wild rose college of natural healing lesson 1 · a rose hip coming from a woody shrub is still an...

Wild Rose College of Natural Healing HERBOLOGY 101

Wild Rose College of Natural Healing Terry Willard Cl.H PhD. ©2016 1

Dandelion

Line drawing

Lesson 1

Plant Identification and

Classification

Carolus Linnaeus: Eighteenth century Swedish botanist, who initiated the system of plant

Classification used worldwide today.

The knowledge of plant identification is a valuable tool for a herbalist, however not always necessary if you are working in a dispensary, clinic or herb shop. The products they use may always come in labelled bottles. The need for these people to have a sophisticated knowledge of plant identification is nowhere as important as it is for the wild-crafters. A wild-crafter is a person that harvests botanical medicine in the ‘wild’. We want you to take this lesson as far as you feel your needs suggest. Remember, you can always come back and study it further in the future, if the need arises. If you want to delve deeper into this subject you can find books in your local library, maybe courses from a community college, university or even a horticulture club. The best book we have found for Herbalists is: Botany in a Day: Herbal Field Guide to Plant Families by Thomas J. Elpel (ISBN 1-892784-02-5) www.hollotop.com We feel it is important that a Herbalist at least knows the basis of botany, which is grounded in plant identification and classification.

Fig 1.0 Botanical terminology

Dandelion

(Taraxacum officinale)

http://www.hollotop.com/



THE FIRST THING TO KNOW

The science of Botany has undergone huge changes in the past 10 to 20 years, thus material you might find in books, including your textbook, are kind of out of date. The reason we say ‘kind of’ is due to the fact the field of Herbal Medicine spans many thousands of years, thus a Herbalist has to be fluent in both the older and the more modern information. The biggest area of change is in plant classification, which we will look at in more detail later. When any area of study is going through dramatic changes, it can create a bit of confusion for the people studying it. This can be compounded to be even more confusing for people whose area of study is more peripheral to this area of change. Even though the understanding of botany is fairly fundamental and important to Herbalists, it is often not the main focus of study. This means that Herbalists were not central to the discussion of these changes and had very little say in the matter. Interestingly, the classification was originally designed mostly by Linnaeus, to help understand what the most important plants of medicinal commerce were. Armed with that information, if you find a few things about botany especially confusing, rest assured you are not the only one and as Herbalists we usually don’t have to sweat the small stuff of the details in these changes. If a changes has an important influence on Herbal Medicine, we will point it out to you.

THE BASICS (PRINCIPAL PARTS OF A PLANT)

The basic parts of all plants are the roots, stem, leaves, flower and fruit. When a person is not trained in field botany, they often walk along in the woods and see one big sea of green with the odd splash of color saying “look at me”. These colorful flowers are often the ones we identify first. Looking the flowers up in a color key, we can find the flowers that match. Even though this can be expedient and helpful, it often shows us the plant when it is past its herbal prime, or maybe even before it is ready to harvest. Once you have identified a plant, get used to what its leaves look like. For practical purposes, the most important parts to get to know are the leaves. To formally identify a plant, you often need the flower and maybe the fruit, to 'key' out the plant in a botanical guide. In field botany for herbalists, you have to be able recognize a plant at almost any stage of growth. Once you get intimate with a particular plant, this is quite easy. I like to say this is when you ‘own the plant’ -- a better way of saying it is to own the right to harvest the plant for medicinal use. Many Herbalists used



less than 50 plants in their practice, but know these plants really well. It is not the number of plants that you know herbal trivia about that counts. It is more about how many you are intimate enough with to know how to really use them. This is no different in saying it is not as important of how many ‘Facebook Friends’ you have; than how well you know your inner circle of friends and acquaintances – enough to rely on them that counts in life. There is an important rule to remember - plants are like humans, they do not always look alike. In Nature you will have great variation in a species of a plant from one region to another and even within a specific habitat. It is also useful to get to know the type of area that a specific plant prefers. Knowing the ecology of a plant's environment will help you find it again in the future. Let’s get down to our lesson.

Roots

The roots have the primary functions of: 1. Anchoring 2. Absorbing water and nutrients 3. Transporting water and nutrients 4. Storage of nutrients

They also often have the function of asexual reproduction. In the diagram (Fig 1.1) you will see the root tip, root cap and root hairs..

Types of Roots

The primary root is the first one, which then produces secondary roots (root hairs). These can form two basic root structures, the fibrous roots and tap roots. All plants that are monocots (grasses, bamboo and the like) have fibrous roots. Some dicots have fibrous roots. Only dicots have tap roots. Adventitious roots grow from a “non-root” place as seen in the diagram Fig 1.5-1.7. We also find aerial roots and root parasites.

