The "Name that Plant" Game

You got it CJ! Post a pic of a useful wild plant, some info on the plant pictured, and let us guess away!
 
OK, useful, hmmm. Now I have to do a little thinking. I will get one up by the end of day tomorrow. Tonights homework is to peruse all 20 pages.......I will giterdone....
 
Ok, looked at all, quite a thread, very cool. Just for some background; I am a Horticulture Major from Cal Poly Pomona, but I am very humbled when it comes to natives, they just did not bring in the dollars like the ornamentals did. Which is why Pachypodium stuck out easy for me. The plant about 3 pages back, the wood sorrel is also known as Oxalis down here in So Cal and it is a lawn weed. Once I go inside, I will post a nice beautiful yellow flowering Opuntia california style for you all. It was beautiful on a day hike in Feb. Right now I am posting from the hot tub.
 
Here is the prickly pear in bloom. The knife in the picture was actually a give away I won from Buck Fan in Traditional forum.
P1010196.jpg

P1010194.jpg

OK, back to the name that plant.
 
Ok, here is a small tree or large shrub that is native to So. California. It could be single or multi trunked. The Chumash Indians-Channel Islands/Ventura to Santa Barbara Co.ate the "fruit" off of this tree. Hope this is not too easy. It was a good refresher for me.
namethatplant.jpg
 
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No, it is not a California Laurel. This plant/tree has compound leaves with the leaflets oppositely arranged on the midrib of the leaf. The leaves are smooth without hairs.
 
Looks like Southern California Black Walnut, Juglans californica.

I believe the bark was also used to make baskets...maybe, I could be wrong, it's been a while :o :D.

ETA: Just did a little googling, and apparently the shells were also used to make dice and dye.
 
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rksoon said:
Looks like Southern California Black Walnut, Juglans californica.

I believe the bark was also used to make baskets...maybe, I could be wrong, it's been a while :o :D.

ETA: Just did a little googling, and apparently the shells were also used to make dice and dye.
Click to expand...

And if it's like Black Walnut (J. nigra), the hulls can be used as a fish poison.

Doc
 
Oh wow, that is cool! I think the seeds of California Buckeye can be used as a fish poison too. And old Hawaiians used 'Auhuhu (Tephrosia piscattoria) and 'Akia (species of Wikstroemia) in tide pools to stun/anesthetize fish. :thumbup:

Got one lined up if cj confirms :thumbup:
 
Polynesians used the seed within the nut/fruit of this tree in an variety of ways. A few of the most notable ones are:

- Used the oil from the seeds to protect from sun, wind, and saltwater (as a sunscreen or varnish)
- Chewed them up and spat it out onto water while fishing (to help with visibility)
- Roasted and ground them to produce a delicious flavoring for Poke
- Strung nuts/seeds together to make garlands


However, I will relate its primary use through an old Hawaiian saying:

“Ua lilo i ke koli kukui a maluhi”
Which means, more or less, “Gone lamp-trimming until tired.” It was used to describe someone who’s been out all night.

Because of the high oil content of the seed, Hawaiians would use it as a source of light. One method was to skewer a bunch of them together on slivers of bamboo or palm midribs and burn them. As each seed would burn out, it was removed while the next burned, thus the saying above. Additionally, if the all seeds strung together were of a uniform size, keeping track of how many seeds had burned would provide a relatively consistent measure of time.

This plant is a tree that can grow up to 90 ft tall. The leaves are usually about 8 inches long and are either oval or tri-tipped. The lower epidermis is coated with a silvery substance that gives the tree its pale green appearance. The nuts are 1.5-2.5” in diameter. Young nuts are green and have a leathery texture, while the mature nuts are brown and dried. The seeds within the nut are white when immature, and black when mature. The seeds are 1-1.5" in diameter. The blossoms are small and white.

And the nuts were not the only useful part of this plant; polynesians utilized its wood and leaves as well. Uses ranged from medicine to fishnet floats.

That should be much more info than needed :D.


Tree:
01-1.jpg


Leaves, Flowers, Nut/Fruit:
02-1.jpg


Nuts/Fruits:
07.jpg


Mature Seeds:
05.jpg


Flowers:
04.jpg




ETA: Big hint, in Hawaiian, the name of this plant means "light" :D
 
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rksoon said:
Ding Ding Ding! That's right Doc, Aleurites moluccana :thumbup:.

We Hawaiians call it the Kukui Nut Tree.

Awesome collection of info on it: http://www.agroforestry.net/tti/Aleurites-kukui.pdf
Click to expand...

Hey rk, sorry I didn't have the binomial. I saw an episode of Bushtucker man, where he used candlenuts for lighting at his campsite. (They don't grow around here, of course.)

Guess I have to come up with a plant. Be back soon. (no pun intended :rolleyes: )

Doc :D
 
forplantquiz.jpg


Still working on this imageshack thingie. Anyhow,

"_______________ has a long history as a medicinal plant, taken internally as a diuretic, laxative, and expectorant and administered externally for the treatment of skin eruptions such as psoriasis, eczema, acne, and boils. A decoction, or extract, of the crushed roots is still a popular home remedy for poison ivy - effective probably because it thoroughly cleanses the skin."

"The early American colonists, who brought _______________ with them from England, used the lather to clean everything from handmade lace to pewter vessels. New England textile workers cleaned and thickened newly woven cloth with it - a process called fulling, which accounts for another of its names, fuller's-herb. The Pennsylvania Dutch had yet another use for the lather - to give beer a foamy head - and commercially produced saponins are still used for this purpose."

Basically, I have used this plant as a soap subsititute and it works pretty well. Because of the saponins, it would not be used as an edible plant, but probably would be effective as a fish poison.

Doc
 
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