Camomile

Wild camomile (Matricaria chamomilla)

Camomile is a common medicinal plant common for soothing properties. It's great for making infusions to  help you relax and sleep better. The yellow flower exudes a very nice scent when crushed between fingers. It can be also dried and preserved for future use.

But the most peculiar thing about this plant is it likes to be stamped on. You notice it always grows on the sides of the roads and trails, occasionally right in the middle of the road.And when you step on it it springs right back.

There are two common varieties: German or wild camomile (Matricaria chamomilla) and Roman or English camomile (Chamaemelum nobile). Notice that white petals can be present in both varieties.

In America the most common variety is without petals, in Europe the more common species have white petals around a yellow middle.

 Roman camomile

  Roman camomile

Wild radish

Wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) belongs to the mustard family and there is indeed strong family resemblance. Radish looks a lot like mustard, only the radish's flowers are purple and mustard's are yellow. There are also some species with white flowers, which are the cross between the two.

Wild radish leaves

Like mustard, radish grows everywhere. It is an edible plant: you can harvest young leaves and boil them twice and that will make a nice side dish for boiled or baked potatoes.

Like mustard, radish plant is found everywhere. It does not mind desert heat though it prefers moderate climate.

Horehound

 Horehound in Kit Carson Park, Escondido

Horehound is quite a common plant in the Southern California. It is easily recognizable. It has bitter taste but I heard you can make candies out of it.

The Latin name for horehound is Marrubium vulgare and it belongs to the Mint family (Lamiaceae).

Hemlock

 Hemlock in Kit Carson park, Escondido

Ah, the famous plant that was used to kill Socrates. Hemlock plant belongs to apiaceae (or umbelliferae) family. Also known as carrot or parsley family. Umbelliferae means "umbrella" because the majority of species form clusters of small flowers that look like little umbrella. The thing about this family is that lots of species do indeed have family resemblance and it mights be difficult to tell one specie from another. What adds to confusion is the fact that lots of them are edible while others are poisonous. Hemlock is the example of the latter.

Hemlock flowers

The plant that resembles hemlock the most is wild carrot (also known as Queen Ann's lace or Daucus carota). Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the latter for comparison. Actually I have not seen that many hemlocks around but there was one patch where it was flourishing together with other bunch of plants.

Hemlock leaves

Remember that hemlock is highly poisonous and even a little dose might kill you. Be very careful and make sure to identify any plant of the carrot family correctly as lots of them are very good medicinal plants, for instance angelica or spices like coriander.

There are actually two genera commonly known as hemlock: Conium that is discussed in this article and Cicuta (water hemlock). Both are highly poisonous, Cicuta is even more deadly than Conium.

Henbit

 Henbit

Henbit is a rare plant. It grows wild but it has beautiful flowers though a very small ones. The picture shows an extreme close-up.

Filaree

 Filaree in Escondido

Filaree (Erodium) is the plant that took me some time to identify. It's very common in Southern California but only in the spring. It grows pretty much everywhere where the common grass grows. Filaree blooms in small delicate 5 petal flowers. The leaves are serrated though there are several species of filaree with different degree of serration. Later in the season  one can see long seedpods. They resemble storkbill which  is another name of this plant.

Curly Dock

 Curly dock in Felicita park (historic photograph)

Curly dock is a great plant. Not only does it grow wild in commons and wastelands but it is also an edible plant and quite tasty at that. Just saute it with onions and tomatoes.


So we found some good looking curly dock in Felicita park when we first came. We harvested some leaves (always leaving the majority of the plant intact). The same common or meadow had sweet alyssum and nettle growing there as well. So you could get on a foraging expedition and be in and out in no time.

But something terrible happened. They (the park authorities) decided to use this common for the parking lot. They have not paved it but they destroyed all the plants. Curly dock was the first one to go. Then nettle, even it grew only on the hillsides and was not even visible. This all happened within one year. We witnessed the destruction of wild plants firsthand and it does not feel good.

There was still plenty of nettle in the park but you had to look in different places. But the park was getting to look more and more like a sports part: just the mowed grass and no more wild plants that do not look like the grass. That's the way things are.