Purple Dead Nettle and Chickweed
For which Petal Snippet risks her life
From the Tarn Hold:
A black shadow glided overhead. Petal pressed her back against the stone. Her heart hammered painfully in her chest as she scanned the sky to see where the hawk had flown. The hawk disappeared. The faint but fresh, earthy scent of the purple dead nettle lured her onward. Out over the wide open space, a haze of lush purple covered the field. If she was careful, all she needed was to stuff her haversack full, and she could leave this terrible, dreadful open land. The task was dangerous, and hers alone. Others counted on her skill and willingness to risk her life.
Stepping out from the protection of the stone, Petal snapped the thick, furry stalks and shoved the leaves and flowers into her sack. It was quick work. Soon, with one eye to the sky, she darted from one stone to the next, crossing the field back to the woods, her heavy haversack bouncing across her back. Just undercover of the brush, Petal paused to catch her breath, watching tall spikes of chickweed flowers bob in the warm breeze, reaching for the sunshine. She scanned the sky through the leaves. The hawk again swooped across the sky and suddenly dropped from her sight. A very unfortunate moment for someone. She couldn’t fret over it and hastily gathered up as many chickweed flowers as she could carry.
Petal slipped into the cool, dark passage of her burrow and emptied her arms and sack of wilting herbs on the table. She braced her paws firmly on the table and breathed deeply, willing the beating of her heart to still.
Then she emptied pots of acorn butter and the herbs that she had gathered into her largest cauldron. Hanging on its hook, she swung the pot over the flame in the hearth and gave it a quick stir. The hard part was done. She could rest now.
The next evening, a small but furious paw pounded on Petal’s door frame.
“Come quick, Miss Petal! Pa’s been mauled on by a coon!” a pup wailed out desperately.
Petal grabbed up the freshly jarred salve and her care basket and dashed out the door on the musspup’s heels.
Care Ointment for Open Wounds
(From Petal Snippet’s book Gentle Ferine Apothecaries)
Large quantities of Purple Dead Nettle and Chickweed
Acorn butter or other available fat. Enough to cover herbs
Combine and cook together under low heat from sun to sun. Strain and compost the herbs. Jar the infused oil. Store in a cool, dry location or freeze until needed.
Purple Dead Nettle:
Lamium purpureum grows with square stems to 5–20 cm [3](rarely 30 cm) in height. The leaves have fine hairs, are green at the bottom and shade to purplish at the top; they are 2–4 cm long and broad, with a 1–2 cm petiole (leaf stalk), and wavy to serrated margins.
The zygomorphic flowers are bright red-purple, with a top hood-like petal, two lower lip petal lobes and minute fang-like lobes between. The corolla shows a line of hairs near the base of the tube.[3] They may be produced throughout the year, including mild weather in winter. This allows bees to gather its nectar for food when few other nectar sources are available. It is also a prominent source of pollen for bees in March/April (in UK), when bees need the pollen as protein to build up their nest.
It is often found alongside Henbit Dead-nettle (Lamium amplexicaule), which is easily mistaken for it since they both have similar looking leaves and similar bright purple flowers; they can be distinguished by the stalked leaves of Red Dead-nettle on the flower stem, compared to the unstalked leaves of Henbit Dead-nettle.[3]
Though superficially similar to species of Urtica (true nettles) in appearance, it is not related and does not sting, hence the name "dead-nettle".
Uses[edit]
Young plants have edible tops and leaves, used in salads or in stir-fry as a spring vegetable. If finely chopped it can also be used in sauces.[4]
Undyed, the pollen itself is a red colour and is very noticeable on the heads of bees that frequent its flowers.[citation needed]
Folk herbalists use purple dead nettle in many herbal remedies. One of these is purple dead nettle salve that can be used on irritated, itchy, or sore skin.[5]
Chickweed:
Chickweed is a hardy annual which flowers throughout the year in northern Europe, in mild weather.[1] The stems are terete and glabrous with a lax and sprawling growth habit, up to 400 mm (16 inches) long and 1 mm (0.039 inches) in diameter, with a line (very occasionally 2 lines) of hairs running straight down its length, alternating sides at the nodes. The petioles are 5 to 8 mm long with hairy margins. The leaves are green, hairless, oval and opposite, 6 to 25 mm long by 3 to 10 mm wide with a hydathode at the tip.[2][3]
The flowers are small, about 1 cm in diameter, with 5 bifid white petals, 1–3 mm long, nestled inside the larger (3–5 mm long) sepals. These sepals have long, wavy (villous) hairs on their outer (distal) sides and are oval in shape, and usually 5 in number. There are often only 3 stamens but sometimes more (up to 8) and 3 styles. Many publications state that chickweed sometimes has no petals at all, but this may be due to confusion with lesser chickweed, which used to be considered a subspecies but is now considered to be a species in its own right.[4][3][5][6]
The flowers quickly form capsules. Plants may have flowers and capsules at the same time.
Uses[edit]
Stellaria media is edible and nutritious, and is used as a leaf vegetable, often raw in salads.[14] It is one of the ingredients of the symbolic dish consumed in the Japanese spring-time festival, Nanakusa-no-sekku. Some varieties or similar species may be too fibrous to eat.[15]
It is also eaten by chickens, wild birds, and mountain sheep.[16][17]
Chickweed contains plant chemicals known as saponins, which can be toxic to some species (notably fish). It is unlikely that most land animals will be affected, as the quantities involved are not large. However, it is not advised for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.[18]
It is said to have medicinal properties and is used in folk medicine. It has been used as a remedy to treat itchy skin conditions and pulmonary diseases.[19] 17th-century herbalist John Gerard recommended it as a remedy for mange. Modern herbalists prescribe it for iron-deficiency anemia (for its high iron content), as well as for skin diseases, bronchitis, rheumatic pains, arthritis, and period pain.[20] Not all of these uses are supported by scientific evidence.[21] The plant was used by the Ainu for treating bruises and aching bones. Stems were steeped in hot water before being applied externally to affected areas.[22