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Argyle in Sanilac County, Michigan — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
 

Native Plants

 
 
Native Plants Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Craig Doda, November 21, 2022
1. Native Plants Marker
Inscription.
Cattail/Apakweshkway
Michigan Indians wove floor mats for their lodges from cattail leaves and insulated their moccasins and clothing with cattail down. They mixed cattail down with coyote fat to soothe smallpox sores. The flammability of the down also made it useful for starting fires.

Nearly every part of the cattail is edible. Young shoots, dark brown flowers and roots even the pollen can be eaten.

Gooseberry/Zhaaboomina
The North American gooseberry grows from 3 to 5 feet in height, with spines that can make picking the blueberry-sized fruit difficult. The berries can be round or pear-shaped. They range in color from green to shades of red or purple.

Gooseberries ripen from May to August, depending on location and temperature. They can be eaten raw or used in pies, jams and jellies.

Lowbush Blueberry/Miinaan
Wild or lowbush blueberry grows in well-drained acidic soils. After a spring bloom of white bell-shaped flowers, its small, sweet, dark blue berries ripen in August. Lowbush blueberry is fire-tolerant, often thriving and multiplying after a fire. It is a favorite of recreational berry pickers, as well as of black bears, rodents and birds.

Partridgeberry/Binewimiinaan
Partridgeberry is a creeping evergreen vine, whose red
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berries add to its fall and winter color The edible, but bitter, berries are a staple in the diet of game birds, such as ruffed grouse, sharp-tailed grouse and bobwhite quail Red fox, raccoon and white-tailed deer also eat partridgeberries.

Red Willow, Red Osier Dogwood/Mskwa-Biimitigoons
Native people used the inner bark and root of red osier dogwood to make a red dye. In addition to mixing the berries with other fruits and fats for eating, they made tea from the bark and flowers to treat malaria, jaundice and cholera.

Red osier dogwood is also used to weave wedding baskets. If gathered in the early spring, the bark retains its deep red color when dried.

Red osier dogwood is a woody, deciduous shrub that grows in wet areas. Its twigs and leaves are bright green in late. spring and summer, turning to deep red in the fall. Songbirds, game birds and mammals, including beaver, black bear, rabbits. skunks, and mice, eat the red willow's fleshy berries. Some of these species, along with deer, also browse the twigs and foliage.

Stinging Nettle/Mazaanaatig
If you've ever stumbled into stinging nettle, you know where its name comes from. The entire plant is covered with nearly invisible spines that cause intense stinging, followed by redness and itching.

But the sting is only part of the story, Native Americans
Native Plants Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Craig Doda, November 21, 2022
2. Native Plants Marker
learned that they could eliminate the imitation by boiling the plant. They discovered medicinal uses, including treatment of gout, anemia, hay fever, arthritis and urinary problems Nettle stems were woven into fish nets and mats.

Wild Strawberry/Odemiinaan
Early Michigan Indians ate wild strawberries as a treatment for colds as well as enjoying their taste. They used the juice to soothe irritated eyes, sunburn, toothache and skin sores. Tea made from dried strawberry leaves treated kidney and stomach ailments, and a tonic could be made from the roots of this common plant.

Wild strawberry grows in moist soils in woods, open meadows and along streams. Its tiny berries ripen in June.

Wintergreen/Wiiniziibak
Chewing gum has popularized the refreshing minty taste of wintergreen. In earlier times, it was part of Native Americans supply of medicinal plants. They applied crushed wintergreen leaves to relieve muscle strain and skin inflammation. Sore throats and upset stomachs called for wintergreen tea.

Glossy-leaved wintergreen grows in wooded areas from Canada to Georgia. Its white, beš-like flowers appear in July followed in the fall by red berries that last into winter.

Yarrow/Ajidamoozowaanag
Yarrow grows in sunny areas with dry or slightly moist soit. The strongly scented plants contain a chemical
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that encourages blood clotting, a property known to both ancient Greeks and native peoples in the Great Lakes region.

Native people used yarrow to dress wounds and make poultices for burns and skin sores A tea made from yarrow leaves is still used to reduce fever and to treat toothache. Crushed leaves in water will soothe sunburn.

Yellow Pond Lily/Ozawaa Nbiish-Waawaagone Or Ozawaa Maagkii Wawaskone
Yellow pond Mies float on quiet streams, ponds and lakeshores. Their bright yellow flowers are up to 5" across.

Native Americans used boiled pond Hy roots to treat skin sores and rheumatism The roots are also edible, they can be eaten raw, cooked or dried and ground into flour. Mature pond lily seeds can be popped like corn.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Anthropology & ArchaeologyHorticulture & ForestryNative AmericansScience & Medicine.
 
Location. 43° 39.399′ N, 83° 1.103′ W. Marker is in Argyle, Michigan, in Sanilac County. Marker is on South Germania Road south of Bay City Forestville Road, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Cass City MI 48726, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Sanilac Petroglyphs (here, next to this marker); Sanilac Petroglyphs Park Geneology (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Archaeology (about 700 feet away); Ezhibiigaadek Asia (about 700 feet away); Citizens Bank Block (approx. 5.7 miles away); State Reward Road No. 1 (approx. 7.8 miles away); First Presbyterian Church (approx. 8.7 miles away); Elkland Township Hall (approx. 8.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Argyle.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on November 30, 2022. It was originally submitted on November 30, 2022, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. This page has been viewed 67 times since then and 3 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on November 30, 2022, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024