Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine) is the only non-native orchid that grows wild in
New England. It can be found on the edges of trails at Sawink Farm Reservation or the north side
of Lake Chauncy. It was first introduced from Europe to Syracuse, N.Y., in 1879. In our area it
usually starts to bloom in mid-July. In other parts of North America, such as Wisconsin and southern
Ontario, these plants can reach four or five feet tall and grow so prolifically that they are
considered pests. Helleborine favors environments with maple or beech trees.
August
Blue Vervain, Vervain family (Verbenaceae), Native
Candelabra-like spikes of blue vervain (Verbena hastata) rise up in wet meadows and roadside
ditches in late summer. The small purple or violet flowers bloom in rings around the spikes, starting at the
bottom and moving up. The plants can be several feet tall. Blue vervain is also called simpler's joy,
because simplers--people who gathered and sold herbs--found it easy to sell.
Most vervains are native to the Americas, but European vervain has long been entwined with people's
beliefs. On one hand, vervain had a place in ancient Roman, Druid, Jewish, and Christian
religious ceremonies. On the other hand, it was also associated with witchcraft and was supposedly
used in witches' brews. Various folk beliefs have involved the use of vervain to bring either good
fortune or ill.
Native Americans used vervain tea for various respiratory, digestive, and female problems. Vervain also
had similar uses in European and American folk medicine.
Beechdrops, Broomrape family (Orobanchaceae), Native
In late summer, beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana) plants come up under beech trees and put out many
small, tubular, reddish-brown or brownish-purple flowers. The plants are parasitic on the roots of
beech trees. They have flowers and many branches, but they are not green and have only scale-like brownish
leaves. They look somewhat like bunches of twigs. Beechdrops grow under some of the beech trees along the
trail in the woods off the Haskell Street ballfields.
In the past, people made tea from the fresh plants to treat intestinal problems such as diarrhea, as
well as mouth and cold sores. The plant was also called called cancer root because it was supposed to be effective
against cancer. Unfortunately, modern research has not supported this belief.