Read pages 37- 41

(to "The Vascular System")

**Match up the various diagrams

with your reading in the text**

Fig 1.2

Fig 1.3

Fig 1.1



Fig 1.10

Fig 1.4 Fig 1.5

Fig 1.6

Fig 1.8

Fig 1.9



The Vascular system

The next section to look at is the plant stem. The stem helps support other parts of the plant, while conducting water and nutrients between its parts. The shape and strength of the stem often helps determine how the plant can compete in the local environment. Can it get the leaves above the other plants? Will it be

easy for animals to get the berries and therefore distribute its offspring? Will it give enough support in the rain and wind? All of these things help determine the shape of the stem.

The classification of plants into herbs, shrubs and trees can be very useful, but sometimes a bit arbitrary. A plant that might be a shrub in the North country can easily be a tree in the South. From a botanist’s point of view, an herb is defined as a herbaceous plant. The herbaceous aerial portion is relatively short-lived, having a comparatively soft tissue. In temperate climates the aerial parts usually live for only one growing season.

From a Herbalist’s point of view, a herb is a medicinal plant. This can be any plant, or part of a plant, whether it comes from a woody plant or not. A rose hip coming from a woody shrub is still an herb. In some cultures, such as Chinese and Ayurvedic, the word herb is expanded to include mineral and animal parts.

Fig 1.12



Direction of stems

The following diagrams will give you a better look at a few of the directions of stems.

Fig 1.13

Fig 1.14



Leaves

The leaves are where the “factory workers” are. This is where the nutrients and water combine with the energy from the sun to drive the engines. This process is extremely important as this is the energy capturing system of our planet. All biological processes depend ultimately on the strength of plants to capture the sun’s energy. The leaves are where plants manufacture nutrients for other species to live on, either as a primary or secondary consumer.

Fig 1.16

A typical Leaf

(shown below)

Thorns, prickles and spines:



Fig 1.17

Fig 1.19



Flowers

The sexiest part of the plant is, of course, the flower. It is often the most attractive part of the plant and where the mechanism of reproduction goes on. Let’s read about the parts of the flower.

Read pages 41 - 44 in

The text

FLOWER PARTS

Read pages 44-49 Fig 1.21



TYPES OF FLOWERS

TYPES OF FLOWERS

Fig 1.22

TYPES OF INFLORESENCES

Fig 1.23

Fig 1.24

Fig 1.25

Fig 1.27



TYPES OF FRUIT



Plant Classification

The purpose of plant classification is to help define one species from another. Plant classification builds on the material we have already learned in this lesson, aiding us to see the difference between species. This process is called taxonomy. Think of plant classification like Russian dolls. There is a big one, with a smaller one inside it, and a smaller one inside it, and so on and so on. Practically speaking as a Herbalist, we usually only deal with the names of Genus and species. Sometimes knowing the family is quite important. This helps us know related plants, while easing identification. For the most part, we deal with scientific

names like Arctostaphylus uva-ursi (Bearberry or Uva ursi) though. As stated earlier plant classification is the area that has undergone the most change in the last 20 – 40 years. In fact, in some ways it only has a bare resemblance to the botanical system I learned in University in the early 1970s. We still would like you to go through your reading assignment in the text, but remember there have been many changes since this was originally written. Again the reason we want you to be at least familiar with both the older system and the newer one is because as a herbalist you will come across both written and verbal material taken from each of these systems. The main reason for the rapid changes over the last 20 – 40 years is that the tools of identification have changes. Originally since Linnaeus’ time in the eighteenth century classification was done from physical observation of nature. Now identification is done from knowledge of molecular Biology and most specifically DNA. This new information along with several newer scientific insights has changed what was once thought to be true from observation when delved into deeper. One of the biggest changes is the changing of what has in the past been called Kingdoms. In the 1970 we basically only considered the two Kingdoms of Plant and Animals. For example, Fungi was

Read Pages 49 – 53

Read pages 55 - 59 in the text



considered part of the Plant Kingdom and now have their own Kingdom. Traditionally, textbooks in North America used a system of six kingdoms (Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, Archaea/Archaeabacteria, and Bacteria/Eubacteria) while textbooks in Great Britain, India, Australia, Latin America and other countries used five kingdoms (Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista and Monera). Some classifications systems have explicitly abandoned the term "Kingdom", noting that the traditional kingdoms do not consist of all the descendants of a common ancestor. Kingdoms are divided into smaller groups called phyla. Most of the plants we will deal with are in the phyla Spermatophyta, but we will be looking at other phyla also.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeabacteria

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eubacteria

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monera



Fungi Kingdom

The Fungi Kingdom is made up of unicellular microorganisms like yeasts and molds that might create community as well as multicellular fungi such as mushrooms. They are separate from both the animal and plant Kingdom, having similarities to both.

Herbal examples: Reishi, Shiitake and many others

Fig 1.32

Reishi

(Ganoderma Lucidum)

Fig 1.33

Shiitake

(Lentinula edodes)

Fig 1.34



Thallophyta

This is now a defunct division of Plant Kingdom that use to included fungus, lichens and algae.

