Bouncingbet

Bouncingbet
Saponaria officinalis

Another name for Bouncingbet is Soapwort, referring to its use as an herbal soap.  It's an alien invasive plant, so don't be shy about collecting some to make your own soap.

It makes a mild soap that can be used for general cleaning or to wash delicate fabrics.  Ingesting it will cause problems, so don't use it to wash your dog!

Here's a recipe from The Herb Gardener: How to Make Organic Soap Using Soapwort

• 2 Cups of chopped soapwort leaves and stems (1 cup dried)
• 1 Quart distilled water

Add soapwort leaves to boiling water and cover the pan.

1. Continue simmering for fifteen minutes.
2. Remove from the heat and cool.
3. Strain through cheesecloth.
4. Include any additives.

You can keep the liquid up to a week in the refrigerator.

Plants grow in groups along roadsides and "waste places".

Bigtooth Aspen

Bigtooth Aspen
Populus grandidentata

All of the trees in the picture above are possibly one plant.   Several tree species form these clonal groves of trees, including the Aspens, Cottonwoods, Poplar, Pawpaws, Sumac, etc.

They send out lateral roots which occasionally send up a new shoot.  Damage to the root or damage to the parent tree can signal the plant to start growing a new shoot.  It's caused by a complicated interplay of hormones and growth inhibitors.

The Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) does this to a much greater degree than any other species.  In fact, the oldest and heaviest living organism is a grove in Utah that has been determined to be at least 80,000 years old and weighs 6600 tons.  It even has a name, Pando, which is Latin for "I spread".

So, are all of the trees in one of these groves considered a tree, or is the whole thing a tree?

The leaves have big teeth, as compared to Quaking Aspen.

Beafsteakplant

Beafsteakplant
Perilla frutescens

What a weird name for a plant.  If it grows in bright sunlight, the leave become burgundy, apparently resembling a steak in color.  Sounds like a stretch to me.

It is commonly referred to by its genus name, Perilla.  It is used in Korean and Japanese cuisine and was brought to the United States as a garden plant.  It grows well in disturbed areas and has established some populations in southern Indiana.  It is considered a Medium threat by the Indiana Invasives Initiative in their Official IISC Invasive Plant List.

While edible to humans, it is toxic to cattle and other ruminants.  The cattle will avoid eating it, unless it is collected with hay.

The leaves are rather distinctive, with toothed edges and a wrinkly surface.

The calyx of the flowers is covered with hairs.

Shagbark Hickory

Shagbark Hickory
Carya ovata

Everyone knows what a Shagbark Hickory looks like, with it's shaggy bark.  There is another less common species, Shellbark Hickory, which looks similar.  If you really want to know the species, find some nuts on the ground for comparison.  The Shellbark nut is bigger, but with a thinner husk.

Shellbark on left, Shagbark on right

Not only are the nuts good to eat, but the bark can be brewed into a flavorful liquid.  A tasty treat is to brew it in sugar maple sap.  You can even buy Shagbark Hickory syrup, which is not made from the sap, but rather an extract from the bark.

Look close and you'll see the ingredients are Shagbark Extract and Sugar.

The leaves pop out in the spring in a display that looks like a flower bouquet.