Bees just love this "wildie" and their absence these days is duly noted. The leaves and flowers in tea treat coughs, sore throat and some say diabetes. Bet you didn't know the tubers are edible!

Purslane

No matter where you live in this world, I dare say you can find purslane in your environs. In the summer time in Brooklyn, my cousin's neighbour would have two large bath tubs filled to the brim growing in his front yard. Here, it is on every street, road and track.It is considered to be a nuisance. Earlier this year, I would travel to work daily admiring this lady's yardful of purslane, then to my shock, one morning there she was at the window watching a man chop it to pieces with a weedwacker! Maybe if she knew the French use it in salads she would have had second thoughts :). The leaves are also applied to sprains, swellings and boils.

Whitehead Bush

Older persons will recall scrubbing wooden floors with this abrasive bush, but it holds so much more potential for use. Although it has been cited as causing dermatitis, this bush has also been credited for treating colds, fever, pain.....a host of research can be found here

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3339593/

Milkweed

Another bush we see so often that we do not appreciate its value. Called milkweed because of the white sap which sprouts effortlessly from its stem with the slightest pressure, this latex is used to treat ringworm and remove warts.I know persons who add it to their smoothies, but tea from the plant is used for asthma, fever and diarrhea.

Wild Clary

I love to use clary sage for hair loss problems and was pleased as punch to find wild clary. It treats skin problems really well. Thing is you don't want to ingest this herb, it can be poisonous when ingested. Use as washes only. In St. Lucia there is a saying "When you take a blow on the eye and blood die in your eye," wild clary is passed in the fire, cleaned, and the juice squeezed into the eye."

Yellow Hock

The funny thing with folk medicine is that almost every culture will have a distinctly different use for the same plant. My mother taught me that the sap from this bush was used for eye complaints and although it is considered poisonous it is also taken for stomach problems by some. Its sap, much like the milk weed, treats ringworm, ulcers and warts as well. See what wikipedia has to say about it here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argemone_mexicana

Broomweed

I like to see the pretty little yellow flowers on this bush. While I have never seen anyone use it as a broom-that job was held by black sage- this plant does feel coarse to the touch. The bush is crushed and applied as a poultice for sprains and the leaves are made a tea for hypertension.

I really could go on for a while but I will feature more bush at a later date so for now I'll just leave you some pics.