Algae

Is now considered an informal large group of photosynthetic organisms The two of most interest to Herbalist are: a) Green Algae(s) (Chlorella) b) Blue Green Algae(s)

Green Algae

In this section, match up the

plant pictures with your

reading in the text

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylum



Blue Green Algae

Bryophyta

Mosses & Liverworts

Liverwort

Moss

Fig 1.30

Fig 1.31

Fig 1.35

Fig 1.36



Pteridophyta

1. Ferns

2. Horsetails (Equisetum)

Bonus Video On Horsetail

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5JN9UKgeBk

Fig 1.37

Fern line drawing

Fig 1.38

Fern life cycle

Horsetails (Equisetum)

Fig 1.39

Fig 1.40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5JN9UKgeBk



Spermatophyta

The seed-bearing plants have most of the medicinal plants. In this section we will look at gymnosperms and angiosperms. In the angiosperm section we will be discussing some of the major families from an herbalist's point of view.

Gymnospermae

Gnetophyta Family

Read pages 60-69 in the

text

Female cone Male cone

Ephedra sp.

line drawing

Ephedra sp.

Fig 1.41

Fig 1.42

Fig 1.43



Ginkgophyta

Bonus Video On Ginkgo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSzZMF0Xm3c

Ginkgo biloba line drawing

Ginkgo biloba

Fig 1.44

Fig 1.45

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSzZMF0Xm3c



Pine Tree

Pinus sp.

Coniferophyta

Bonus Video On Pine Pollen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9pimnqbU54

Fig 1.46

Fig 1.47

Fig 1.49

Fig 1.50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9pimnqbU54



Angiospermae

The flower plants are a widespread group made up of various land plants; although still members of the seed plants, Angiosperms are identified by the following distinctive characteristics.

Flowers

Stamens with two pairs of pollen sacs

Reduced male parts (Pollen) - (The smaller pollen decreases the time from

pollination to fertilization of the ovary)

Closed carpel enclosing the ovules (carpel or carpels and accessory parts may

become the fruit)

Endosperm

Grasses

(Gramineae) Grass Family

Fig 1.52

Sweet Grass

(Hierochloe odorata)

Fig 1.51

Common botany among grasses

Fig 1.53

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

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

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

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

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

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



Bonus Video On Sweet Grass

(Cyperaceae) Sedge Family

Lily Family (Liliaceae)

Carex sp. Carex sp.

Tiger Lily

(Lilium montanum) Fig 1.56

Madonna Lily

(Lilium candidum L.)

Fig 1.57

Fig 1.54

Fig 1.55



Orchid Family (Orchidacea)

Bonus Video On Lady Slipper Orchid

Canada Lily

(Lilium canadense)

Fig 1.58

Wood Lily

(Lilium philadelphicum) Fig 1.59

Lady Slipper Orchid

(Cypripedium parviflorum)



DICOTYLEDONS

Willow Family (Salicaceae)

Willow

(Salix sp.)

White Willow

(Salix alba)

Alder

(Alnus sp.)

Black alder

(Alnus glutinosa)

Black alder

(Alnus glutinosa)

Fig 1.60

Fig 1.61

Fig 1.62

Fig 1.63

Fig 1.64

Fig 1.65



Balsam Poplar

(Populus balsamifera)

Fig 1.66

Fig 1.67



Carnation Family (Caryophyllaceae)

Chickweed

(Stellaria media)

Fig 1.68



Mustard or Cabbage Family (Brassicaceae, aka

Cruciferae)

Radish

(Raphanus sativus)

Brassica oleracea

(Wild Cabbage)

Fig 1.71

Fig 1.72



Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae)

Currant Family (Saxifragaceae)

Clematis

(Clematis tangutica)

Gooseberry

(Ribes sp.)

Fig 1.73

Fig 1.74

Fig 1.76



Rose (Rosaceae)

Pea Family ( Fabaceae, a.k.a. Leguminoseae)

Wild Rose

(Rosaacicularis)

Milk vetch

(Astragulus americanus)

Fig 1.77

Fig 1.79

Fig 1.80



Evening Primrose Family (Onagraceae)

Carrot Family (Apiaceae a.k.a

Umbelliferae)

Fireweed

(Epilobium angustifolium)

Angelica

(Angelica archangelica)

Fig 1.81

Fig 1.82

Fig 1.83

Fig 1.84



Heath Family (Ericaeae)

Mint Family (Labiatae)

Bearberry

(Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)

Fig 1.85

Fig 1.86

WildMint

(Mentha arvenis)

Fig 1.90

Fig 1.91



Sunflower Family (Compositae/Asteraceae)

Echinacea sp.

Fig 1.87

Fig 1.88

Fig 1.89



COMPARISON OF MONOCOTS & DICOTS

MONOCOT

1. One cotyledons

2. Scattered vascular bundles

3. Fibrous roots

4. Parallel leaf veins

5. Floral parts arranged in multiples of

three

DICOT

1. Two cotyledons. by vascular bundles

2. Central core (pith) wrapped

3. Taproots

4. Branching leaf veins

5. Floral parts arranged in multiples of 4 or 5

wild rose college of natural healing lesson 1 · a rose hip coming from a woody shrub is still an...

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